[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1993, Book II)]
[August 19, 1993]
[Pages 1393-1397]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Letter to Congressional Leaders Reporting on the Cyprus Conflict
August 19, 1993

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 report on progress toward a negotiated settlement 
of the Cyprus question. The previous report covered the period from 
November 13, 1992, through February 14, 1993, the date of the election 
of Glafcos Clerides to succeed George Vassiliou as President of the 
Republic of Cyprus. The current report covers the remainder of February 
through July 15, 1993.
    On February 22, Secretary of State Warren Christopher, while enroute 
between Beirut, Lebanon, and Cairo, Egypt, met with President-elect 
Clerides and then-President Vassiliou at the airport in Larnaca, Cyprus. 
During this short meeting, the Secretary of State assured them of the 
continued high level of U.S. interest in U.N. Secretary General Boutros-
Ghali's efforts to find a fair and permanent solution to the Cyprus 
problem.
    President Clerides was sworn in on February 28.
    On March 2, the U.S. Special Cyprus Coordinator, Ambassador John 
Maresca, met in Rome with his counterpart from the Government of Turkey, 
Mr. Tugay Ulucevic. Ambassador Maresca also met with the U.N. Secretary 
General's Deputy Special Representative, Mr. Gustave Feissel in Rome. At 
both meetings, Ambassador Maresca stressed the necessity of an early 
resumption of the Cyprus negotiations.
    Also on March 2, in Nicosia, Mr. Oscar Camilion, the Secretary 
General's Special Representative, informed the parties that he was 
resigning the position to return to the service of the Argentine 
Government as Minister of Defense. Mr. Camilion left Cyprus in mid-March 
after participating in another round of preparatory talks on the island. 
During Minister Camilion's tenure as the Secretary General's Special 
Representative, substantial progress was made toward resolution of the 
Cyprus dispute, and I would like to take this opportunity to add my 
appreciation for his long and distinguished service.

[[Page 1394]]

    U.N. Under-Secretary General Marrack Goulding and Mr. Feissel 
arrived in Nicosia for a round of preparatory talks on March 7 and, 
during the course of the talks, obtained commitments from President 
Clerides and Mr. Denktash to come to New York for a short face-to-face 
meeting on March 30. On March 10, the two Cypriot leaders met for dinner 
at the invitation of Mr. Camilion, the first face-to-face meeting on the 
island of the leaders of the two communities in several years.
    At the end of the preparatory meetings in Cyprus, Goulding and 
Feissel returned to New York where they met on March 15 with Ambassador 
Maresca to discuss their plans for the March 30 meeting.
    On March 25, on the occasion of the National Day of the Hellenic 
Republic of Greece, I publicly restated the strong U.S. interest in the 
U.N. Secretary General's efforts to reach a fair and permanent solution 
of the Cyprus problem.
    In preparation for the face-to-face meeting between the two Cypriot 
leaders scheduled for March 30, the members of the U.N. Security Council 
authorized the President of the Security Council to issue a statement 
that called on the parties to cooperate fully with the U.N. Secretary 
General and reaffirmed the determination of the Security Council members 
to remain seized of the Cyprus question and to lend their support to the 
Secretary General's efforts. (The full text of the Security Council 
President's statement is enclosed.)
    On March 29, the U.S. Permanent Representative to the United 
Nations, Ambassador Madeleine Albright, met with President Clerides and 
Mr. Denktash to reiterate the U.S. position that both sides should work 
with the U.N. Secretary General to reach an equitable and lasting 
solution for the benefit of all Cypriots. She presented letters to the 
two leaders from Secretary of State Christopher and me.
    At the March 30 face-to-face meeting, the leaders of the two 
communities agreed to return to New York for substantive discussions on 
May 24. The Under-Secretary General's summation of the meeting stated 
that the sides had agreed to resume their discussions ``using the set of 
ideas for the purpose of reaching freely a mutually acceptable overall 
framework agreement'' after a preparatory process on the island (full 
text enclosed). The summation also welcomed the parallel process of 
private meetings (that is, not under U.N. auspices) between the two 
leaders. There was another such meeting between the two leaders in New 
York on the margins of the U.N. talks.
    Also on March 30, U.N. Secretary General Boutros-Ghali issued a 
report on the United Nations Operation in Cyprus in which he requested a 
major restructuring and reorganization of the U.N. Peace-keeping Force 
in Cyprus (UNFICYP) due to reductions, withdrawals, and announcements of 
plans for further withdrawals of troops by troop contributors. (The full 
text of that report is enclosed.) Informal consultations among members 
of the Security Council on this subject continued throughout the 
remainder of this reporting period, ultimately resulting in changes in 
the way UNFICYP is financed. Information on the U.N. Security Council 
resolutions through which this was done will be found later in this 
report.
    On March 31, the five Permanent Members of the U.N. Security Council 
held separate meetings with the leaders of the two communities to urge 
them to cooperate with the representatives of the Secretary General and 
to prepare for the substantive talks, which were to resume on May 24.
    In mid-April, Mr. Feissel, who had been named as the new resident 
representative of the Secretary General on Cyprus, began the preparatory 
talks in Nicosia working on both the U.N. ``set of ideas'' and on 
confidence-building measures developed by the U.N. Secretariat, in 
accordance with the suggestions of the Secretary General at the end of 
the October-November session of the New York talks.
    On April 24, I again publicly stated the strong U.S. commitment to a 
fair and permanent solution of the Cyprus problem. On the same day, 
President Turgut Ozal of Turkey, who had strongly supported the efforts 
of the Secretary General to find such a solution, died after a strenuous 
effort to resolve serious disputes in south-west Asia.
    Mr. Feissel concluded the first phase of his preparatory work in 
Nicosia on May 6, and, on the same day, the State Department's Director 
of Southern European Affairs, Mr. David Ransom, arrived in Nicosia. He 
was joined there on May 10 by Special Cyprus Coordinator Maresca, and 
both met with the leaders of the two communities to urge them to 
cooperate with the U.N. effort. Ambassador Maresca departed Cyprus on 
May 12 and Director Ransom departed on May 13 after meeting with Mr.

[[Page 1395]]

Feissel, who had returned to Nicosia for additional intensive 
preparation for the May 24 meetings in New York.
    A U.N. Security Council resolution sponsored by the United Kingdom 
on the structure and financing of the U.N. Peace-keeping Force in Cyprus 
was vetoed by Russia on May 11 because it appeared to eliminate 
voluntary contributions as a preferred way of financing U.N. peace-
keeping operations. (Another resolution was successfully negotiated 
during the two weeks that followed, and it was passed on May 27, after 
the end of this reporting period.)
    Mr. Feissel's intensive preparations for the May 24 New York 
negotiating round focused on a package of confidence-building measures, 
which included a plan to reopen the fenced area of the city of Varosha 
and the Nicosia International Airport under U.N. auspices.
    In my view, the package of confidence-building measures is fair and 
balanced, offers significant benefits to both sides, and should be 
accepted by both sides as a means of improving the atmosphere for 
negotiation of a fair and permanent resolution of the Cyprus problem. 
More specifically, I urge Mr. Denktash, the leader of the Turkish-
Cypriot community, to accept this package in order to establish a better 
climate for negotiations based on the U.N. ``set of ideas.'' I believe 
that the Government of Turkey also should exercise its special 
responsibility to urge him to accept this package. This is an historic 
opportunity for the Turkish-Cypriot community and for all Cypriots. It 
would be tragic if this opportunity to move forward were missed.
    Following these developments, the U.N. Secretary General's resident 
representative in Cyprus was engaged in intensive talks in Nicosia with 
the leaders of the two Cypriot communities, which focused on a package 
of confidence-building measures, including the reopening, under U.N. 
auspices, of both the Nicosia International Airport and the city of 
Varosha, on the eastern coast of Cyprus. These consultations ended, and 
Mr. Feissel returned to U.N. Headquarters on May 20 to begin final 
preparations for the May 24 New York negotiating session.
    That session opened, as scheduled, with a meeting chaired by the 
U.N. Secretary General and attended by the leaders of the two Cypriot 
communities, Mr. Joseph Clark, the Secretary General's newly appointed 
Special Representative; Cyprus Coordinator John Maresca; and U.S. 
Ambassador to Cyprus Robert Lamb.
    During the next five days it became apparent that Mr. Denktash, the 
leader of the Turkish-Cypriot community, was not prepared to accept the 
package of confidence-building measures. He asked for additional time to 
consider the package and consult with his community. The Secretary 
General initially granted Mr. Denktash four additional days. At a 
meeting on June 1, chaired, in the absence of the Secretary General by 
Mr. Clark, Mr. Denktash was granted an additional postponement until 
June 14, with the approval of the representatives of the permanent 
members of the Security Council, also present, on condition that Mr. 
Denktash would seek a positive response from his community on the 
proposed package of confidence-building measures, including the 
proposals for Varosha and the Nicosia International Airport.
    On June 8, the State Department released a statement (copy attached) 
that supported the U.N. Secretary General's package of confidence-
building measures, including his proposals for Varosha and the Nicosia 
International Airport, stated that we believe the package is fair and 
balanced and that it offers real economic and practical benefits to both 
sides and that the package should be accepted quickly and in its 
entirety, and stated our belief that Turkey should be helpful in 
ensuring an agreement on this package.
    Also on June 8, in an airport statement on his arrival in Turkey, 
Mr. Denktash made it clear that he was not seeking a positive response 
from his community to the Secretary General's package. On the same day, 
Secretary Christopher spoke with Turkish Foreign Minister Cetin, who, 
like Secretary Christopher, was in Athens for the meetings of the North 
Atlantic Council and the North Atlantic Cooperation Council, about the 
developing situation.
    On June 9, a letter on the Cyprus situation and the U.N. Secretary 
General's confidence-building package from Secretary Christopher was 
delivered to Foreign Minister Cetin. In a speech to the Turkish Grand 
National Parliament, in Ankara, on the following day, and in follow-up 
statements to the media, Mr. Denktash said that he could not accept the 
confidence-building package and would not return to New York as 
scheduled on June 14.
    Secretary Christopher discussed the Cyprus situation with President 
Demirel and Foreign

[[Page 1396]]

Minister Cetin in meetings in Ankara on June 12. In New York, a 
spokesman for the U.N. Secretary General issued a statement (copy 
attached) the same day that stated that the Secretary General had been 
informed by Mr. Denktash that he would not be able to return to New York 
as planned on June 14 and that a representative of Mr. Denktash would 
come in his stead ``to explain the situation that has arisen.'' The 
statement said that the Secretary General regretted that Mr. Denktash 
had unilaterally departed from the agreement of June 1, and that, as a 
consequence, the joint meetings would not resume at U.N. Headquarters as 
planned on June 14. The Secretary General undertook to submit a report 
to the Security Council.
    On June 14, Mr. Kenan Atakol, representing Mr. Denktash, arrived in 
New York and started a series of meetings with Mr. Feissel and members 
of the diplomatic missions to the U.N. of the five Permanent Members of 
the Security Council. Mr. Atakol was not prepared to discuss ``practical 
problems'' concerning the Secretary General's confidence-building 
package, to which Mr. Denktash had referred in Nicosia and Ankara. On 
June 25, before returning to Cyprus, Mr. Atakol met with Ambassador 
Edward Walker, the U.S. Deputy Representative to the U.N.
    On July 1, the Secretary General issued the report (copy attached) 
that he had promised on June 12. In the report he reviewed his efforts 
since November 1992, explained in detail the confidence-building package 
that he had proposed, including his proposals for Varosha and the 
Nicosia International Airport, and provided observations on the current 
state of the negotiations. The gist of those paragraphs is that: 
(paragraph 45) all concerned have a special responsibility to bring to a 
positive conclusion an effort that has already produced ``significant 
progress''; (paragraph 46) the Secretary General was particularly 
gratified that the preparations in Nicosia for the May 24 New York 
negotiating session had brought his confidence-building proposals to an 
advanced stage; (paragraph 47) the Varosha/Nicosia International Airport 
proposals would bring considerable and proportionate benefits to both 
Cypriot communities; (paragraph 48) beyond the economic gains to both 
sides, the package would open avenues of contact between the communities 
and engender the kind of goodwill that should exist in a federation; 
(paragraph 49) the Secretary General is disappointed that, despite his 
assurances of June 1, Mr. Denktash neither promoted the acceptance of 
the package during his consultations in Nicosia and Ankara, nor did he 
honor his agreement to return to New York on June 14; (paragraph 50) the 
Secretary General hopes that the merits of the package will commend 
themselves to all concerned once they have been fully presented; and 
(paragraph 51) the Secretary General intends to continue his efforts 
and, to that end, has asked his Special Representative (Mr. Clark) to 
visit Cyprus, Greece, and Turkey in the following few weeks. The 
Secretary General also attached, as an annex to his report, a list of 
the confidence-building measures that his representatives had proposed 
to the two sides (including the Varosha/Nicosia International Airport 
proposals, which were detailed in the body of the report).
    The Security Council, on July 7, approved a letter (text attached) 
from its President to Secretary General Boutros-Ghali that endorsed the 
conclusions of the Secretary General's report and underlined the 
obligation of both parties to cooperate fully with the Secretary General 
in promptly reaching an overall framework agreement and, in the first 
instance, in reaching an agreement on the Secretary General's 
confidence-building package.
    The letter welcomed the Secretary General's decision to send Mr. 
Clark to Cyprus, Greece, and Turkey, and requested a report from the 
Secretary General in September 1993, and, if necessary, his 
recommendations for action by the Security Council.
    Mr. Clark and Mr. Feissel arrived in Nicosia on July 13 on the 
mission outlined in the Secretary General's report. On the same day, the 
U.S. Special Cyprus Coordinator, Ambassador Maresca, arrived in Ankara 
for discussions with the Government of Turkey on the Cyprus question.
    On June 11, the Security Council extended the mandate of the U.N. 
Peace-keeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) for an additional six-month 
period until December 15, 1993. As noted in the last report, the Council 
had reached agreement on the future mission and funding of UNFICYP on 
May 27, during the New York negotiating session outlined above. The U.N. 
Secretariat continues to seek forces to replace the Canadian contingent 
that began its previously planned withdrawal in the week following June 
15. (The Secretary General's re-


[[Page 1397]]

port of June 9 on U.N. operations is attached.)
    As I noted in the conclusions of my last letter to you on this 
subject, I believe that the Secretary General's package of confidence-
building measures is fair and balanced. I believe that its acceptance by 
both sides, promptly and in its entirety, would certainly improve the 
atmosphere and could speed the acceptance of an overall framework 
agreement based on the Secretary General's ``set of ideas.'' I want to 
reiterate the strong support of the U.S. for the efforts of the 
Secretary General to carry out his good-offices mandate and to reach a 
conclusion acceptable to both Cypriot communities and which is for their 
mutual benefit. It is time for all concerned to build on the substantial 
progress noted by the U.N. Secretary General in his July 1 report and to 
resolve this long-standing problem.
    Sincerely,

                                                      William J. Clinton

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.