[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 29, Number 17 (Monday, May 3, 1993)]
[Pages 667-668]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Letter to Congressional Leaders Reporting on the Cyprus Conflict

 April 21, 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 bimonthly report on progress toward a negotiated 
settlement of the Cyprus question. The previous report, sent to you by 
President Bush, covered September, October, and part of November 1992. 
The current report covers the remainder of November 1992 through 
February 14, 1993.

    There were no further face-to-face negotiating sessions on the 
Cyprus issue from the time of the October 12, 1992, recess of the New 
York talks through February 14, 1993. During this period, which 
coincided with the campaign and Presidential election in the Republic of 
Cyprus, the U.N. Secretary General's negotiators and the U.S. Special 
Cyprus Coordinator, Ambassador John Maresca, and other U.S. officials 
remained in contact with the two Cypriot communities and the Governments 
of Greece and Turkey.

    The previous report on this subject included Secretary General 
Boutros-Ghali's report on the October-November U.N. negotiating session 
and U.N. Security Council Resolution 789, which unanimously endorsed the 
Secretary General's report, including the confidence-building measures 
suggested therein. On November 24, 1992, President Vassiliou notified 
the Secretary General by letter that the Greek-Cypriot side accepted the 
Secretary General's report, including the confidence-building measures. 
The Turkish-Cypriot side reacted negatively to both the Secretary 
General's report and to Security Council Resolution 789.

    On November 22, between the time of the issuance of the Secretary 
General's report and the passage of Security Council Resolution 789, 
U.S. Special Cyprus Coordinator Maresca visited Ankara and Athens and 
discussed the report and the resolution that was then being drafted in 
New York. Ambassador Maresca had further discussions in Washington with 
representatives of the two Cypriot sides as well as with the Turkish 
Embassy. Ambassador Maresca informed all concerned that he would not 
visit Cyprus during the Cypriot election campaign.

    In early December, during a regular visit to the Eastern 
Mediterranean area, the Director of the State Department's European 
Bureau, Office of Southern European Affairs, discussed the Cyprus 
negotiations with the leaders of both Cypriot communities on the island 
and with officials of the Governments of Greece and Turkey.

    The election campaign in Cyprus continued into February 1993. On 
February 7, the first round of the election did not produce a majority 
for any candidate. One week later, on February 14, the last day covered 
by this report, the two candidates with the most votes in the first 
round--the incumbent, President George Vassiliou, and Mr. Glafcos 
Clerides--faced each other in a runoff election. Mr. Clerides won the 
runoff by about 2,000 votes.

    I would like to take the opportunity of my first letter on the 
Cyprus dispute to reiterate my strong commitment to press hard for a 
lasting solution to the tragedy of Cyprus. I intend to give that goal a 
high priority in my Administration. The U.N. ``set of ideas'' for a 
bizonal and bicommunal federation with a single national sovereignty and 
identity continues to offer the best chance for a peaceful resolution of 
this dispute. I urge both President Clerides, in his new capacity as the 
leader of the Greek-Cypriot community, and Mr. Denktash, the leader of 
the Turkish-Cypriot community, to continue their participation in

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the U.N.-sponsored negotiations and to be ready when the talks resume to 
make the political decisions necessary to resolve this long-standing 
dispute in a way that is acceptable and beneficial to all Cypriots.
    Sincerely,
                                                  Bill 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. This item was not received in time for 
publication in the appropriate issue.