The Cyprus Conflict Message to the Congress Reporting on Progress Toward a Negotiated Settlement.

To the Congress of the United States:

Pursuant to Public Law 94-104, this report describes the efforts that the United States has made over the past sixty days to promote a settlement on Cyprus.

There have been no further intercommunal talks under U.N. auspices since the submission of my last report to the Congress in August, and none are presently scheduled. This negotiating pause could easily last for several months more, through the forthcoming Greek elections in November and the Cyprus Presidential elections in February. However, we have not allowed ourselves to proceed on this assumption. Instead, we have continued actively to encourage a resumption of the intercommunal talks and, more importantly, have sought to ensure that, once these do reconvene, there will be meaningful discussion of the major unresolved issues.

We directed our attention to this goal during the special U.N. Security Council consideration of the Cyprus issue requested by the Government of Cyprus in late August and early September. A consensus resolution eventually emerged that was both equitable and nonpolemical, which called upon the parties to avoid provocative acts and resume intercommunal negotiations.

At the same time, we consulted with the Greek and Turkish governments to set the stage for a series of meetings in New York in which Secretary Vance and my Special Representative, Clark Clifford, met with President Kyprianou and Foreign Minister Christofides of Cyprus and with Foreign Ministers Bitsios and Caglayangil of Greece and Turkey. These New York meetings have encouraged us to believe that progress on Cyprus may be possible in the months ahead. We noted a growing recognition in the region that a just solution to the Cyprus issue will serve the long-term interests of .all the nations in the Eastern Mediterranean.

Secretary Vance also met in New York with U.N. Secretary General Waldheim and with the Foreign Ministers of Great Britain, the Federal Republic of Germany, and other interested Western allies. All view the situation in the Eastern Mediterranean much as we do, and urgently wish to see progress towards a Cyprus settlement.

So too do the Cypriots. While in New York for the U.N. General Assembly, I had a useful discussion with Cyprus President Spyros Kyprianou. I assured him that the United States sincerely wishes to help the people of Cyprus find a just and lasting settlement, and that we stand ready, as in the past, to support the current U.N. negotiating effort in any way we can. President Kyprianou in turn assured me of his people's earnest desire for a settlement and of their hope that the United States can help bring tins about.

In sum, therefore, I believe that I can record here--as I have not been able to do in the last two such reports--a cautious anticipation that movement toward meaningful Cyprus negotiations may soon be possible.

JIMMY CARTER

The White House,

October 28, 1977.