[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 59 (Tuesday, May 12, 1998)]
[House]
[Page H3027]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     COLLAPSE OF CYPRUS PEACE TALKS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 21, 1997, the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Pallone) is 
recognized during morning hour debates for 5 minutes.
  Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, on May 3rd, the new round of peace talks in 
Cyprus collapsed when the Turkish Cypriots abruptly changed their 
position in the negotiations and began insisting that two new 
conditions be met as preconditions to reunification. Led by U.S. 
Special Envoy to Cyprus Richard Holbrooke, this new attempt to breathe 
life into the moribund Cypriot peace talks has been scuttled by the 
Turks before it even had the slightest chance of producing a 
breakthrough. There is absolutely no doubt who the obstacle to peace 
is.
  I quote from Mr. Holbrooke, ``If progress is to be made on Cyprus, 
genuine progress,'' Richard Holbrooke said after the talks collapsed, 
``both sides will have to be willing to engage in a genuine give and 
take during serious negotiations. But,'' added Holbrooke, ``this is not 
the current situation. This was especially true in regard to two 
positions taken by the Turkish side.''
  Mr. Speaker, the Turkish side is now vowing that there will be no 
peace negotiations until the United Nations recognizes the Turkish 
Republic of Northern Cyprus and until the Greek Cypriots withdraw their 
application for membership to the European Union. These new demands, 
Mr. Speaker, are as ridiculous as they are unacceptable.
  After nearly 24 years of failed negotiations, the criteria for a 
settlement are well known to everyone involved. They have been outlined 
by the international community a variety of times in a number of U.N. 
resolutions, and they have been agreed to by the Greek Cypriots. Any 
settlement to the Cyprus situation must be consistent with the numerous 
U.N. resolutions. None of these, incidentally, even hint at bestowing 
an iota of legitimacy on the self-declared Republic of Northern Cyprus, 
which is, of the 180-plus countries in the world today, recognized only 
by Turkey. What they do say is that any solution to the Cyprus problem 
must include a bizonal, bicommunal, sovereign federation with a single 
federal government and a single international identity. There is 
widespread support on the Greek Cypriot side for structuring this 
federal government in accordance with these terms and a new federal 
constitution.
  Mr. Speaker, I believe that the administration shares the view of 
many of us here in Congress that the key to progress in Cyprus lies not 
with Rauf Denktash and the Turkish Cypriots, but in Ankara, 
particularly in light of the linkage by the Turkish side of Cypriot 
accession to the European Union to peace talks. Washington has been 
wary of Ankara's response to the European Union's decision not to 
invite Turkey to apply for membership in the European Union since that 
decision was made in December. Privately, U.S. policymakers feared that 
the decision would prompt Turkey to take an even harder line on Cyprus, 
and they are right. That is what has happened.
  Mr. Speaker, I think these developments, coupled with the 
administration's knowledge that Ankara is calling the shots for the 
Turkish Cypriots, necessitate a swift change in U.S. policy and 
diplomacy. While I would like to commend Ambassador Holbrooke for his 
public rebuke of the Turkish side's new conditions, I believe it is 
time to stop focusing public and private efforts on the Turkish 
Cypriots and intensify American efforts to move the peace process 
forward by putting pressure on Ankara and, more importantly, on the 
Turkish military.
  In forceful and unequivocal terms, the administration should convey 
to Ankara that there will be direct consequences in U.S.-Turkey 
relations if Ankara does not prevail upon the Turkish Cypriots to 
retract the two new conditions and allow the Cyprus peace talks to move 
forward. I intend to do everything I can as a Member of Congress to 
push U.S. policy towards Turkey in this direction. I hope the 
administration will work with me and the many Members of Congress who 
are exasperated with Turkey's intransigence and disrespect for 
international law and the will of the international community. The 
people of Cyprus have waited far, far too long for their freedom, and 
the U.S. should take the appropriate course of action to help them get 
it.

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