[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George H. W. Bush (1992-1993, Book II)]
[October 19, 1992]
[Pages 1850-1851]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Letter to Congressional Leaders Reporting on the Cyprus Conflict
October 19, 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 months of July 
and August 1992.
    The New York negotiations resumed, as scheduled, on July 15 on the 
same basis as they had recessed with the Secretary General having 
separate meetings with the leaders of the two Cypriot communities 
(``proximity talks'').
    On the first day of this new negotiating session, the U.N. Secretary 
General gave his ``set of ideas'' for a Cyprus settlement, including a 
U.N. suggested map of territorial adjustments, to the two Cypriot 
delegations. Both sides accepted the documents and signalled their 
readiness to use them as the basis for negotiations. Mr. Denktash, 
however, objected to the U.N. map, and after lengthy discussion with the 
U.N. negotiators over several weeks, indicated his intention to accept a 
Turkish Cypriot federated state that constituted ``29 plus percent'' of 
a future Cyprus federated republic, a formulation he had accepted in the 
mid-1980s. Mr. Denktash made several specific proposals, none of which 
came close in quality or quantity to the territorial adjustments 
suggested in the U.N. map. The Secretary General's account of the 
negotiations on this issue is detailed in paragraphs 17 through 29 of 
his August 21 report to the Security Council on his mission of good 
offices in Cyprus, which is attached to this letter.
    The question of displaced persons was also discussed in detail 
during the July-August negotiations. The Turkish Cypriot side accepted 
the principles of the right to return and the right to property, 
provided that ``practical difficulties'' on the Turkish Cypriot side 
would be taken into account. Mr. Denktash wanted particularly to exempt 
certain categories of Turkish Cypriots from the obligation to vacate 
their current homes and to provide a review mechanism for cases in which 
there were conflicting claims. The Greek Cypriot side agreed, the 
Secretary General reported, that, in this as in all other respects, the 
``set of ideas'' provided the basis for reaching an overall framework 
agreement. Paragraphs 27 through 32 of the Secretary General's August 21 
report cover the negotiations on displaced persons.
    The U.N. negotiators reviewed the other six headings of the ``set of 
ideas,'' including constitutional arrangements, with the two Cypriot 
community leaders on the last days of the proximity talks.
    In all, the U.N. Secretary General and his representatives had more 
than three dozen separate meetings with the two leaders between July 15 
and August 11. During this period and during the direct talks that 
followed, the U.S. Cyprus Coordinator, Ambassador Nelson Ledsky, and the 
U.S. Ambassador to Cyprus, Robert Lamb, were in New York to coordinate 
with the U.N. negotiators, with the representatives of the two

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Cypriot communities, Greece, Turkey, and with representatives of the 
other permanent members of the U.N. Security Council. These 
consultations continued during the July-August negotiations, and 
representatives of the United States and the other four permanent 
members of the Security Council were briefed almost daily by the 
negotiators on the progress of the talks. There were also numerous 
informal contacts with the two Cypriot delegations as well as the 
numerous consultations with the representatives of the five permanent 
Security Council members indicated above.
    On August 11, the Secretary General announced that the two sides had 
made enough progress to warrant moving to direct discussions. The two 
Cypriot leaders agreed that these face-to-face discussions would focus 
first on displaced persons, then on constitutional arrangements, then 
territory, and then to the other issues in the ``set of ideas.''
    In the 3 days that followed, the Secretary General conducted four 
meetings between the two Cypriot leaders. On August 14, the Secretary 
General suggested and the two leaders agreed to another pause in the 
talks. The parties agreed that the talks would resume on a face-to-face 
basis on October 26 at the U.N. headquarters in New York.
    On August 21, the Secretary General issued the attached report to 
the Security Council. The Secretary General's report covers his efforts 
to resolve the Cyprus problem during the period from April 10, 1992, 
through August 21, 1992. The report has annexed to it the entire U.N. 
``Set of ideas on an overall framework agreement on Cyprus'' (previously 
referred to in my letters to the Congress as the ``set of ideas'') 
including the map that contains the Secretary General's suggestions for 
territorial adjustments.
    On August 26, 1992, the U.N. Security Council passed Resolution 774 
of August 26, 1992 (attached), which, among other points, endorsed the 
Secretary General's report and the ``set of ideas,'' including the 
suggested territorial adjustments reflected in the map contained in the 
annex to the report, as the basis for reaching an overall framework 
agreement. Resolution 774 called on the parties to manifest the 
necessary political will and to address in a positive manner the 
observations of the Secretary General for resolving the issues covered 
in his report.
    The Resolution expressed the Security Council's expectation that an 
overall framework agreement will be concluded in 1992 with 1993 as the 
transitional year envisioned in the ``set of ideas.'' It reaffirmed the 
Council's position that the Secretary General should convene, following 
the satisfactory conclusion of the face-to-face talks, a high-level 
international meeting to conclude an overall framework agreement, in 
which the two Cypriot communities and Greece and Turkey would 
participate.
    In Resolution 774, the Security Council also reaffirmed its position 
that the present status quo is unacceptable and called on the Secretary 
General to recommend alternate courses of action to resolve the Cyprus 
problem should an agreement not emerge from the talks that will 
reconvene in October.
    I fully endorse the sentiments expressed in Security Council 
Resolution 774 and call on the parties to continue their work toward an 
agreement, which will benefit all the people of Cyprus.
    During the course of the July-August New York negotiating session, I 
announced the appointment of Mr. John Maresca as the new U.S. Special 
Cyprus Coordinator. Mr. Maresca will replace Ambassador Ledsky, who has 
retired from the U.S. Foreign Service after a long and distinguished 
career. I would like to applaud and commend to your attention the 
outstanding achievement of Ambassador Ledsky in moving forward the U.N. 
Cyprus negotiations.
    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.