Cyprus, 2000

I would like to extend

my warmest congratulations to Mr. Holkeri on his well-

deserved election as President of the General Assembly

at its fifty-fifth session. I am certain that his

considerable experience and diplomatic skills will

guide the work of this session to a successful

conclusion.

I would also like to take this opportunity to

express my appreciation to his predecessor, Mr. Theo-

Ben Gurirab, the Minister for Foreign Affairs of

Namibia, for the exceptional manner in which he

presided over the fifty-fourth session of the General

Assembly.

Earlier this month, in this very Hall, an

unprecedented gathering of heads of State took

place — an event that, through the final Declaration,

has given new impetus to enhanced international

cooperation to tackle an array of international

problems. The Millennium Assembly has expressed the

strong will of the peoples of this planet for common

action so that humanity can proceed with the

construction of a better world.

Cyprus reaffirms its commitment to the United

Nations, which we have always considered and

continue to consider to be the foundation on which the

international community can pursue the lofty goals of

peace, security, justice, respect for human rights, and

social and economic development on a global level. We

thus fully support the continuing efforts towards the

reform of the Organization, including its principal

organs, so that it will be able to successfully face the

many international challenges. For, just as all living

organisms are constantly evolving in order to adapt and

survive in an ever-changing environment, so does the

United Nations need always to have the necessary

structures and means that will make it as effective as

possible.

Cyprus welcomes the efforts of the United

Nations in the area of disarmament and we are

particularly pleased at the successful conclusion earlier

this year of the review process of the Treaty on the

Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. We would like

to congratulate the Russian Federation for its recent

ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban

Treaty and the START II Treaty. We consider the

expansion of the regime of nuclear-free zones,

including one in our region of the Mediterranean, to be

an important component in our goal towards a nuclear-

free world.

The illicit trafficking of small arms is an issue of

grave concern. We are fully supportive of international

efforts in this direction and consider more effective

action to eliminate this phenomenon to be an

imperative need of our increasingly interdependent

world.

In countless reports of the United Nations and its

specialized agencies, the concern is evident regarding

the continuing degradation of the environment and the

imperative need for global policies in the pursuit of

sustainable development. The effects of overpopulation

and unregulated development will undoubtedly create

new pressures on the environment in this new century.

Small island States facing their vulnerability to global

warming, rising water level and the increasing scarcity

of water resources are particularly concerned in this

area. We are particularly pleased with the organization

in Cyprus next January of the workshop on energy for

sustainable development, a capacity-development

initiative of the Alliance of Small Island States. We

expect this workshop to make a substantive input to the

ninth session of the Commission on Sustainable

Development.

The effects of globalization were extensively

discussed by world leaders at the Millennium Summit.

I will therefore limit myself in this statement to only

one aspect of the whole question of the impact of

globalization, which we consider a major problem that

we all have an obligation to address. The eradication of

poverty is undeniably one of the major challenges that

the international community faces. It is imperative that

new and imaginative policies to attack the problem be

developed, with the Member States of the United

Nations and the major international financial

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institutions working in close cooperation on this issue.

Debt relief should be a central part of these efforts.

The progress achieved since the Universal

Declaration of Human Rights, which was adopted more

than half a century ago, has been considerable. The

international regime of human rights instruments has

been continually expanding and constitutes the

criterion against which the international community

and national Governments are judged as to their

dedication and actions in the protection of human

rights. The United Nations has been at the forefront of

these new winds of hope for humankind. The subject of

human rights today encompasses a variety of topics.

We are very pleased at the successful conclusion of the

special session of the General Assembly on women and

the follow-up conference on social development, which

were held earlier this year in New York and Geneva

respectively. We look forward to continuing on this

path at the upcoming world conference on racism,

xenophobia and related intolerance and at the special

session of the General Assembly on children.

One of the areas of particular concern to Cyprus

is the increasing number of refugees and internally

displaced persons throughout the world. Cyprus has

itself experienced the tragic consequences of mass

displacement and ethnic cleansing. The vast majority

of displaced people — more than 22 million people,

according to the Office of the United Nations High

Commissioner for Refugees — are women and

children, who are particularly vulnerable to gross

violations of their human rights. We strongly believe

that the international community has an obligation to

more forcefully secure the right of return of these

refugees to their places of residence.

Cyprus welcomes the withdrawal of Israeli forces

from Lebanon in accordance with resolution 425

(1978)of the Security Council. We would like to

consider this as a harbinger of the achievement of a

comprehensive solution to the Middle East question.

Despite the temporary setback in the Israeli-Palestinian

final-status negotiations, we believe that the process

can and should move forward, so that peace, stability

and prosperity will finally be established in this long-

tormented region. Cyprus supports the implementation

of the relevant resolutions of the Security Council in

this respect.

Cyprus fully supports Security Council resolution

1244 (1999) and calls for the full respect of the human

rights of all the inhabitants of Kosovo, irrespective of

their origin, as well as for the full respect for the

sovereignty, the territorial integrity and the democratic

process of all States in the region. We also commend

the European Union for its considerable initiatives and

support for the economic and political stabilization of

South-Eastern Europe.

We have been encouraged by the positive climate

that has existed since the June meeting between the

North and South Korean leaders. We express our

support for further measures to achieve reconciliation,

stability and cooperation in the Korean peninsula. We

have been heartened by the prospect of reunification

and of the termination of the division in this sensitive

region.

Cyprus fully supports the process for the

establishment of an international criminal court and

was one of the original signatories of the Rome Statute.

We look forward to further progress in the work of the

Preparatory Commission for the International Criminal

Court and welcome the results of its last session

regarding the consensus reached on the rules of

procedure and evidence and the elements of crime. Our

support stems from our firm belief that if we are to live

in a world where justice and international law prevail,

then impunity for abhorrent crimes against humanity

should end immediately. Cyprus, itself a victim of such

crimes, knows very well the bitter truth of impunity.

For the last 26 years the General Assembly has

included in its agenda the question of Cyprus.

Decisions by this Assembly, in particular resolution

3212 (XXIX), as well as successive Security Council

resolutions, call for the restoration of the territorial

integrity, unity and independence of the Republic of

Cyprus and the withdrawal of the Turkish troops and

settlers from an independent country, Member of the

United Nations, which was invaded in 1974 and whose

territory, 37 per cent of it, is controlled by the Turkish

occupation army.

An attempt has been made from this rostrum to

give a different version from and interpretation of the

one upheld and understood by this General Assembly

and by the Security Council. When one talks about the

events of 1963, one should not forget the armed

insurgency against the legal Government of the

Republic and the deliberate decision of the Turkish

Cypriot leadership to withdraw its representatives from

Parliament and the organs of the Government, in order

25

to pave the way for the present de facto division of the

island.

Furthermore, it is well known and confirmed by

the three reports of the European Commission of

Human Rights, following appeals by the Republic of

Cyprus against Turkey, that ethnic cleansing occurred

in Cyprus in 1974 with the violent uprooting of one-

third of the Cypriot population from their homes and

their expulsion from the areas that are now under

Turkish occupation. This is a classic example of a

creation of faits accomplis through the use of force.

Enough has already been said about history, and

many recriminations were levelled by one side against

the other. We have said time and again to our Turkish

Cypriot compatriots, and we repeat to the Government

of Turkey, that it is high time we looked to the future.

A future bright and prosperous for all Cypriots,

permeated by a spirit of reconciliation, in a peaceful,

demilitarized and reunited Cyprus, member of the

European Union, in which all Cypriots would live in

conditions of peace, prosperity and the full protection

of their human rights and fundamental freedoms.

We want a future without occupation armies,

without barbed wires of division and without human

suffering. Indeed, how can one seriously claim that the

massive Turkish military force which invaded and has

continued to occupy 37 per cent of Cypriot territory for

the last 26 years is a force of pacification and

liberation? Had these forces been pacification or

liberation troops, as Turkey tries to portray them,

would the Security Council, which represents the

collective wisdom of the international community, call

repeatedly for their withdrawal? Moreover, how can

anyone, speaking before this body, describe United

Nations resolutions and their call to uphold and adhere

to international law as romantic descriptions and

unrealistic assessments?

One further point that I would like to make is the

reference to the so-called realities in Cyprus. We have

been asked to accept, if we want to find a solution,

these so-called realities on the ground. These realities

are, of course, the result of the Turkish invasion and its

dire consequences on the people of Cyprus. One such

stark reality reflecting the ultimate aims of Turkey in

Cyprus is the importation of 98,000 Turkish mainland

settlers into the occupied areas in an effort to change

the demographic structure of the island. Another reality

is the mass emigration of our fellow Turkish Cypriots

from the occupied areas and the constant threat posed

by the 36,000 Turkish occupation troops stationed on

the island. This threat is real and manifests itself from

time to time through provocative actions on the ground.

Such is the case of the Turkish advance in Strovilia,

following the adoption last June of a resolution by the

Security Council renewing the mandate of the United

Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP).

This illegal action has been described by the United

Nations Secretary-General as a clear violation of the

status quo. The inability of the Organization to return

the situation to the status quo ante tarnishes its image

and credibility. Could one imagine the consequences

for international relations, when nations are forced to

accept solutions based on faits accomplis created and

sustained through the use of military force and

unilateral acts? Can we allow such a precedent to pave

the way for the disintegration of so many countries

around the globe? What, indeed, would be the

consequences for small States in this kind of so-called

international order, where international law is

selectively applied and the will of the mighty reigns

supreme?

The one and only reality is the imperative need

for peace and reconciliation in Cyprus through a

mutually acceptable solution within the parameters of

United Nations resolutions. We are currently engaged

in the fourth round of proximity talks. We have come

to these talks with flexibility and with the political will

to reach a solution as prescribed by this Organization.

We appeal to the Turkish side to seize the moment and

capitalize on the current favourable environment in

order to reach a comprehensive settlement. Such a

settlement will be based on Security Council

resolutions, which call for a bi-zonal, bi-communal

Federal Republic of Cyprus, with a single sovereignty,

citizenship and international personality, comprising

two politically equal communities, as described in

Security Council resolution 750 (1992). The Turkish

side must realize that a solution must be mutually

acceptable and based on international law, and it must

not insist on imposing its will and on a solution based

on faits accomplis.

Our common aim should be a solution that would

be honourable and something to be cherished by future

generations of all Cypriots, Greek and Turkish alike, to

whom our utmost purpose is to bequeath a better place

to live in harmony, tolerance and cooperation.

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