[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 118 (Thursday, July 20, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1484-E1485]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


               ``TWENTY ONE YEARS OF DIVISION ON CYPRUS''

                                 ______


                         HON. WILLIAM J. COYNE

                            of pennsylvania

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, July 20, 1995
  Mr. COYNE. Mr. Speaker, I want to express my strong support for a 
peaceful end to the presence of Turkish military forces in Cyprus.
  Today, July 20, 1995, marks the 21st anniversary of Turkey's invasion 
and occupation of the Island of Cyprus. The time is clearly long 
overdue when the occupation and division of Cyprus should be ended. The 
time has come to provide answers to questions over persons who have 
been missing for over two decades since the invasion of Cyprus. The 
time has come to bring peace and unity to the people of Cyprus.
  The United States of America has clearly stated its commitment to a 
Cyprus settlement that respects the single sovereignty and territorial 
integrity of this island. I want to commend President Clinton for the 
leadership his administration has offered in support of international 
efforts to resolve the issue of a divided Cyprus. This administration 
has expressed clearly and consistently its support for an end to the 
illegal division of Cyprus.

[[Page E1485]]

  Last fall, President Clinton appointed Richard Beaatie as Special 
Presidential Envoy for Cyprus to lend new impetus to United States 
efforts to resolve the Cyprus problem. Last month, President Clinton 
also elevated State Department Special Coordinator for Cyprus James 
William to ambassadorial rank to provide a further indication of U.S. 
resolve. The United States has also initiated, in
 conjunction with Great Britain, confidential talks between Greek 
Cypriots and the Turkish Cypriots. While these talks were to eventually 
break down due to Turkish intransigence, the resolve of the United 
States and the Clinton administration remain unshaken in its support 
for a peaceful settlement of the Cyprus division.

  The international community has also spoken with a clear voice 
against the continued division of the Island of Cyprus. U.N. Security 
Council adopted Resolution 939 on July 29, 1994, which calls for a 
Cyprus settlement ``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 
part with any other country or any form of partition or succession.''
  The Greek Cypriots are also speaking with a clear voice in support of 
a peaceful resolution to the division of Cyprus. Greek Cypriot 
President Clerides recently issued a demilitarization proposal that 
seeks to bring an end to Cyprus' status as what U.N. Secretary General 
Boutros Boutros-Ghali called ``one of the most highly militarized areas 
in the world. President Clerides' proposal states that the Government 
of Cyprus will disband its military force, turn over its military 
hardware to the U.N. peacekeeping force, and pledge all out-year 
appropriations that would be otherwise earmarked for defense toward 
maintaining the U.N. force if the Republic of Turkey will end its 
illegal occupation of this island. The way is clear for ending the 
division of Cyprus which has brought so much suffering to the people of 
the island if the Turkish Government will embrace this opportunity to 
obtain a peaceful end to the division of Cyprus.
  Mr. Speaker, it is my hope that the people of Cyprus will soon live 
free from foreign occupation and illegal division. Twenty-one years of 
occupation is far too long and I want to join with my colleagues in 
urging the Government of Turkey to end its occupation of Cyprus.


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