[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 100 (Wednesday, July 27, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: July 27, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
               MUCH HAS BEEN OMITTED ON THE CYPRUS ISSUE

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                            HON. DAN BURTON

                               of indiana

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, July 27, 1994

  Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Mr. Speaker, much has been said about the 
Cyprus issue, but much has been omitted. Turkey strongly supports a 
lasting negotiated settlement on Cyprus and the establishment of a 
bizonal, bicommunal Federal State there in which the Turkish Cypriot 
and Greek Cypriot communities are represented on an equal footing. 
Turkey supported U.N. confidence building measures [CBM] early on, and 
encouraged Turkish Cypriots to do so.
  Turkish Cypriot President Rauf Denktas--June 16, 1994--accepted all 
of the points raised by the United Nations in connection with the 
package of confidence building measures [CBM's] and is ready to sign 
the agreement as one integrated text.
  By contrast, Greek Cypriot Leader Glafcos Clerides has vowed to 
resign if the U.N. Security Council insists on pursuing the CBM's and 
has even rejected any further negotiations on the CBM package.
  Turkish Cypriots were one of two constitutionally and politically 
equal components of the binational Republic of Cyprus under the London 
and Zurich Agreements of 1960. Greek Cypriots, however, considered 
Turkish Cypriots an obstacle to turning Cyprus into a Greek island and 
uniting it with mainland Greece. U.N. peacekeeping forces were unable 
to prevent a succession of massacres of Turkish Cypriots between 1963 
and 1974.
  Turkey was compelled as a last resort to intervene in 1974 in 
accordance with its 1960 Treaty of Guarantee obligations when, in the 
words of the then Cypriot President Archbishop Macharios, ``The 
military regime of Greece * * * callously violated the independence of 
Cyprus * * * clearly an invasion from outside, in flagrant violation of 
the independence and sovereignty of the Republic of Cyprus.'' The Greek 
aim was the annexation of Cyprus to Greece. This and imminent 
annihilation of the Turkish Cypriots were prevented solely by the 
timely intervention of Turkey as one of the three treaty guarantors of 
Cyprus' independence. The others were Great Britain and Greece.
  The intervention ensured the security and freedom of the Turkish 
Cypriots and resulted in the 20 years of peace the island has 
experienced since. Over a period of 11 years prior, from 1963 to 1974, 
Turkish Cypriots had become refugees in their own homeland. Thousands 
had been killed or maimed, hundreds had disappeared, and a quarter of 
the Turkish Cypriots rendered homeless by the Greek Cypriot policy of 
repression.
  An externally imposed settlement on Cyprus would be a recipe for 
renewed intercommunal strife and a loss of life similar to that which 
occurred before Turkey's intervention in 1974.
  Mr. Speaker, any solution to the Cyprus problem must prevent the loss 
of life incurred before 1974, and provide for the security of all 
Cypriots.

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