S/PV.203 Security Council

In accordance with the decision taken at the 2026th meeting, I invite the representatives of Cyprus, Greece and Turkey to participate, without the right to vote, in the Council’s discussion under the terms of Article 31 of the Charter and rule 37 of the provisional rules of procedure. At the invitation of the President, Mr, Christophides ICYPrus), Mr. Papoulias (Greece) and Mr. Tiirkmen (Turkey) took places at the Council table.

Mr. President, permit me first to offer you thr congratulations of my delegation upon your assumption of the presidency of the Council. ‘We are particularly happy to see this important post occupied for the first time by a representative of the Federal Republic of Germany, a neighbour with which for many years now we have maintained links of very close co-operation and which is one of our principal partners in the European Community. We are especially pleased because we are familiar with your distinguished personal qualities as a negotiator, which guarantee complete success in your new post. 3. Permit me also to thank the delegations which have been kind enough to convey their compliments to the representative of France for the way in which he carried out the functions of President of the Council during August. 4. Before dealing with the question under discussion, I should like to pay a tribute to the memory of President Makarios, who died on 3 August last. I wish to honour his gifts as a statesman and a great patriot, qualities which over the last 20 years have brought him to the forefront of international life. 5. Two weeks ago the Security Council held its first meeting [2026th meeting/ in response to the request of the Cypriot delegation and now it is on the point of taking a decision on a draft resolution. One might be tempted, in view of the amount of time that has passed since the beginning of our debate, to express regret at the protracted nature of negotiations which only now have allowed us to arrive at a text. For our part, we would have liked to see the Council taking an earlier decision. We do feel, however, that it was wise to seek an appropriate response to the request of the Government of Cyprus, a response which could also enjoy the broadest possible support among members of the Council, The difficulties which we have encountered and overcome in attempting to achieve this objective, far from diminishing the value of the text on which we are to take a decision, in fact, in our eyes, lend it greater authority. 6. Having listened to the statements made on 31 August [ibid.] and 9 September [203Oth meeting/ by the parties concerned and also the statement made in this very chamber on 1 September [2028th meeting] by the Secretary-General, my delegation believes that the various developments which have taken place in Varosha, the new town of Famagusta, fully justify our meeting. 7. Although the actual events in question Only amOUnt to apparently minor measures taken on a modest scale, we do feel that they are the kind of actions which could have dangerous consequences. Such measures, in fact, within a context of great tension, are liable to give rise to misunderstandings. They arouse legitimate apprehensions. Further, since they are benign in appearance and because they do not in themselves bear any collective significance, they could be followed by other measures which, taken together 8. It seems to us necessary, in the circumstances, for the Council, which has repeatedly in the past called upon the interested parties to demonstrate the greatest moderation and to refrain from any unilateral action liable to jeopardize negotiations between the representatives of the two communities, to reiterate that appeal. It also seems to us indispensable that the Council should call upon the parties to take no initiative that might alter the climate required for the success of these negotiations. My delegation is convinced that, in the present circumstances, everything possible must be done to preserve the bases and the framework for the negotiations to which the parties have agreed. We therefore feel that it is the CounciI’s duty to make its contribution to a reduction of tension, It is the duty‘of Member States to act Likewise. I note in this respect the statement that “there is no ‘mass colonization’ or resettlement of [Varosha] in progress” /2026th meeting, para. 68/. A more complete assurance would be welcome and would, I am sure, greatly contribute to an atmosphere of calm. 9. It must be made absolutely clear and unanimously recognized that any development liable to lead to a transformation of the conditions for the negotiations cannot be unilaterally brought about without jeopardizing not only the success and the very continuation of the talks even the implementation of the resolutions of our Organization. 10. We have always stressed that the prospects for a settlement necessarily depended upon negotiation based upon the fundamental and legitimate rights of the two communities within the framework of the maintenance of the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of the island. That is why we call upon the Council to spare no effort to ensure the resumption at an early date of meaningful negotiations. For all these reasons, my delegation will vote in favour of the text which is to be submitted to us. 11. The PRESTDENT: I thank the representative of France for the kind words he addressed to me and for the friendly remarks he made about the close relations between our two countries,

First of all, in the name of the Chinese delegation, 1 wish to express deep condolences on the recent untimely death of , 2 13. The Chinese delegation has repeatedly expounded the consistent principled position of the Chinese Government on the question of Cyprus both at General Assembly sessions and at Security Council meetings. On the basis of this position, we voted in favour of a number of relevant Assembly and Council resolutions. 14. The Chinese delegation has always held firmIy that the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Cyprus should be respected. We sincerely hope that the two Cypriot communities and the parties concerned, bearing in mind the over-all interests of opposing imperialism and hegemonism, will take a positive attitude and continue to work for an early reasonable settlement of the Cyprus question through patient negotiations on an equal footing and in a spirit of mutual understanding and mutual accommodation. It is also our earnest hope that all the parties concerned will heighten their vigilance, exercise restraint, gradually narrow and eliminate, rather than aggravate and widen, their differences, and thus guard against super-Power meddling and, in particular, avoid giving openings for exploitation by that super-Power which is bent on sowing discord and fishing in muddied waters. This is not only in the fundamental interests of the two Cypriot communities and the parties concerned but is also a common desire of the people of all countries who are really concerned about the destiny of the people of Cyprus. 1.5. Mr. RICHARD (United Kingdom): Mr. President, J begin by offering you our congratulations on your assumption of the presidency of the Security Council for this month. We are particularly pleased that this meeting should be taking place under your chairmanship in view of the very close relations between our two countries as fellowmembers of the European community. I should also like to offer our tllanks to your distinguished predecessor, Ambassador Leprette of France, for the skilful manner in which he handled our affairs during the month of August and indeed presided over the beginning of this debate. 16. Before turning to the subject of the present debate, I shouid like to offer our most sincere condolences to the delegation and people of Cyprus for the tragic death last month of Archbishop Makarios. 17. We have listened carefully to the contributions made during this debate and particularly to the statements of the parties directly concerned. We have also followed closely, and indeed taken part in, the intensive consultations which have taken place over the past two and a half weeks to try and reach a result in this debate which could be supported by the whole of the Council. 18. Governing our approach to this debate has been the conviction that the most urgent requirement at the present 19. Looking now to the future, there can I think be no doubt about the urgency of reaching a settlement in Cyprus and of the reality that such progress as has been made so far is sadly limited. The longer the problem remains unresolved the greater the danger that the rift between the parties will widen, that positions will harden further and that the present situation, already an explosive one, could become even worst. We believe therefore that the important thing now is to bring home to the parties once again the urgent need for early and substantial progress. 20. Like many others who have already spoken in this debate, I should like to reiterate again the very great importance we attach to the intercommunal talks as the only forum which offers a real prospect for progress. In saying this I would in no way wish to underrate the value of the deliberations which we undertake here at the United Nations nor to downgrade the important influence that the Security Council or the General Assembly can bring to bear. But, at the end of the day, it is only through direct talks between the parties themselves that a settlement can be reached. We have therefore been pleased to note the support that has been voiced during this debate, by all the parties concerned, for the continuation of the intercommunal talks. We were encouraged by the meetings which took place at Nicosia earlier this year between Archbishop Makarios and Mr. Denktaq, which led in turn to the resumption of the talks at Vienna in March. It was also encouraging that at that latter meeting, in spite of the very wide gulf which was evident between the positions of the parties, some progress was made and that that meeting was then followed by further meetings at Nicosia under the auspices of the Secretary-General’s Special Representative, Mr. Perez de Cuellar. We are, however, disappointed that, following Mr. Perez de CuBlIar’s return to Cyprus in early 1 Subsequently circulated as document S/12394. 21, In this conncxion, I should also like to say how much we appreciate the efforts made so far by the Secretary- General and by his Special Representative in assisting the progress of the negotiations. We hope that they will be ready to continue these efforts and make their good offices available in any way which could help the negotiating process. 22. Turning now to the particular subject of the present debate, my delegation has pointed out on frequent occasions in the past that if the talks are to make progress this can be done only in an atmosphere undisturbed by actions or statements which could prejudice the chances of reaching a settlement. This means in particular that there should be no unilateral moves to alter the existing status quo in the island. I should also like to recall paragraph 3 of resolution 410 (1977), adopted less than three monthsago, which urged the parties to act with restraint and to refrain from any action likely to affect adversely the prospects for negotiation. In view of this, my delegation has been pleased to note the assurances given to the Council in this debate that recc!H moves in New Famagusta do not constitute colonisation or resettlement. We believe that these assurances are extremely important because if there had been or were to be any devclopmcnt of that kind it would inevitably lead to serious consequences. Such a move could hardly fail to undermine the climate of confidence necessary if the talks are to make progress. It would thus do serious damage to the prospects of reaching an eventual settlement. 23. To sum up, we believe that the urgent need now is to get the talks restarted, under the auspices of the United Nations, and with the assistance, as needed, of the Secretary-General and his Special Representative. We urge both sides to contribute all that tltey can to making this possible and in particular to come forward with comprehensivc and concrete proposals for resolving their differences. Meanwhile we call once more upon the parties to act with restraint and to refrain from any unilateral action that may a?fect adversely the prospects for success in the talks. The resettlement of Varosha would, in our view, be a serious impediment to the negotiating process, and one which this Council could hardly ignore. The main requirement now is to get the talks going again in a meaningful way. Only if this is done will there be any real prospect of reaching a solution to this problem-one which has remained unresolved already for far too long.

I thank the representative of the United Kingdom for the kind words he addressed to me, as well as for his friendly remarks about the close relations between our two countries. The meeting rose at 12.20 p.m. HOW TO OBTAIN UNITED NATIONS PUBLICATIONS United Nations publications may be obtained from bookstores and distributors throughout the world. Consult your bookstore or write to: United Nations, Sales Section, New York or Geneva. COMMENT SE PROCURER LES PUBLICATIONS DES NATIONS UNIES I,es publications des Nations Unies sent en vente dans les librairies et les agences dbpositaires du monde entier. Informez-vous auprPs de votre libraire’ ou adressez-vous A : Nations U&s. Section des ventcs, New York ou GenBve. COMO CONSEGUIR PUBLICACIONES DE LAS NACLONES UNIDAS Las publicaciones de las Naciones Unidas astin en venta en librcrias y casas distribuidoras en to&s partes de1 mundo. Consulte a su librero o dirfjase a: .Naciones IJnidas. Seccidn de Ventas. Nueva York o Ginebra. Litho in United Nations, New York Price: $U.S. 1.00 (or equivalent lo other currencies) 7%70001-October 1978-2,200