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Message to the Congress Reporting on Administration Efforts To Settle the Cyprus Conflict.

August 06, 1976

To the Congress of the United States:

Pursuant to Public Law 94-104, I am submitting my fifth periodic report on the progress of the Cyprus negotiations and the efforts this Administration is making to help find a lasting solution to the problems of the island. In previous reports I have emphasized my strong desire to see a just and lasting settlement. I have reviewed in detail the efforts this Administration has made to help realize that achievement, and the progress that has been made thus far. I have indicated that while a Cyprus solution cannot be dictated by the United States, or imposed by any outside party there are certain elements which are considered essential to an equitable settlement. These I detailed for the Congress in my report of December 8, 1975.

These essential elements have not changed. Nor has my conviction, voiced in earlier reports, that real progress can be achieved provided mutual distrust and suspicions are set aside and both parties forego rhetoric which needlessly hinders the search for a just settlement.

We have lost no opportunity to contribute to our common goal of achieving a Cyprus solution. I have discussed the Cyprus problem at length with the Foreign Ministers of Greece and Turkey. At the Summit Conference in Puerto Rico in June 1976, I spoke about Cyprus with leaders of the major industrial nations. Secretary Kissinger has also devoted considerable effort to achieving a favorable atmosphere for discussions, continuing personally to press our views at the highest levels in Athens and Ankara. Our Ambassadors in Greece, Turkey and Cyprus have worked unstintingly to help bring the two sides together in an atmosphere of true negotiation; and we have strongly and continuously supported the efforts of United Nations Secretary General Waldheim to achieve this same end. In spite of all these efforts, we have been unsuccessful thus far in getting the parties to set aside procedural problems and to move on to discussions of the key substantive issues, such as territory.

The process of finding a solution to the Cyprus problem has been carried forward through intercommunal talks between the two Cypriot sides, under the aegis of Secretary General Waldheim. These talks have been in recess since February. Lower-level "humanitarian" talks, now also in recess, have produced limited progress on subsidiary issues, but have left the central points of contention unresolved. Meanwhile new frictions continue to arise on the island as each side seeks to maintain or improve its position, either locally on the island or on the wider international stage.

We continue to seek solutions for the ongoing humanitarian problems of those who were displaced from their homes on Cyprus by the conflict of 1974. The United States, through the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, has contributed some $25 million in each of the past two years to help to alleviate these problems. On Cyprus, new programs to provide housing for those displaced are underway. With these programs, we would hope that most of those Cypriots still living in temporary dwellings--now down to about 10 percent of the original number of refugees--could be in new homes by early next year. In support of this effort our program of humanitarian assistance will continue in the coming year.

Secretary General Waldheim's Special Representative on Cyprus, Ambassador Perez de Cuellar, has recently engaged in discussions in Ankara, Athens and Nicosia with a view to developing a basis for an early resumption of the intercommunal talks. The United States has strongly supported these efforts and will remain in close contact with the Secretary General in the days immediately ahead.

On July 29 of this year I met with Bulent Ecevit, the Turkish opposition leader, and stressed the compelling need for a more conciliatory approach by both sides. Moreover, we have again been active with our European allies to insure that all avenues are explored in the search for a settlement.

Though there are many proposals for a settlement of the situation on Cyprus, the only solution which will restore domestic tranquility for all the citizens of that island is one which they work out among themselves. We are dedicating our efforts to assisting in the resumption of negotiations which will achieve the goal we share--an equitable and just peace on Cyprus. This Administration, with the support of the Congress, will continue actively to encourage that process in every way possible.

GERALD R. FORD

The White House,

August 6, 1976.

Gerald R. Ford, Message to the Congress Reporting on Administration Efforts To Settle the Cyprus Conflict. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/242349

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