REPORT OF THE IPU COMMITTEE TO MONITOR THE SITUATION IN CYPRUS
to the 155th session of the Inter-Parliamentary Council

(Copenhagen, 17 September 1994)

A. ACTIVITIES OF THE COMMITTEE

I. GENERAL ORGANIZATION OF THE WORK OF THE COMMITTEE

1. Members and chairmanship of the Committee

1. The Committee to Monitor the Situation in Cyprus held its VIIth session in Copenhagen on Tuesday, 13 September, and Thursday, 15 September 1994. The following took part in the session: Mr. M. FERRIS (Ireland), Chairman, Mr. J. BAUMEL (France), Vice-Chairman, Mr. H. KEMPPAINEN (Finland), Mrs. H. MEGAHED (Egypt) and Mr. David TRIMBLE (United Kingdom). Mrs. R. LAURILA (Finland) deputized for Mr. Kemppainen for part of the session since he had been called upon to chair the IIIrd Committee.

2. The Committee took note of the resignation of Mr. C. HOLDING (Australia). He had not been replaced by another parliamentarian from his National Group for the session.

2. Purpose of the session

3. In accordance with the decision taken by the Inter-Parliamentary Council at its 154th session, in Paris on 26 March 1994, the Committee was called upon to:

(i) Examine the written information on developments in the Secretary-General's good offices mission and developments in the Cyprus problem presented by the representatives of the two Communities and by the representatives of the Guarantor Powers;

(ii) Hear once more the representatives of the three Guarantor Powers;

(iii) Hold a session of direct inter-communal contacts at the level of representatives of the political parties existing in Cyprus.

3. Documentation available to the Committee

4. The Committee had before it memoranda on developments in Cyprus since late March 1994, presented by the representatives of the two Communities and by the representatives of the three Guarantor Powers, together with the latest information on the good offices mission of the United Nations Secretary-General and the Judgment delivered on 5 July 1994 by the European Court of Justice on the "non-recognition of movement and phytosanitary certificates originating from the part of Cyprus to the north of the United Nations Buffer Zone".

II. HEARING OF THE THREE GUARANTOR POWERS

5. The Committee heard the representatives of the three Guarantor Powers established by the 1960 Treaty of Guarantee. Using the same procedure as at the first hearing of this kind, in Paris in March 1994, the Committee thus heard on Tuesday, 13 September, from 11 a.m. to 12.30 p.m.:

(i) For GREECE: Mr. Alexander Baltas (PASOK - Panhellenic Socialist Movement), member of the Chamber of Deputies and leader of the delegation of Greece to the 92nd Inter-Parliamentary Conference, and Deputy John Stathopoulos (ND - New Democracy).

(ii) For TURKEY: Mr. Yildirim Avci (DYP - Party of the Just Path), member of the Turkish Grand National Assembly, President of the National Group and leader of the delegation of Turkey to the 92nd Inter-Parliamentary Conference.

(iii) For the UNITED KINGDOM: Mr. David Trimble (Ulster Unionist Party), member of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom and member of the United Kingdom delegation to the 92nd Inter-Parliamentary Conference.

III. SESSION OF DIRECT INTER-COMMUNAL CONTACTS AT THE LEVEL OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE POLITICAL PARTIES EXISTING IN CYPRUS

1. Preparation

6. In accordance with the decision taken by the Inter-Parliamentary Council on 26 March 1994, the Secretary General of the Inter-Parliamentary Union had contacted in advance the leaders of the sixteen political parties existing in Cyprus to invite them to participate in this session, and he had invited them to present suggestions as to the topic(s) which should be taken up. The Secretary General had specified that the political parties of the two Communities would bear the travel costs of their representatives, and he had contacted the Danish National Group, host of the 92nd Inter-Parliamentary Conference, for the granting of the necessary visas to participants.

2. Participation

7. The session was attended on Tuesday, 13 September, from 3 p.m. to 5.30 p.m. by:

(i) For the GREEK CYPRIOT COMMUNITY: Democratic Rally Party (DISY), Mr. Alecos Markides, Deputy Chairman; Progressive Party of the Working People (AKEL - New Force), Mr. Andreas Christou, Member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee and Spokesman of the Parliamentary Group of AKEL; Liberal Party, Mr. Nicos Rolandis, Chairman; Democratic Socialist Reform Movement (ADISOK - New Left), Mr. Costas Themistocleous, Vice-President; Free Democrats Movement, Mr. Phrixos Colotas;

(ii) For the TURKISH CYPRIOT COMMUNITY: National Unity Party, Mr. Dervis Eroglu, Leader; Democratic Party, Mr. Hakki Atun, Leader; Republican Turkish Party, Mr. Özker Özgür, Leader; Communal Liberation Party, Mr. Mustafa Akinci, Leader.

8. Mr. Ismet Kotak, Leader of the Free Democratic Party (Turkish Cypriot Community), had excused himself from attending the session "due to financial difficulties" and transmitted a note to the Committee on his Party's latest views regarding the Cyprus question.

9. Mr. Alpay Durduran, Leader of the New Cyprus Party (Turkish Cypriot Community), had excused himself from attending the session, stating the following:

"The Parliament of Northern Cyprus unfortunately very lately ruled that only the parties represented in the Parliament could be helped and financed, and it was up to the Executive to decide whether it would be able to help the other parties. Hence the Executive Body (Government) had delayed its decision up to this week and exhausted all our chances to look for an alternative."

10. No official response to the Committee's invitation had been received from the following five political parties: Democratic Party (DIKO) and EDEK Socialist Party (Greek Cypriot Community), National Justice Party, Homeland Party, and Turkish Unity and Sovereignty Party (Turkish Cypriot Community). However, the members of the delegation of the Republic of Cyprus representing DIKO and EDEK had told the Chairman of the Committee verbally of their Parties' decision not to take part in the session of direct inter-communal contacts, on the grounds that the Cyprus question was one not of lack of contact between the two Communities but of the occupation of the northern part of Cyprus by Turkey, and that in any case such contacts between the parties should take place in Cyprus itself. They have since expressed readiness to participate in Cyprus in inter-communal talks at the level of representatives of political parties.

3. Main theme of discussion

11. The Committee had been seized of proposals submitted by nine of the above-mentioned political parties. In the light of those proposals and in view of the content of the documents at its disposal, and of the latest developments in the Cyprus question, the Committee had decided on the following main theme of discussion, which had been conveyed in advance to all 16 political parties:

"Contribution to the establishment of a climate favourable to the dialogue and negotiation between the two Communities, in particular through various measures aimed at facilitating the development of regular direct contacts in Cyprus between representatives of the various political parties existing on the Island and other protagonists of civil society."

12. The Committee had notified participants that it wished the inter-communal dialogue to focus on that theme, without any preliminary statements on the overall situation in Cyprus.

IV. EVALUATION OF WORK AND RECOMMENDATIONS

13. The Committee considers the hearing of the representatives of the Guarantor Powers to have been very helpful and thanks them for their co-operation. The meeting produced a very frank exchange of views on the situation in Cyprus, in both historical and current terms, and enabled stock to be taken of specific key aspects of their positions on the Cyprus question.

14. It is gratifying to report that the session of direct inter-communal contacts took place in the most positive spirit, reflecting the shared desire of the two Communities to achieve a just and lasting settlement of the Cyprus question. A genuine dialogue was thus established between the representatives of parties, who all actively contributed to the exchanges on the theme proposed.

15. This dialogue unambiguously highlighted agreement on the importance and necessity of such exchanges both between political parties and other protagonists of civilian society.

16. Participants were unanimous in affirming that it would be appropriate to establish a mechanism for such exchanges to be held at regular intervals, in Cyprus itself and at neutral locations. It emerged from the discussion that for these contacts to be constructive and create a positive dynamic, it was essential to agree on a third party with responsibility for co-ordinating them and on a code of conduct to regulate them.

17. It emerged from the discussions that such a code of conduct to regulate contacts should, in particular, provide that:

(i) Contacts should initially be confined to specific subjects, and should concentrate on issues that can be settled in the short or medium term;

(ii) Participants should refrain from arguing about the past and endeavour to look to the future;

(iii) Participants should display mutual respect and receptiveness, over and above partisan or individual convictions.

18. It also emerged from the discussion that the United Nations, through its representative in Cyprus, would be particularly well-placed to facilitate frequent and regular contacts of this kind, which could take place at Ledra Palace, situated in the buffer zone placed under United Nations control. That would in fact amount to implementing of one of the confidence-building measures proposed by the Secretary-General of that Organization.

19. The Committee expresses the hope that all political parties existing in Cyprus will understand the value of taking part in such regular meetings for the greatest benefit of the entire Cypriot population, and urges them to contribute effectively thereto. It likewise hopes that similar meetings between other protagonists of civilian society will henceforth be facilitated, permitting the gradual development of constructive contacts between two Communities. It exhorts all participants in the session of direct inter-communal contacts to undertake approaches in this direction, in the same positive frame of mind as that marking the Copenhagen session.

20. The Committee requests the Inter-Parliamentary Council to authorize the Committee's Chairman and Vice-Chairman to travel to Cyprus with the Committee's Secretary before the holding of the next Statutory Inter-Parliamentary Meetings in Madrid (27 March - 1 April 1995) for meetings with the leaders of all political parties on the actual establishing of such contacts. It proposes to use to this end the rest of the budget allocated for the Committee's visit to Cyprus in January 1994.

21. The Committee wishes the Secretary General to bring the foregoing to the attention of the United Nations Secretary-General.

22. The Committee further requests the Inter-Parliamentary Council to authorize it to meet again on the occasion of the Madrid Inter-Parliamentary Meetings, on Tuesday 28 March and Thursday 30 March, allowing it in particular to continue acting as a catalyst in promoting contacts among political parties and assess progress made since the Copenhagen meeting.

23. At this session, the Committee wishes (i) to study once again the written information on developments in the situation in Cyprus presented by the representatives of the two Communities and by the representatives of the Guarantor Powers and on the good offices mission of the United Nations Secretary-General; (ii) to hear again the representatives of the Guarantor Powers according to the procedure applied in Paris and Copenhagen, and (iii) to hold a new session of direct inter-communal contacts at the political party level according to the procedure applied in Copenhagen.

24. For the session of inter-communal contacts, the representatives of all political parties existing within each of the two Communities would once again be invited to meet around the same table for direct talks on one or more themes decided on as a result of prior consultation. As in the case of the present session, the Secretary General of the Inter-Parliamentary Union would contact the leaders of all the political parties in advance to invite them to take part in the session and to offer suggestions as to the topic(s) to be covered. On the understanding that the political parties of the two Communities would once more bear the travel costs of their representatives, the Secretary General would examine with the National Group hosting the Inter-Parliamentary Meetings all the practical aspects of this initiative, such as granting the necessary visas and providing adequate premises at the seat of the 93rd Inter-Parliamentary Conference.

25. The Committee hopes that, with the visit to Cyprus of the Committee's Chairman and Vice-Chairman and the Madrid session of direct inter-communal contacts, or even before this session, a firm start will have been made on the establishment, in Cyprus itself, of frequent and regular contacts both among the representatives of the political parties and other protagonists of civilian society, and that it might thus consider its task to have been fulfilled.