[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 102 (Wednesday, July 21, 2004)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1450-E1451]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              MAINTAINING THE PROPER PERSPECTIVE ON CYPRUS

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. DAN BURTON

                               of indiana

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, July 21, 2004

  Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Mr. Speaker, today on the tiny Mediterranean 
island of Cyprus,

[[Page E1451]]

Turkish and Greek Cypriots mark the anniversary of momentous events 
that have shaped the last 30 years of the island's history. The events 
of July 1974 have been the subject of much debate, controversy, and 
unfortunately, distortion. The United States has worked long and hard 
to help bring peace to Cyprus, and as both sides of this divided island 
struggle to achieve a stable and prosperous future for all Cypriots, it 
is important for this House to put history in its proper perspective, 
to separate fact from propaganda, and to create a fair and balanced 
understanding of the issues that divide the island's two constituent 
peoples (the Turkish Cypriots and the Greek Cypriots.
  It is easy to assume that the history of the Cyprus conflict starts 
in 1974, but this is far from the truth. The origins of the Cyprus 
conflict can be traced back to the Greek Cypriot drive for Union with 
Greece (enosis), a movement with roots that can be traced as far back 
as the later days of the Ottoman Empire. The modern history of the 
conflict, however, stems from the 1950s and 1960s.
  From 1878 to 1960, Cyprus was ruled by the British. When the island 
achieved independence from the United Kingdom in 1960, it was with 
constitutional guarantees for power sharing on the basis of political 
equality. The constitution foresaw (and still foresees) a bi-communal 
structure, and the peaceful co-existence of Greek and Turkish 
communities side by side. The president was to be Greek, and the vice-
president to be from the Turkish community, each with the power of 
veto.
  Unfortunately, differences in language, culture, religion, and 
national traditions, ended this vision by late 1963 when a political 
crisis and inter-communal violence broke out. In November 1963, 
Makarios, the first president of Cyprus--a Greek Cypriot--submitted a 
plan aimed at amending the constitution. However, the changes proposed 
removed most of the checks and balances which had been built into the 
constitution to ensure the safety and equal status of the Turkish 
community.
  Matters came to a head on in December of that year, when armed Greeks 
attacked a suburb in Nicosia, killing or capturing those Turkish 
Cypriots who were unable to escape. Armed conflict spread, with the 
Turkish Cypriots withdrawing into enclaves to defend themselves. A 
buffer zone was set up and manned by British troops in a largely 
unsuccessful attempt to stop the fighting. These were later replaced by 
United Nations troops in March 1964, troops which are still there to 
this day. For the next ten years, the enosis campaign of the Greek 
Cypriots cost the Turkish Cypriots many lives and untold suffering, as 
well as their partnership position in the Cyprus government.
  Former United States Undersecretary of State, George Ball, who, among 
others, as actively dealing with the crisis at the time, remarked in 
his memoirs entitled The Past Has Another Pattern, that Makarios has 
turned: ``This beautiful little island into his private abattoir'' (P. 
341). Ball went on further to say that: ``Makarios'' central interest 
was to block off Turkish intervention so that he and his Greek Cypriots 
could go on happily massacring the Turkish Cypriots'' (p. 345).
  For example, in March 1964, well armed Greek forces attempted to 
crush the Turks at Erenkoy on the north coast, in order to interrupt 
the alleged flow of munitions from the Turkish mainland: they would 
undoubtedly have succeeded had not the Turkish air force intervened. 
This act added a new dimension to the conflict. Fear of Turkish 
intervention sobered the Greek Cypriots somewhat, and they settled down 
to a systematic economic blockade of the Turkish enclaves. Further 
armed conflict in 1967 provoked Turkey to threaten military 
intervention, but with the takeover of Greece by a Military Junta, and 
an economic boom occurring on Cyprus, enosis seemed less attractive and 
the violence subsided
  However, intervention finally came in 1974. During the presidential 
elections of 1974,
  Makarios clearly announced the cause of enosis, and was re-elected. 
He subsequently ordered the withdrawal of mainland Greek officers from 
the Island, whereupon the National Guard, which was under the command 
of those same mainland Greek officers loyal to the Junta, stormed the 
presidential palace in Nicosia, although President Makarios escaped. In 
the face of this bloody coup, which brought the island to the brink of 
political extinction and a humanitarian tragedy, Turkey, which was 
treaty-bound to act as a Guarantor State, was forced to undertake 
action. As a result of this legitimate and timely action, Turkish 
Cypriots were saved from imminent destruction, bloodshed among the 
Greek Cypriots was ended and the independence of Cyprus was protected.
  U.N.-led direct talks between the two sides to reach a comprehensive 
settlement to the division of the island began in early 2002, and 
reached a culmination when simultaneous referenda were held on each 
side on April 24, 2004.
  Mr. Speaker, it is remarkable that, after all they have gone through, 
the Turkish Cypriots have continued to demonstrate a genuine desire to 
settle their differences with their Greek neighbors in a peaceful and 
amicable way through negotiations. In the referendum of April 24th, the 
Turkish Cypriots voted 65 percent to approve the U.N. plan for 
reunification of the island. In contrast, the Greek Cypriots gave the 
plan a resounding no by a 3 to 1 margin, effectively leaving all 
settlement efforts in limbo. Yet, in an ironic twist of events, it was 
the Greek Cypriots who were allowed to enter the European Union in May 
while the Turkish Cypriots, like their counterparts in Turkey, continue 
to be left out in the cold.
  Under the circumstances, I agree with U.N. Secretary-General Annan 
when he cited in his latest report on the situation in Cyprus, that 
there is no justification for keeping the Turkish Cypriots in isolation 
from the rest of the international community. The restrictions that 
have been imposed on their economic, political and cultural activity 
internationally should be lifted. Turkish Cypriots must be allowed to 
enjoy the benefits--benefits they were guaranteed under the 1960 
independence agreement, which any peaceful, democratic society 
deserves.
  Fair and equal treatment of the Turkish Cypriots can only benefit the 
island as a whole and further facilitate the achievement of a 
negotiated settlement.

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