[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 7]
[House]
[Pages 9305-9306]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                     REACTION TO CYPRUS REFERENDUM

  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, last month the Greek Cypriot majority on 
the island nation of Cyprus overwhelmingly rejected a U.N. plan that 
forced them to put too much faith in the government of Turkey. Mr. 
Speaker, let us be clear. The Greek Cypriot people did not reject 
reunification of Cyprus. They rejected a proposal by U.N. Secretary-
General Kofi Annan, a proposal they determined was not in the best 
interests of their nation as it prepared to join the European Union.
  After the Annan plan was defeated, Cypriot President Papadopoulos 
said, ``I should emphasize that the Greek Cypriots have not rejected 
the solution of the Cyprus problem. They are not

[[Page 9306]]

turning their backs on their Turkish Cypriot compatriots.'' President 
Papadopoulos once again called upon Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots 
to work together for a united Cyprus. Both the United Nations and the 
Bush administration must realize that the Greek Cypriots are still 
dedicated to reunification, but they were simply not willing to accept 
a plan that forced them to accept the good will of the Turkish 
Government.
  Mr. Speaker, before last month's vote, I voiced concern over some of 
the provisions included in the final Annan plan. I think the overall 
vote shows who benefited most from this plan, the Turkish Cypriot 
people and Turkey. I met with the Secretary-General in March to express 
my concerns with some of the proposals he was planning to include in 
his final plan. During that meeting, I strongly recommended that the 
United Nations maintain a presence on the island as long as the Turkish 
Army remained there.
  The Secretary-General assured me that U.N. forces would remain on the 
island for a considerable amount of time, but his final plan allowed 
Turkish troops to stay indefinitely without an international presence. 
This was simply unacceptable. Like most Greek Cypriots, I was extremely 
worried about the actions Turkish troops would take with the absence of 
a neutral international presence to keep them in line. I was also 
concerned that Turkey would not abide by the final agreement and its 
troops would contribute to further instability and insecurity.
  Mr. Speaker, the Annan plan should have called for the removal of all 
foreign troops and should have eliminated the right of foreign powers 
to unilaterally intervene in Cyprus. Greek Cypriots were concerned that 
the plan did not contain ironclad provisions for the implementation of 
the agreement, especially for those provisions where Turkey's 
cooperation was necessary. The Cypriots were forced to take the Turkish 
Government at its word that occupied land would be returned to its 
rightful owners 3 to 5 years down the line. The Cypriots were forced to 
take the Turkish Government at its word that the Turkish Parliament 
would ratify the treaty. And, as I have said, the Cypriots were forced 
to believe that Turkey would remove its troops according to the 
timetable in the Annan plan and were forced to deal with the fact that 
Turkish troops will remain in Cyprus forever with Turkey having the 
unilateral right to intervene at any time.
  Greek Cypriots were also concerned that the Annan plan denied the 
majority of the Greek Cypriot refugees the right of return to their 
homes in safety. They were also concerned the plan imposed on them the 
liability to pay large claims for the loss of use of properties in the 
Turkish occupied area.
  Mr. Speaker, all of these concerns led to the rejection of the Annan 
plan by the Greek Cypriots in the referendum. But as the Greek Cypriot 
President said, the Greek Cypriots are not turning their backs on the 
Turkish Cypriots. Greek Cypriots will continue to hold out hope that a 
common future for all Cypriots within the European Union will 
eventually be a reality, but it must happen without any third parties, 
like the Turkish Government, dictating that future.

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