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August 6, 1999

Mr. Samuel R. Berger
Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs
The White House
Washington, D.C. 20500

Re: U.S. Policy Toward Cyprus

Dear Mr. Berger,

I am sure you will have received a briefing from Mr. Tony Blinken about his meeting on July 20 with participants in the rally "Hands Across the Capitol" commemorating the 25th anniversary of Turkey's illegal invasion of Cyprus and its continuing occupation of 37.3 percent of the island. You may also have heard reports of the AHI conference "The United States and Cyprus--Twenty Five Years Later: A Study in Double Standards" held on Capitol Hill on July 28, 1999 at which distinguished Congressional leaders and regional experts examined U.S. policy toward Cyprus.

The American Hellenic Institute took part in the rally as one of the co-sponsors. We are proud of the turnout protesting against this continuing stain on our country's diplomatic record. We were gratified about the contribution from Members of Congress whose speeches sent a clear signal to the Administration that the time is long over due for action against Turkish aggression and intransigence.

We were grateful for Mr. Blinken's address to the rally but, as I am sure he will have told you, we were very unhappy with his message. To us, his assurances that the Administration put a high priority on a Cyprus settlement did not go beyond lip-service. We have heard this many times before, including in the 1992 and 1996 campaign statements of the Clinton-Gore presidential campaigns. As he left the rally Mr. Blinken said that he had "got the message." This is good news. To avoid any misunderstandings, however, I am writing to put on paper what we at AHI understand this message to be.

This message was made crystal clear by Chairman Ben Gilman of the House International Relations Committee at our July 28 conference when he stated:

"Everyone, including our State Department officials, understands that the impasse on Cyprus is caused by the position of Ankara and of Denktash. I have often said that Cyprus should not be held hostage to Turkish politics. We need to find ways to influence and modify Turkey's intransigence on Cyprus."

Quite correctly, Chairman Gilman turns the spotlight on Turkey. In doing so, he highlights the scandal whereby our government and the international community have tolerated Turkey's acts of aggression and occupation for so long. The reason that this has happened is clear: the U.S. has been unwilling to face facts, namely that the central issue at stake over Cyprus is Turkey's aggression and that the solution to this is that Turkey should be told to get out of Cyprus or face the consequences.

This has not happened. Instead, the Administration has pursued an appeasement policy toward Turkey. The latest example comes in the U.S. reaction to Turkey's outright rejection of the June 4, 1999 G8 initiative on Cyprus. Quite to the contrary, Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit, the original 1974 aggressor, continues to peddle his discredited and outrageous cliché that the "Cyprus problem was solved in 1974." He went further to hold an illegal rally in the occupied area of Cyprus to proclaim Turkey's shameless violation of the unanimous consensus of the international community that Cyprus should be free of Turkey's oppressive occupation.

Rather than calling Turkey to account, the Administration has gone out of its way, as demonstrated by Secretary of Defense Cohen's statement in Ankara on July 20 that the U.S. would not put pressure on Turkey, to give comfort to Turkey. The immediate effect is to undermine the G8 initiative by signaling to Turkey that it can ignore the international community with impunity. We are already seeing Turkey taking advantage of this western lack of seriousness in its increasingly negative reaction to the initiative. Over the longer term, the effects are even more damaging. By aligning ourselves with Turkey, we have turned our nation into an accomplice to aggression, occupation and ethnic cleansing.

We need a change. Lip-service no longer suffices. We need to go to the heart of the matter. This is:

1. the Cyprus problem is one of aggression, illegal occupation and attempted dismemberment by Turkey, whereby the Republic of Cyprus is the victim and Turkey is the aggressor. In Kosovo NATO took massive military action to resist internal aggression. NATO should take non-military action to reverse Turkey's external aggression in Cyprus. As a NATO member and EU aspirant Turkey should be held to the highest standards of compliance with the UN Charter, the North Atlantic Treaty and international law;
2. for 25 years, Turkey has violated the will of the U.S. and the UN to cease its illegal occupation of Cyprus and not to recognize or give any other assistance to the illegally occupied areas. Instead it has reinforced its forces there and illegally sent Turkish settlers there; and
3. the U.S. bears a moral responsibility as well to reverse Turkey's aggression because of U.S. complicity in that aggression and to make good on the years of shameful toleration of Turkey's aggression.

The lesson, as Chairman Gilman has made clear, is unambiguous. Unless the Administration rejects once and for all Turkish intransigence, the G8 process will usher in yet another barren process of futile negotiation. The message of our 25th anniversary rally is that the Administration should change course by:

1. stating that it is ending its current approach and that future talks will take place on the basis on the precondition of restoring the status quo ante and the rule of law as it applied before Turkey's 1974 illegal invasion;
2. identifying Turkey and its military-dominated government as the responsible party for the Cyprus problem and recognize that the Turkish military is the key, not Mr. Denktash;
3. demanding that Turkey complies immediately with all relevant UN General Assembly and Security Council resolutions, cease all measures to integrate the occupied areas with Turkey, immediately withdraw all occupation troops and illegal settlers, and agree to the demilitarization of the island;
4. demanding the restoration of constitutional government for all of Cyprus based on majority rule, the rule of law, and protection of minority rights; and
5. instituting a realistic diplomatic approach including coercive measures against Turkey such as removal of trade benefits, imposition of economic sanctions and denial of assistance from the international financial institutions in the event of Turkish non-compliance.

If the Administration can act on this message, the prospects for a Cyprus settlement will much improve. I hope Mr. Blinken grasped this and has conveyed it to you. This message accords with our nation's values and interests. We urge you to follow it.

MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMSincerely,

MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMEugene T. Rossides

cc: Members, the House International Relations, Armed Services and Appropriations Committees
Members, the Senate Foreign Relations, Armed Services and Appropriations Committees
Vice President Albert Gore, Jr.
Secretary of State Madeleine Albright
Secretary of Defense William Cohen
Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbott
Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Thomas Pickering
Assistant Secretary of State for European and Canadian Affairs Marc Grossman
U.S. Ambassadors to Greece, Turkey, Cyprus and NATO
Director Policy Planning Staff Mort Halperin
Special Coordinator for Cyprus Thomas Weston
Assistant to the President on National Security Affairs Samuel Berger

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