[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 100 (Wednesday, July 9, 2003)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1429]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        BRINGING CYPRUS TOGETHER

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. DONALD M. PAYNE

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, July 9, 2003

  Mr. PAYNE. Mr. Speaker, post-September 11, 2001, and in the aftermath 
of the campaign in Iraq, the eastern Mediterranean is increasingly a 
focus of attention for policymakers, news organizations, academics and 
government leaders around the world. In this geographic neighborhood of 
perennial tensions, a U.S. ally, Turkey, continues to delay the 
economic and political development of Cyprus, regrettably refusing to 
end its military occupation of the island's northern third.
  For almost three decades, Cyprus has been a country characterized by 
economic growth, political maturation and determination to overcome the 
legacy of division wrought by Turkish intervention. Even though Cyprus 
will join the European Union (EU) in May 2004 and will someday be in a 
position to weigh in on discussions regarding future Turkish 
membership, Ankara continues to display an unfortunate and unnecessary 
intransigence that is not in its own long-term strategic interests. 
Maintaining roughly 35,000 troops and tens of thousands of Turkish 
settlers in the northern sector of Cyprus since 1974, Turkey has 
repeatedly defied U.N. Security Council resolutions calling for the 
immediate withdrawal of its troops from the island.
  No one underestimates the value of Turkey's geographic location and--
prior to U.S. involvement in Iraq, at least--its value as a regional 
NATO member. Despite this key role, Turkey's refusal to cooperate in 
the face of repeated worldwide calls to end its occupation of northern 
Cyprus cannot continue to go ignored.
  As a member of the House International Relations Committee, I am 
troubled by this ongoing and unnecessary partitioning and weakening of 
what is proving to be a booming state--Cyprus. It is time we recognize 
this situation for what it is and insist Turkey cooperate actively in 
its prompt solution.
  Measures that serve to build confidence should certainly continue, 
but not as an exercise to delay the inevitable: the reunification of 
the island state of Cyprus as a complex, modern, multi-ethnic 
Mediterranean state.
  Due to this inexplicable separation, Cyprus holds the dubious 
distinction of being the only European state with its capital divided, 
as barbed wire quite literally carves the country in two. Two 
historically well-integrated ethnic communities of predominantly 
Christian Greek and Muslim Turkish heritage are required to live in a 
very artificial segregation. Turkey treats the northern third of the 
island it occupies as an impoverished, second-tier province, rather 
than allowing it to join in an increasingly successful Cyprus.
  Despite a history of unsuccessful efforts by American and U.N. 
diplomacy to effect a resolution of issues that were created by the 
Turkish invasion, the government of Cyprus has persisted in its efforts 
to peacefully reunite the two communities and bring European prosperity 
to both. Meanwhile, the leaders of Cyprus have succeeded in creating a 
modern economy and have achieved a level of growth that qualified 
Cyprus to receive an invitation for EU membership, a Continental ``seal 
of approval.''
  Thereafter, EU leadership made it clear to Turkey that its own 
aspirations to join the EU depended upon its cooperation in tolerating 
the accession of Cyprus to the EU, and hinted that successful 
resolution of the Cyprus problem would go a long way toward reducing 
opposition to Turkey's EU accession.
  Turkey, although recently permitting limited buffer zone crossings 
within Cyprus, has dragged its heels on a strategy to resolve the 
overall situation, which will in effect deny the northern third the 
benefits of EU membership.
  On April 30, the Cypriot government introduced a series of new 
economic, political, and social measures designed to ease the hardships 
of Turkish Cypriot compatriots disadvantaged by the status quo--such as 
providing improved medical care, expanded employment opportunities, 
facilitated trade and movement of goods, and participation in free and 
open national elections.
  One must view these welcome developments, however, with utmost 
caution. Neither the recent partial relaxation of movement restrictions 
through the U.N. cease-fire line nor the government's pro-active 
recognition of its Turkish Cypriot citizens' most pressing needs should 
be mistaken as a substitute for formal diplomatic efforts to reach a 
negotiated, comprehensive settlement of the Cyprus situation based on 
the U.N.'s internationally endorsed framework.
  Today, Turkey faces economic and social challenges, although none of 
them pertain to its Mediterranean neighbor, Cyprus, aside from the 
estimated $500 million a year that its occupation of Cyprus drains from 
the Turkish economy. Turkey's difficulties in reforming its military 
and legal system, respecting the rights of its ethnic minorities, and 
heeding the EU's advice on steps it needs to take if it wishes to join 
the EU should offer the necessary incentives for it to take progressive 
steps on the issue of Cyprus.
  The time has come for the United States to advise Turkey's 
leadership--in very clear terms--that its occupation of Cyprus must 
quickly come to an end. Turkey, today with lessened leverage over the 
United States, should not be allowed to continue blocking resolution of 
the situation in Cyprus. The only chance Turkey has to modernize by 
joining the EU is to release Cyprus from the grip of its aggression and 
show the world that Turkey itself has turned the corner and is an 
increasingly enlightened global citizen.
  Then, and only then, Cyprus can be reunited, bringing security and 
prosperity to all its citizens and a glimmer of peace to the eastern 
Mediterranean.

                          ____________________