[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 145 (Friday, November 4, 2005)]
[Senate]
[Pages S12398-S12399]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                                 CYPRUS

  Ms. SNOWE. Mr. President, I rise today to discuss the extremely 
unfortunate decision by the highest levels of the State Department to 
meet with Mehmet Ali Talat, the self-declared president of the so-
called ``Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.'' For more than 30 years, 
it has been a tenet of U.S. foreign policy not to extend de jure or de 
facto recognition to this self-declared government, which exists only 
because of the forcible occupation of the northern one-third of Cyprus 
by more than 43,000 Turkish troops.
  Cyprus was divided by a Turkish invasion in 1974. With the exception 
of Turkey, all nations recognize that this invasion was illegal and 
have refused to recognize the ``Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus,'' 
a rump state that proclaims itself the government of the occupied area. 
Far from honoring the invasion, the world recognizes only the Republic 
of Cyprus as the legitimate sovereign government for the entire island.
  Both international law and U.S. statutory law support the free 
government of Cyprus. Several U.N. Security Council resolutions implore 
nations neither to recognize nor support the self-declared government 
in the occupied area. Likewise, the U.S. Foreign Assistance Act 
establishes the U.S. policy of supporting a free government in Cyprus, 
demanding the withdrawal of all Turkish forces from Cyprus, and seeking 
the reunification of the island's communities.
  I rise today because I fear the State Department is now embarked on a 
different course, a course that may irreparably damage the prospects 
for a peaceful reunification of Cyprus. On Friday, October 28, 2005, 
the U.S. Secretary of State met with Mr. Mehmet Ali Talat. I have heard 
the State Department spokesperson try to justify this meeting by saying 
that the Secretary would only be meeting with Mr. Talat in his capacity 
as a leader of the Turkish-Cypriot community, and their session would 
not signal a change in U.S. policy toward Cyprus.
  These explanations are disappointing. In all likelihood, meeting Mr. 
Talat in the State Department's Harry S. Truman Building will be used 
by Turkey and the rump state as evidence that the United States is 
moving toward independent elevation of this self-declared government 
and the permanent dismemberment of Cyprus.
  Following the defeat of an U.N.-sponsored plan in 2004, the Republic 
of Cyprus has undertaken numerous initiatives designed to bring the two 
communities together. Since April 2003, when the movement restrictions 
through the cease-fire line were partially lifted, there have been more 
than 8 million crossings from both Greek and Turkish Cypriots. During 
the 4 million visits by Greek-Cypriots to the occupied area, 
approximately $100 million were spent to the benefit of Turkish 
Cypriots. Cyprus is contributing concretely to the economic uplifting 
of the Turkish Cypriot community--more than $43 million in social 
insurance, more than $9 million in medical care, and more than $343 
million in free electricity during the last couple of years.
  According to Turkish Cypriot reports, one of the main reasons for the 
Turkish Cypriot economic growth is the opportunity that was provided to 
more than 10,000 Turkish Cypriots to work in the government-controlled 
areas after the lifting of the restrictions. These skilled workers, who 
continue to live in the occupied areas, earn approximately $180 million 
every year. The Republic of Cyprus has also unilaterally removed land 
mines in the cease-fire zone. More than 63,000 people in the occupied 
area have been issued Republic of Cyprus birth certificates, more than 
57,000 have been issued Republic of Cyprus identity cards, and more 
than 32,000 have been issued Republic of Cyprus passports.
  Unfortunately, Turkey and its rump state have been working in the 
opposite direction. In Turkey's negotiation for EU accession, Turkey 
committed to extending its customs union to Cyprus, but then 
unilaterally backtracked on its commitment, stating that it does not 
even recognize the Republic of Cyprus. Turkey and the ``TRNC'' have 
pressed for the opening for direct airline flights and direct trade 
into the occupied area, both of which violate the Republic of Cyprus' 
sovereign power to designate ports of entry. Last month, the Prime 
Minister of Turkey

[[Page S12399]]

said that he would only accept a solution on Cyprus that included a 
permanent division of the island into two states. ``One state in the 
north, one state in the south and a confederation . . . this is what 
[Cyprus President] Papadopoulos should accept, otherwise we cannot 
reach an agreement,'' the Prime Minister stated. Most egregiously, 
Turkey and the ``TRNC'' have increased the number of Turkish troops on 
the island--from about 36,000 to more than 40,000--in the past year. 
Turkey also intensified the influx of Turkish settlers in the island 
and at the same time, both Ankara and the Turkish Cypriot leadership 
continued their policy of immense exploitation of Greek Cypriot 
properties in northern occupied Cyprus. These are not the actions of 
parties committed to a peaceful resolution to the division.
  For more than 30 years, the United States has refused to reward 
Turkey's illegal invasion with an independent Turkish state on Cyprus. 
But the decision to extend to Mr. Talat unprecedented access to our 
government's most hallowed halls only serves to validate his and the 
Turkish Prime Minister's view that the ``TRNC'' should be treated as an 
independent entity. Because independent status is exactly what Turkey 
and the rump state seek, the meeting reduces the incentive for Turkey 
and Mr. Talat to engage in productive talks to resolve the division of 
Cyprus. And why should they negotiate if they are promised to be 
provided direct trade, direct flights, and separate treatment by the 
Secretary of State?
  I call on the State Department to abandon this ill-conceived meeting 
with the self-declared president of the ``TRNC,'' an illegal entity 
that, I repeat, the U.S. government does not recognize. The meeting 
will be viewed, and it will be used, as an elevation of the ``TRNC'' 
and a nod toward independent and separate status. The meeting is 
inconsistent with the United States' stated policy towards Cyprus, and 
it serves only to hinder efforts to resolve the division of Cyprus.

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