Cyprus, 1997

I would like to begin by

extending to you, Sir, my warmest congratulations on

your election as President of the General Assembly at its

fifty-second session. We are certain that your long

experience and diplomatic skills will guide us successfully

in our work at this session of the General Assembly.

I would also like to thank your predecessor,

Ambassador Razali Ismail of Malaysia, for the determined

leadership with which he steered our work at the fifty-

first session.

Our Organization, with its universal membership,

comprehensive mandate and broad spectrum of activities,

is the only global forum able to pursue and achieve the

universal goals we all strive for: a secure and peaceful

future, a narrowing of the gap between rich and poor, full

respect for human rights, free and equitable trade, the

protection of the environment and the promotion of

sustainable development.

I am pleased once again to be able to take this

opportunity to renew our commitment to the ideals and

aims that all of us here share.

This year is a landmark in the reform process of the

United Nations because of the active measures taken by

the Secretary-General of our Organization to tackle long-

standing and deep-rooted issues. Last July, the Secretary-

General presented to us a comprehensive package of

reforms designed to help the Organization rationalize and

streamline its operations, secure its financial position and

refocus itself to meet the changes in the global order, thus

allowing the United Nations to fully utilize the strengths

and expertise it already possesses.

We are therefore particularly pleased to welcome these

proposals by the Secretary-General. We hope that, by the

conclusion of the debate on this issue that will take place

in the plenary during this session, we shall reach a

consensus, thus creating the necessary momentum for their

speedy implementation, and produce concrete results before

we reach the new millennium.

The reforms are being introduced at a time when it is

generally acknowledged that the High-Level Working

Groups mandated by the General Assembly to examine

specific issues, from the restructuring and strengthening of

the main United Nations organs to ensuring a firmer and

lasting financing for our Organization, have yet to achieve

substantial progress.

From this rostrum, I have stated before that we

subscribe to the need to reform the Security Council by

making it representative of the increase in the membership

of the United Nations and reflect the changes in the post-

cold-war world. We consider the need to reform the

Security Council a top priority, for it directly affects its

capacity to discharge its cardinal responsibility — that of

maintaining international peace and security.

In this regard, we welcome the progress already

achieved in the working methods of the Security Council

and expect further steps towards transparency and

democratization. A number of proposals have been put

forward by Member States over the last three years. Further

deliberations are required, however, to achieve an

agreement that would command the general support of the

membership of the Organization.

An important step this year concerns the work of the

Organization in the field of international economic and

social cooperation. After three years of hard deliberation,

the General Assembly adopted its Agenda for Development

last June. This is a great step forward because, as the

Secretary-General himself states in his report on the work

of the Organization, it addresses not only the conventional

development issues but also stresses the mutually supportive

though complex relationships among development, peace,

democracy, good governance and human rights.

Equally important was the convening of the nineteenth

special session of the General Assembly to review the

implementation of Agenda 21 — the global plan of action

for sustainable development — which was adopted five

years ago at the United Nations Conference on

Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro.

I believe that an important part of the future work of

this Organization will lie in following up the work done

at the major conferences and in reviewing the

implementation of the plans and programmes they

adopted.

The United Nations of the future must give most

urgent priority to the Agenda for Development. Any

modern concept of international peace must recognize that

peace, security and development are indivisible.

It is indisputable that one of the major strengths of

the United Nations is its universality. It is at once global,

regional and locally based. It has achieved great results in

the fields of international interaction. Its activities have a

tremendous effect on our everyday lives.

At this juncture, I should commend and stress the

important role of the Organization in the promotion of

full respect for and universal application of human rights,

as well as for the progressive development and

codification of international law. In this respect, we fully

support the establishment of the international criminal

court, which we have long advocated, and welcome the

progress made in the Preparatory Committee and the

increased momentum towards its fruition.

Though local and ethnic conflicts still persist,

seriously affecting the maintenance of international peace

and security, the role of the Organization in disarmament

for the past twelve months has been marked by great

steps. A number of significant conventions have already

been concluded or have entered into force. In welcoming

these achievements we feel we must continue to move

ahead for their full and effective implementation.

We must also cherish the Organization’s contribution

to development and education, its work against hunger

and illiteracy and, in short, its role in restoring and

upholding human dignity.

We believe in the United Nations and in the Charter,

not as an abstract ideal, but as a functioning,

indispensable, concrete entity. The principles and ideals

of the United Nations have formed the cornerstone of our

foreign policy since our independence and membership in

the United Nations. We are fully committed to

strengthening the Organization by helping it tackle its

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precarious financial position, streamline and rationalize its

operations and exploit to the full its uniqueness and its

unrivalled expertise. We are confident that the Organization

will be able to harness the forces of change in ways that

will benefit us all.

This year the United Nations has been especially

active on certain long-outstanding issues such as East

Timor, Western Sahara, the situation in the Middle East and

Cyprus.

We welcome the developments on the question of

Western Sahara and the agreement reached on the

implementation of the settlement plan under the auspices of

the Secretary-General and his Special Envoy. We hope that

these positive achievements will move the peace process

forward and bring a final settlement to this long drawn-out

situation of tension and conflict.

Despite our earlier hopes based on the peace

agreement, the current events in the Middle East and the

worsening situation in the occupied territories are cause for

great concern. As a neighbouring country, we wish to

reiterate our support for the efforts to achieve peace in the

area on the basis of the agreements reached and of the

relevant United Nations resolutions.

As to the question of Cyprus, 1997 has been a year of

intense diplomatic activity, culminating in face-to-face

intercommunal talks under the auspices of the United

Nations last July and August in Troutbeck and Glion,

respectively. The resumption of the talks was the result of

the untiring efforts of the Secretary-General, encouraged

and actively supported by the international community. The

Security Council closely pursued the developments on the

question of Cyprus, and nine individual countries appointed

special representatives on Cyprus. The European Union,

through the Special Representative of the Presidency, was

also following developments closely.

When invited by Mr. Kofi Annan last June to attend

face-to-face talks with the leader of the Turkish Cypriot

community in Troutbeck and later in Glion, we responded

positively and demonstrated our sincere and unwavering

commitment to the peace process as the only means of

solving the Cyprus question, and our will to work for a

comprehensive, just and viable solution.

Our will was tested even harder when, on the eve of

the talks, Turkey and the so-called Turkish Republic of

Northern Cyprus, which is not recognized internationally

except by Turkey, signed an illegal agreement purporting to

lead to the annexation by Turkey of the areas occupied by

the Turkish forces if the European Union proceeded to

accession negotiations with Cyprus. Despite this enormous

provocation, we reacted in a low key in order to avoid

tension which would affect adversely the climate of the

talks.

During the talks we worked hard and cooperated

constructively with Mr. Cordovez, the Secretary-General’s

Special Adviser, with the sole aim of breaking the

impasse and moving forward to reverse the status quo

created and maintained by Turkey since 1974 by the use

of force and declared unacceptable by numerous Security

Council resolutions.

In contrast, the response of the other side was

completely negative. Despite our constructive attitude,

despite the efforts of Mr. Cordovez and those of other

interested countries through their representatives,

Mr. Denktas¸ refused to hold any discussions on the

substance of the Cyprus problem unless the European

Union froze its plans for accession talks with the

Government of the Republic of Cyprus, which were in

accordance with the European decision of 6 March 1995.

Mr. Denktas¸ even threatened that if the European Union

decided to proceed with Cyprus’ application he would not

negotiate at all in the future. It was therefore abundantly

clear that the other side did not go to the talks with the

aim of finding a solution to the problem, but in an

attempt to impede Cyprus’ European Union accession

process.

Any doubts as to the real cause of the failure of the

talks to produce results on the substantive aspects of the

Cyprus problem were dissolved by the unanimous verdict

of the international community, pronounced last 20

August by the President of the Security Council in a

statement to the press after the briefing by Mr. Cordovez

on the outcome of the talks in Glion. In the statement, our

positive attitude and cooperation was commended,

whereas the Turkish Cypriot side was blamed for

impeding substantive progress by the attempt to bring in

preconditions to the table. The same verdict was reached

by the European Union, which also rejected any link

between the talks and the start of the European Union’s

accession negotiations with Cyprus.

It is with great regret that once again in addressing

the General Assembly I have to report that no progress

has been made towards the solution of the Cyprus

problem due to the inflexibility of the Turkish side.

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The result of this deliberate inflexibility is the

perpetuation of the illegal Turkish occupation of 37 per cent

of the territory of the Republic by Turkish military forces,

the artificial forceful separation of the two communities, the

colonization of the occupied area by illegal settlers from

Turkey, the refugee problem, the usurpation of the Greek

Cypriot properties in the occupied area and the continued

blunt violation by the Turkish side of General Assembly

and Security Council resolutions.

I fully share the disappointment of the Security

Council at the absence of progress during the Glion talks,

despite the interest shown by the international community,

and more particularly by those countries that had their

representatives in the wings observing the talks. The clear

conclusion to be drawn, however, is that more active

involvement of the international community, and in

particular of those who are in the wings of the talks, is

needed if the talks are to produce results.

After the end of the talks, Mr. Denktash and Ankara

continued to maintain the same negative attitude. There was

a barrage of threatening statements against Cyprus, in direct

violation of international law, and in particular of the

United Nations resolutions on Cyprus, which, inter alia,

call for the respect of the sovereignty, independence,

territorial integrity and unity of the Republic of Cyprus and

the withdrawal of all foreign troops.

The Turkish side continues to threaten to annex to

Turkey the territory of the Republic occupied by Turkish

forces if the European Union commences accession

negotiations with Cyprus, and to use force against the

Republic of Cyprus to prevent the implementation of the

agreement to buy and instal in Cyprus the S-300 defensive

ground-to-air missile system.

Last year we pledged before this body our

commitment to do everything in our power to help the

Secretary-General of our Organization succeed in his

renewed efforts in the search for a lasting solution to the

Cyprus problem. I believe that we have honoured our

pledge to the full. I wish to reiterate our commitment to

continue our constructive attitude, despite our

disappointment.

However, I wish to make it abundantly clear that we

cannot and we will not relinquish our inalienable right to

defend our country and to decide about our armaments. As

long as the Turkish threat emanating from the continued

aggression and occupation of 37 per cent of the territory of

the Republic exists, we have not only the right but also the

duty to provide for the security of the people of Cyprus.

We will not tie our hands behind our backs and allow the

Turkish air force to bomb our towns and villages at will

— as it has done in the past — without the ability to

defend ourselves. If it is again necessary for our forces to

take the battlefield, never again will they do so without

adequate protection from air attacks by the Turkish air

force.

During the talks in Glion, in an attempt to assist the

peace process, I proposed to Mr. Denktash that both

leaders should make a declaration denouncing the use of

force as a means of solving the Cyprus problem and

should agree to work for a specific programme of

reduction of military forces and equipment and a

programme for demilitarizing the island and limiting the

importation of arms.

I believe that my proposal, if accepted by the other

side, may open the way for substantive progress towards

a comprehensive settlement of the Cyprus question and

the restoration of respect for the human rights of the

people of Cyprus, which have been grossly violated for

the last 23 years.

To my Turkish Cypriot compatriots I wish to say

this: Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots will live in

Cyprus for centuries to come. We must live as friends

and as citizens of a bi-communal, bi-zonal federal

Republic, respecting each other’s ethnic origins, traditions,

culture and religion and the equal political status of our

respective communities. We must also be citizens of the

European Union. This will give us greater security and

prosperity, both for our respective communities and for

Cyprus, our country.

The question of Cyprus has been on the agenda of

the United Nations for too long. A momentum has been

created for the solution of the Cyprus problem as a result

of the renewed efforts of the United Nations, strongly

supported by the international community. Let us not miss

this opportunity. It is clear by now where the attention of

the Security Council and the international community

should be focused. It should use all the means in its

power to persuade the Turkish side to abandon its

intransigent position.

Let me assure this body once again that my

Government will continue to work with the Secretary-

General in his efforts to find a solution based on a State

of Cyprus with a single sovereignty and international

personality and a single citizenship, with its independence

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and territorial integrity safeguarded and comprising two

politically equal communities, as described in the relevant

Security Council resolutions, in a bi-communal and bi-zonal

federation, and that such settlement must exclude union, in

whole or in part, with any other country or any form of

partition or secession.

At this point I wish to express the gratitude of the

Government and the people of Cyprus to all those countries

that have been assisting and supporting the Secretary-

General’s efforts.

Before I conclude allow me to refer to a matter which

is of great importance to my Government. This is the issue

of missing persons in Cyprus.

My Government considers this issue a purely

humanitarian one whose solution is long overdue. All

efforts should be made so that the legitimate rights of the

families to be informed in a convincing and conclusive

manner about the fate of their loved ones are fully

respected by all concerned. This also includes the right to

a decent burial for the missing persons who are proved to

be dead.

In this spirit, I recently had two meetings in Cyprus

with the leader of the Turkish Cypriot community,

Mr. Rauf Denktash. Certain steps were agreed in the

presence of the resident Deputy Special Representative of

the Secretary-General that we believe will contribute

towards the desired progress in the efforts to solve this

humanitarian problem.

The hopes and expectations of all — especially the

relatives of the missing persons — centre on the

implementation of what was agreed in a true spirit of

humanitarian principles and practice.

However, the agreement I reached with the Turkish

Cypriot leader, Mr. Denktash, will prove of little use if the

third member of the Committee on Missing Persons is not

appointed. It also is my earnest view that the work of the

Committee on Missing Persons will be greatly assisted and

expedited if experienced investigators are appointed to

assist it in its task.

In conclusion, may I reassure the Assembly — and

indeed the world community — of my country’s dedication

to the principles enshrined in the United Nations Charter,

as well as emphasize our determination to spare no effort

in working, in concert with other nations, for the prevalence

of justice, peace, progress and stability in the volatile

region that is our part of the world.