[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 135 (Thursday, October 1, 1998)]
[House]
[Page H9270]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       CYPRUS'S INDEPENDENCE DAY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Gilchrest). Under a previous order of 
the House, the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Pallone) is recognized 
for 5 minutes.
  Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I rise tonight to congratulate the Republic 
of Cyprus on the 38th anniversary of its independence today. I came 
down to the House floor to speak about Cyprus's Independence Day 
because I think it is imperative that Congress take every opportunity 
to highlight the fact that the Republic of Cyprus does not enjoy true 
independence as we understand it in the United States.
  For 24 of the 38 years since Cyprus became an independent State, the 
northern 37 percent of the island has been occupied by an illegal 
Turkish occupation force. Today, some 35,000 Turkish troops remain 
entrenched in the self-declared Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, 
which has been recognized only by the regime in Ankara. This occupation 
continues to destabilize the region, and sadly, the Turks appear to be 
growing only more and more intransigent and unreasonable in moving the 
peace process forward.
  Despite numerous outstanding U.N. resolutions calling for a 
negotiated settlement, and a standing offer by Cypriot President 
Clerides to demilitarize the island, the regime in Ankara deliberately 
set the peace process back.
  Over the last several months, there have been some actions by the 
Turkish side that have been of particular cause for concern. In May, as 
most of us who follow the Cyprus issue know, a new attempt to 
resuscitate peace talks led by Ambassador Richard Holbrooke collapsed 
when the Turks abruptly insisted on three new and unfounded 
preconditions to meaningful negotiations.
  These preconditions, Mr. Speaker, were absolutely ridiculous. They 
prompted a public rebuke from Ambassador Holbrooke, who noted that 
peace talks are useless when only one party truly wants peace. 
Frustrated with the almost instantaneous collapse of these talks, I 
wrote to President Clinton urging that he adopt a hard-line policy, and 
use American influence with the Turkish military to get the Turks to 
cooperate.
  Specifically, I asked that the U.S. government communicate to Ankara 
that there would be severe consequences in U.S.-Turkey relations if it 
did not prevail upon its puppet regime in Northern Cyprus to abandon 
these new demands and cooperate in the peace process. I have, 
unfortunately, seen no indication that any such message was 
communicated.
  While I do not question the administration's commitment to bring 
peace to the region, I have nonetheless been disappointed with its 
tepid response to this newest spate of Turkish obstinance.
  I am also very wary of the administration's response to another issue 
that I have been following closely and working on over the last few 
weeks. Shortly after the collapse of the peace talks, the Cypriot 
foreign minister was in town visiting Washington, and came to Capitol 
Hill to meet with Members of Congress.
  At that meeting, some Members raised the issue of illegal Turkish 
transfers of American weapons to Northern Cyprus. This was very 
troubling to learn of, in light of the collapse of the peace talks, and 
because it was consistent with other reports of similar Turkish 
behavior. The illegal transfer of weapons by Turkey in fact was 
something I was already concerned about. On trips I had taken to 
Armenia, I saw firsthand American weapons that had been seized from the 
Azerbaijanis.
  Following the meeting with the foreign minister, I decided that we 
ought to pursue the idea of holding congressional hearings on this 
topic of weapons transfers. I teamed up with the gentleman from 
California (Mr. Brad Sherman) and the gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. 
Carolyn Maloney), and sent a Dear Colleague to all Members of the House 
asking them to sign a letter to the chairman of the Committee on 
International Relations, asking him to hold hearings.
  As it was being circulated, it came to the attention of Ambassador 
Tom Miller. Ambassador Miller is now the State Department's special 
coordinator for Cyprus. He subsequently contacted myself, the gentleman 
from California (Mr. Sherman), and the gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. 
Maloney), and asked if he could come to talk with us.
  During the meeting, he informed me that in response to the inquiries 
by Members of Congress about Turkish arms transfers, the State 
Department would prepare a report on the matter, and that report is at 
this time being prepared.
  In addition to the report, Ambassador Miller indicated that he would 
be willing to come to my district to talk to leaders of the Greek and 
Cypriot communities, which he did on September 13.
  I have to say, Mr. Speaker, I appreciated the Ambassador's visit to 
New Jersey. Everyone there, myself included, told Ambassador Miller 
that it was our very strong belief that Turkey with not change its 
behavior unless it was clear that that behavior would bring serious 
consequences from the international community and the United States, in 
particular.
  But our concern was that the U.S. has not indicated to the Turkish 
government there would be any serious response to their activities. If 
anything, the U.S. gives the impression that Turkey is more important 
as an ally today than it was in the past, and that the administration 
was going out of its way to show U.S. support for Turkey in the context 
of its application to the European Union, its strategic significance in 
the Middle East, and in many other respects. Even our condemnation of 
human rights violations in Turkey, particularly with respect to the 
Kurds, I think has been insignificant.
  What I would like to emphasize, though, Mr. Speaker, before I 
conclude tonight, is that I, along with quite a few other Members, are 
intent on holding Turkey accountable for its actions and bringing true 
independence to Cyprus. We have seen success in Northern Ireland and 
Bosnia. With continued vigilance, we can bring success to Cyprus.
  With hard work and a hard-line policy, I must emphasize, harder than 
we have now, we will one day surely be able to celebrate the true 
independence of Cyprus on a future Independence Day.

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