[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 63 (Thursday, May 16, 2002)]
[House]
[Pages H2599-H2600]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         PEACE TALKS IN CYPRUS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Pallone) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I come to the House floor this evening to 
discuss the slow progress being made over the Cyprus conflict. 
Yesterday, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan traveled to 
Cyprus to meet with both Cyprus President Clerides and Turkish-Cypriot 
leader Denktash in an attempt to speed up negotiations between the two 
leaders. Secretary Annan said he hopes an agreement can be reached 
between the two sides by the end of June.
  Secretary Annan's pleas come during the same week that a high-ranking 
Turkish official said the time has come for Turkey to establish new 
proposals that would be based ``on parameters which are acceptable by 
Europe and the international community.'' Turkish Deputy Prime Minister 
Yilmaz was also critical of Turkish-Cypriot leader Denktash saying 
``the proposals by Denktash are inadequate.''

                              {time}  1700

  Mr. Speaker, in the past I have come to the House floor to voice my 
extreme displeasure over the way Denktash negotiates. Last year when 
peace negotiations were at a standstill, I criticized the Turkish 
side's well-known negotiation tactics that can best be described as 
nothing more than delay tactics. The Turkish side would agree to peace 
negotiations on the Cyprus problem only for the purpose of undermining 
them once they began and then blaming the Greek Cypriots for their 
failure.
  In recent months, however, Mr. Speaker, hopes have been raised that a 
just and durable solution to the Cyprus problem can be reached and 
Cyprus

[[Page H2600]]

President Clerides and Denktash have been meeting since the beginning 
of this year. The third round of these talks resumed last month. I am 
confident that the leadership of the Republic of Cyprus will continue 
to negotiate in good faith until a comprehensive settlement is reached 
as they have tried to do all along.
  Mr. Speaker, I now hope the Turkish Cypriot leadership will listen to 
the statements of the Turkish Deputy Prime Minister and finally respond 
by putting aside its unreasonable and unacceptable demands and 
negotiate in good faith. The most effective way for Turkey to expedite 
its membership into the European Union is for the Nation to finally 
support Cyprus' own accession into the EU and to drop its threats of 
annexing the Turkish-occupied northern third of the island if Cyprus' 
accession occurs. Turkey could also help its cause with the European 
Union by listening to its own Deputy Prime Minister and undertaking new 
initiatives on Cyprus.
  Mr. Speaker, given the instability in the adjacent region of the 
Middle East, now is a great time to heal the wounds in Cyprus that have 
been poisoning the relations between Greece and Turkey for nearly three 
decades. I am hopeful that the U.N. Secretary's visit to Cyprus and the 
statements of a high ranking Turkish official will move us closer to a 
just resolution of the Cyprus problem.

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