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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 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.

William J. Clinton, Letter to Congressional Leaders Reporting on the Cyprus Conflict Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/219975

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