[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 147 (Thursday, November 14, 2002)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1999]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       A TIME TO RE-THINK CYPRUS

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. DAN BURTON

                               of indiana

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, November 13, 2002

  Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Mr. Speaker, on 15 November 2002, Turkish 
Cypriots are celebrating the 19th Anniversary of the proclamation of 
the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.
  The historic decision by the Turkish Cypriots to declare independence 
was not a separatist endeavor, but an act of self-defense undertaken 20 
years after being forced out of the bi-national partnership State of 
1960 by the Greek Cypriot partner; and having been physically driven 
from their homes and properties in 103 villages across the island in a 
campaign of violence and ethnic cleansing that had started in 1963. 
Terrorized, displaced and disenfranchised, the Turkish Cypriots had no 
choice but to reorganize themselves in the areas or ``enclaves'' under 
their control, in a collective act of survival, and to start running 
their own affairs.
  As to what happened afterwards, let us hear it from Mr. Glafcos 
Clerides, the Greek Cypriot leader, as candidly recounted in his 
memoirs entitled ``Cyprus: My Deposition.'' (Vol. 111, pp. 236-237):

       In the years that followed a steady, stage-by-stage 
     development is noted in the Turkish administration, with the 
     separation in its legislative, executive and judicial powers. 
     An administrative organization is created, as well as police 
     force and army. The increase of the financial resources of 
     the Turkish Cypriots through economic aid from Turkey 
     permitted the functioning of their administration on a more 
     permanent basis, a fact which they made clear, by renaming 
     their ``Temporary Turkish Cypriot Administration'' to 
     ``Turkish Cypriot Administration.'' Thus there exist today in 
     Cyprus two poles of power on a separate geographical basis; 
     i.e., the Government of the Cyprus Republic, controlling the 
     largest section of the territory of the state and 
     internationally recognized, and the Turkish Cypriot 
     Administration, which controls a very limited area and is not 
     internationally recognized, but has already taken almost all 
     the characteristics of a small state.

  This State is now the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, which is a 
product of the exercise, by the Turkish Cypriot people, of their 
inalienable right to self-determination on 15 November 1983.
  The Turkish Cypriot Independence Declaration contains all the 
principles and ideals that are universal to mankind, and are very 
familiar to the American people, such as ``that all Men are created 
equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable 
Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of 
Happiness'' and that ``Governments derive their just Powers from the 
Consent of the governed.'' In this Declaration, the Turkish Cypriots 
also extended a hand of friendship to the Greek Cypriots and called for 
the peaceful resolution of all their differences. That hand of peace 
and friendship remains extended today.
  It should be clear from the above brief history that the Turkish 
Cypriot people never owed any allegiance to the Greek Cypriot 
administration of Southern Cyprus, which has no legal or moral right to 
claim to represent anyone other than the Greek Cypriot people. The said 
administration, under the pretentious title of the ``Government of 
Cyprus,'' has no jurisdiction to represent or act on behalf of the 
Turkish Cypriot people, whose sole legitimate representatives are those 
elected under the Constitution of the Turkish Republic of Northern 
Cyprus. The fact that the Turkish Cypriot and Greek Cypriot sides are 
political equals and that neither of the parties can represent the 
other has been underlined by the UN Secretary-General on 12 September, 
2000 as follows:

       I have ascertained that the parties share a common desire 
     to bring about, through negotiations in which each represents 
     its side--and no-one else--as the political equal of the 
     other, a comprehensive settlement enshrining a new 
     partnership . . .

  This fact has also been expressed by other foreign dignitaries, such 
as Ambassador Richard Holbrooke, former U.S. Presidential Special 
Emissary for Cyprus, who, at a press conference held on 4 May 1998 in 
Cyprus, stated the following:

       I think it is very clear and no one has disputed that 
     Glafcos Clerides does not represent or have control over the 
     people of Northern Cyprus.

  The former Italian Foreign Minister, Mr. Lamberto Dini, expressed the 
reality of the existence of two independent and sovereign States 
representing the two peoples of the island in his statement of 26 
August 1997, even in clearer terms:

       It has to be recognized that there are two republics in 
     Cyprus, two entities, two governments . . . and therefore, if 
     the European Union does not recognize this basic fact, in 
     conducting negotiations for membership, then you bump into 
     the problem . . . that one of the parties would not accept 
     negotiations, going on with only what, in effect, is the 
     Greek Republic of Cyprus.

  The way to the future in Cyprus must be based on this reality, rather 
than the myth that there is only one government in the island and that 
this is the Greek Cypriot administration. The Turkish Cypriot side has 
again demonstrated its good will in regard to a settlement by 
initiating the face-to-face talks between the two parties which started 
in December 2001 and are still continuing. However, these talks, 
already facing great difficulty because of the unilateral and unlawful 
EU aspirations of the Greek Cypriot side, face even a greater threat by 
the prospect of a positive decision on this matter by the European 
Union at its approaching summit in Copenhagen in early December 2002.
  It is sincerely hoped that the EU will act in full awareness of the 
fact that such a decision before a settlement can only perpetuate the 
division in Cyprus and will refrain from doing so. The decades-long 
negotiating process in Cyprus should have demonstrated to all concerned 
that worn-out clich[eacute]s and tried-and-failed formulas have not 
worked in Cyprus, and a bold new approach is needed. With its 
democratic system of government, respect for rule of law and human 
rights, the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus deserves to be treated 
on a par with the Greek Cypriot State in the South. The two States can 
then come together to forge a common future on the basis of equality 
and a new partnership, also serving as a bridge of cooperation between 
Turkey and Greece, two allies the United States, which have direct 
interests and responsibilities vis-[agrave]-vis Cyprus. This is the way 
to lasting, peace and reconciliation in the island as well as the 
eastern Mediterranean region.
  Is it not time for all concerned to rethink their approach to the 
Cyprus issue and bring it in line with the realities on the island?

                          ____________________