[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 68 (Wednesday, April 26, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5729-S5730]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


          SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 11--RELATIVE TO CYPRUS

  Ms. SNOWE (for herself, Mr. Simon, Mr. Pressler, Mr. Sarbanes, Mr. 
D'Amato, and Mr. Dodd) submitted the following concurrent resolution; 
which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations:

                            S. Con. Res. 11

       Whereas the long-standing dispute regarding Cyprus remains 
     unresolved;
       Whereas the military occupation by Turkey of a large part 
     of the territory of the Republic of Cyprus has continued for 
     over 20 years;
       Whereas the status quo on Cyprus remains unacceptable;
       Whereas the United States attaches great importance to a 
     just and peaceful resolution of the dispute regarding Cyprus;
       Whereas the United Nations and the United States are using 
     their good offices to resolve such dispute;
       Whereas on January 5, 1995, President Clinton appointed a 
     Special Presidential Emissary for Cyprus;
       Whereas the United Nations has adopted numerous resolutions 
     that set forth the basis of a solution for the dispute 
     regarding Cyprus;
       Whereas paragraph (2) of United Nations Security Council 
     Resolution 939 of July 29, 1994, reaffirms that a solution 
     must be based on a State of Cyprus with a single sovereignty 
     and international personality, and a single citizenship, with 
     its independence and territorial integrity safeguarded, and 
     comprising two politically equal communities as described in 
     the relevant Security Council Resolutions, in a bicommunal 
     and bizonal federation, and that such a settlement must 
     exclude union in whole or in part with any other country or 
     any form of partition or secession;
       Whereas the United Nations Secretary General has described 
     the occupied part of Cyprus as one of the most highly 
     militarized areas in the world;
       Whereas the continued overwhelming presence of more than 
     30,000 Turkish troops on Cyprus hampers the search for a 
     freely negotiated solution to the dispute regarding Cyprus;
       Whereas the United Nations and the United States have 
     called for the withdrawal of all foreign troops from the 
     territory of the Republic of Cyprus; and
       Whereas comprehensive plans for the demilitarization of the 
     Republic of Cyprus have been proposed: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives 
     concurring), That the Congress--
       (1) reaffirms that the status quo on Cyprus is 
     unacceptable;
       (2) welcomes the appointment of a Special Presidential 
     Emissary for Cyprus;
       (3) expresses its continued strong support for efforts by 
     the United Nations Secretary General and the United States 
     Government to help resolve the Cyprus problem in a just and 
     viable manner at the earliest possible time;
       (4) insists that all parties to the dispute regarding 
     Cyprus agree to seek a solution based upon the relevant 
     United Nations resolutions, including paragraph (2) of United 
     Nations Security Council Resolution 939 of July 29, 1994;
       (5) reaffirms the position that all foreign troops should 
     be withdrawn from the territory of the Republic of Cyprus;
       (6) considers that demilitarization of the Republic of 
     Cyprus would meet the security concerns of all parties 
     involved, would enhance prospects for a peaceful and lasting 
     resolution of the dispute regarding Cyprus, would benefit all 
     of the people of Cyprus, and merits international support; 
     and
       (7) encourages the United Nations Security Council and the 
     United States Government to consider alternative approaches 
     to promote a resolution of the long-standing dispute 
     regarding Cyprus based upon relevant Security Council 
     resolutions, including incentives to encourage progress in 
     negotiations or effective measures against any recalcitrant 
     party.

 Ms. SNOWE. Mr. President, today I am submitting a resolution 
calling for the end of the long-standing dispute on Cyprus. I am 
pleased to be joined as original cosponsors by my distinguished 
colleagues, Senators Simon, Pressler, Sarbanes, D'Amato, and Dodd.
  Mr. President, last year marked the 20th anniversary of the Turkish 
invasion of Cyprus. Year after year the political deadlock over Cyprus 
has endured. But elsewhere in the world these same two decades has seen 
the end to the Soviet Union, mutual recognition between Israel and the 
PLO, a peaceful transition to majority rule in South Africa, and a 
renunciation of terrorism by the Irish Republican Army and movement 
toward an enduring peace in Northern Ireland. It is long past time for 
a similar breakthrough for peace on Cyprus.
  That is the purpose of this resolution. This resolution speaks with 
moderation with the hope of bringing together all sides to the 
conflict. But despite its moderate tones, the resolution calls for 
looking at the problem of Cyprus in a radically new way. The 
resolution: declares the status quo on Cyprus to be unacceptable; 
welcomes President Clinton's appointment of a special emissary for 
Cyprus; calls on all parties to seek a solution based on the U.N. 
Security Council resolution of 
[[Page S5730]] July 29, 1994, which stated that any solution must be 
based on a single State of Cyprus with its independence and territorial 
integrity safeguarded; calls for the withdrawal of all foreign troops; 
states that proposals for a total demilitarization of Cyprus would 
enhance the security of all the Cypriot people and merits support; and 
urges the Security Council and the United States Government to consider 
alternative approaches to promote a resolution to the long-standing 
dispute, including incentives to encourage progress or sanctions 
against recalcitrant parties.
  Mr. President, two decades ago, Turkey's brutal invasion drove more 
than 200,000 Cypriots from their homes and reduced them to the status 
of refugees in their own land. More than 2,000 people are still 
missing, including five American citizens. The Turkish Army seized 40 
percent of the land of Cyprus, representing 70 percent of the island's 
economic wealth. Today, Turkey continues to maintain over 35,000 troops 
on the island, which forms the bedrock of the continuing political 
impasse.
  The phrase ``35,000 Turkish troops'' may sound familiar, because this 
is the number of troops Turkey has used, with tragic sameness, in its 
invasion last month of U.N.-protected Kurdish areas of northern Iraq. 
For the benefit of the Kurdish people of Iraq, who have been subject to 
genocidal attacks by their own government, I only hope that they will 
not suffer the same fate as the people of Cyprus. On Cyprus, Turkey 
initially pledged to stay only for a brief time to protect the Turkish-
Cypriot minority on Cyprus. Now, we are beginning the third decade of 
Turkish occupation.
  In an effort to transform this paradigm of deadlock, last year 
Cypriot President Glafcos Clerides offered to totally demilitarize the 
island of Cyprus in the context of a Turkish military withdrawal and 
political agreement to reunify the country. The Government of Cyprus, 
then, has volunteered to entirely disband its military forces, giving 
up this fundamental sovereign attribute for the purpose of peace.
  The need to transform the terms of the debate over Cyprus is self 
evident for all who choose to see. I was first elected to the House in 
1978, 4 years after the Turkish invasion. That was the same year that 
President Carter succeeded in getting the United States arms embargo on 
Turkey lifted on the promise of an imminent breakthrough on ending the 
tragic and illegal division of the island.
  Every year I have been in Congress I have noted a sad, cynical 
process unfold. Each year, there are hints of movement and glimmering 
hopes of ending the Turkish occupation and reuniting Cyprus. The most 
recent opportunity has been the U.N.-sponsored talks over ``Confidence 
Building Measures,'' which would certainly be constructive if the talks 
had been undertaken in good faith by all sides and if they could set 
the stage for moving rapidly toward a final resolution of the dispute. 
But neither has been the case, so the talks ultimately atrophied into 
endless discussions and disagreements over the same kind of modest 
half-measures that have been the subject of endless talk ever since 
1974.
  Mr. President, we must continue to press for a negotiated settlement 
to the illegal division of Cyprus, and we must neither accept nor 
become comfortable with the status quo. This resolution is moderate in 
tone, and refrains from laying blame on any party. I believe that all 
parties can and must take a new look at the problem of Cyprus and work 
in good faith to bring this tragedy to an end. But as this resolution 
makes clear, our Nation must also be prepared to work alone or through 
the Security Council to ensure that all parties also understand that a 
continued impasse on Cyprus will not be tolerated.


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