[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George H. W. Bush (1992, Book I)]
[February 25, 1992]
[Pages 312-313]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Letter to Congressional Leaders Reporting on the Cyprus Conflict

February 25, 1992
Dear Mr. Speaker:  (Dear Mr. Chairman:)
    In accordance with Public Law 95-384 (22 U.S.C. 2373(c)), I am 
submitting to you this bimonthly report on progress toward a negotiated 
settlement of the Cyprus question. This report covers the second half of 
October and all of November and December 1991. During this period there 
was a pause in the Cyprus negotiating process, in large part associated 
with national elections in Turkey and the process of government 
formation that followed. However, during this period, important contacts 
between the U.N. Secretary General and the Greek and Turkish Governments 
and the leaders of the two Cypriot communities continued, as did 
contacts of U.S. representatives with all parties.
    The U.N. Secretary General's report on his good offices mission of 
October 8 and U.N. Security Council Resolution 716 of October 12 (both 
attached to my last report to the Congress) were widely discussed in 
Cyprus, Greece, and Turkey. On November 30, 1991, the U.N. Secretary 
General issued his semiannual report on U.N. Operations in Cyprus 
covering the period from June 1, 1991, through November 30, 1991 (copy 
attached). This was a prelude to the renewal, on December 12, by the 
U.N. Security Council of the mandate of UNFICYP, the U.N. Force in 
Cyprus, for an additional 6 months to start on December 15. (There had 
been informal discussion of changing the method of financing UNFICYP, 
but no changes were made although it was agreed to consider again, 
during the current mandate period, moving toward assessed rather

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than voluntary contributions.)
    On December 3 President Vassiliou of Cyprus visited New York to meet 
with outgoing U.N. Secretary General Perez de Cuellar to review the 
Cyprus negotiations. He also had an informal conversation with Secretary 
General Designate Boutros Ghali about how the settlement process might 
be moved forward in 1992. President Vassiliou also met in New York with 
the U.S. Special Cyprus Coordinator, Ambassador Nelson Ledsky, and with 
the U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador 
Thomas Pickering.
    On December 12 I met with Prime Minister Mitsotakis of Greece, who 
was visiting Washington. We discussed Cyprus along with other matters of 
mutual interest. During our meeting and, in a public statement after the 
meeting, I assured Prime Minister Mitsotakis that Cyprus remains an 
important issue on the U.S. agenda. I told Prime Minister Mitsotakis 
that I would send U.S. Special Cyprus Coordinator Ledsky to the Eastern 
Mediterranean early in 1992.
    On December 19 Secretary of State Baker met with Foreign Minister 
Hikmet Cetin of Turkey while both were attending the North Atlantic 
Council meeting in Brussels. Among other subjects they discussed Cyprus, 
and Secretary Baker told Mr. Cetin of our continued strong interest in 
the U.N. Cyprus settlement process.
    Also on December 19 U.N. Secretary General Perez de Cuellar 
distributed to the Security Council his final report (copy attached) on 
his Cyprus ``good offices'' mission. Although the Secretary General 
expressed his disappointment that the Cyprus question had not been 
resolved during his 10-year tenure, he noted the progress that had been 
made and laid out the areas where work still needs to be done to narrow 
differences. He then asked the leaders of the two Cypriot communities 
and of Greece and Turkey to devote their full energies to pursuit of a 
solution of the Cyprus question.
    On December 23 the U.N. Security Council President issued a 
statement on behalf of the Council (copy attached) that noted the 
progress already made through the efforts of the Secretary General, 
endorsed his December 19 report, reaffirmed the Council's position that 
a high-level international meeting chaired by the U.N. Secretary General 
and attended by the two Cypriot communities, Greece, and Turkey 
represented an effective mechanism for concluding an overall framework 
agreement, requested full cooperation of all parties in completing on an 
urgent basis the U.N. set of ideas on an overall framework agreement, 
and called on the new Secretary General to report on progress by April 
1992.
    At the end of December 1991 Ambassador Ledsky prepared for his new 
consultation mission to the Eastern Mediterranean. His mission began on 
January 7, 1992, and will be the initial item in my next bimonthly 
report.
    Like U.N. Secretary General Perez de Cuellar, I am disappointed that 
circumstances did not allow the Cyprus issue to be resolved in 1991. I 
would like to take this opportunity to add my personal thanks to 
Secretary General Perez de Cuellar for his tireless efforts over many 
years and share with him the sentiment he expressed in the final line of 
his final report on Cyprus: ``. . . the long overdue solution can be 
reached and the two communities can live together in Cyprus in harmony, 
security, and prosperity.''
    Sincerely,

                                                             George Bush

                    Note: Identical letters were sent to Thomas S. 
                        Foley, Speaker of the House of Representatives, 
                        and Claiborne Pell, chairman of the Senate 
                        Committee on Foreign Relations.