President Clerides, President Rologis, President Jacovides, Ambassador Brill, distinguished guests, members of the Cyprus Chamber of Commerce & Industry and Cyprus-American Business Association and friends all, I thank you for your kind invitation to be with you tonight and I want to say what great joy it gives me again to be in Cyprus.
I say this for several reasons. First, as you know, I am of Greek origin. My late father was born in Kalamata, Greece, and I was the first native-born American of Greek origin elected to the Congress of the United States. So to be honored by a university born in the tradition of Hellenic culture is most gratifying. Second, as I shall explain, for nearly a quarter of a century, I have been involved, in one way or another, with Cyprus. And third, I am pleased to meet with leaders of business and industry, government and the professions of this beautiful country. Yesterday I had the privilege of visiting the University of Cyprus and being received by its distinguished Rector, Professor Dr. Miltiades Chacholiades, and as some of what I say will mirror my remarks on that occasion, I hope you will forgive me. But I honestly believe that much of my sermon to professors and students will be relevant to business and political leaders as well! Please allow me a comment on the origins of my interest in Cyprus. They began, not surprisingly, in Greece although I note that one of my oldest friends. Professor John Koumoulides of Ball State University in my native Indiana, is author of a study of the role of Cyprus in the Greek War of Independence and has often spoken to me of his love for this country. Although, in 1967, the only Member of Congress of Greek descent, I voiced strong objection to the military junta that came to power in Greece that year. I opposed United States military aid to the dictatorship and during the years of the junta, refused to visit Greece or the Greek Embassy in Washington. As you all know. in 1974, following the colonels' unsuccessful coup against President Makarios, their fall and the restoration of democracy to Greece, Turkish military forces twice invaded Cyprus. Because the Turkish troops were equipped with weapons supplied by the United States, the Turkish government was in violation of US legal prohibitions on the use of American arms for other than defensive purposes.
And because American law mandated termination of arms to any country using them for other than defence, I led a small delegation of Congressmen to call on Secretary of State Kissinger to insist that he enforce the law and order an immediate halt to further shipments of weapons to Turkey.
Kissinger's refusal to do so caused several of us in Congress, including my close friend, now the Senior United States Senator from Maryland, Paul S. Sarbanes, to lead the successful effort to impose an arms embargo on Turkey.
Although only a handful of us in Congress were of Greek descent, we were well organised both within Congress and the country and we had a superior case, legally and morally. The so-called "Gang of Four", then Congress man Benjamin Rosenthal of New York, Senator Thomas Eagleton of Missouri, Paul Sarbanes and I, were not the Greek ?lobby" but the "rule of law lobby".
I shall not here review the subsequent chronology involving the lifting of the embargo and the continuing division of this island republic. Yet I must observe that the argument of both the Ford and Carter Administrations for eliminating the embargo, namely, that doing so would lead to Turkish concessions, proved wholly mistaken. A stand on principle and determined pressure would clearly have been the more effective course.
Let me say that this is my fourth visit to Cyprus. Paul Sarbanes and I came here in January 1975, we returned for the funeral of Archbishop Makarios in August, 1977 and I addressed members of the Cyprus-American Association in 1990. During my last trip, my wife and I had the great pleasure of joining the brilliant young New York University archaeologist, Professor Joan Bretton Connelly, to see the island of Yeronisos where she leads an excavation.
In the last several years, I have been occupied in a range of activities, of which I shall mention only a few as of possible interest.
First, of course, I served as President of New York University where I gave particular attention to building our programs for the study of other countries and cultures, from establishing a Centre for US-Japanese Business and Economic Studies, an Onassis Centre for Hellenic Studies, a Casa Italiana Zerilli-Marimo, a Skirball Department of Hebrew and Judaic Studies and, most recently, the King Juan Carlos of Spain Center for the study of modern Spain and the Spanish-speaking world.
Second, I have been serving since 1994, by appointment of President Clinton, as Chairman of the President's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities, a committee composed of private citizens and heads of Federal departments and agencies with cultural programs. Charged by the President with making recommendations for strengthening support, both private and governmental, for these two fields, our Committee, Honorary Chair of which is the first Lady, Hillary Rodham Clinton, last year published Creative America, a report to the President containing over fifty specific proposals.
To embrace our recommendations, we urged President Clinton to lead what we called a "Millennium Initiative", and, I am pleased to say, with the establishment of a White House Millennium Council, he is doing so. Another responsibility I have undertaken is to chair the National Endowment for Democracy, an unusual entity in the United States in that it is a non-governmental organisation financed with government funds. Its purpose is to make grants to private organisations in countries that do not enjoy democracy in order to encourage the institutions and practices of a free, open and democratic society.
Wearing this hat, I have for the last two years been working with several colleagues, including, in the United States, President Clinton's Special Envoy for dealing with the dispute between Greece and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Matthew Nimetz, and in Greece someone known to may of you here because of his long and constructive interest in Cyprus, Costa Carras, to establish a Centre for Democracy and Reconciliation in Southeastern Europe.
To be located administratively in Thessaloniki, the Centre, which we hope to initiate this year, will sponsor cross-national activities throughout the region aimed at promoting free and fair elections, independent media, independent judiciary, vigorous non-governmental organisation and the other components of a genuine democracy. Our Advisory Council includes person from Bosnia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Greece, the Netherlands, Romania, Serbia, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States. We certainly want to engage Cyprus in the work of the Center. Beyond our having received financial support from a Cypriot foundation and a Greek company managed by Cypriots, we believe that Cyprus can play a role in the entire region. Cypriot experts can give advice on the best administrative procedures for combating crime and corruption in the region. Here l must note an organisation, Transparency International, formed only a few years ago but already with chapters in over sixty countries, for the purpose of fighting corruption in business and government. Founded by Peter Eigen, a German former World Bank Official, TI, as it is known, has contributed significantly to the shaping of the recent OECD Convention outlawing bribery of public officials. We intend our first project to bring together professors of Balkan history for seminars, round tables and other meetings not with the objective of producing a common history but rather better to understand each other's and thereby, as President Clinton said in Sarajevo, "to make history our friend and not our enemy." So you can see from just these examples of what I've been doing since last I visited Nicosia that, in various ways, they are all relevant to Cyprus. Allow me to explain what I mean. I spoke of education.
It seems to me that for a country small in size and population and not rich in natural resources, a country like Cyprus, it is imperative for your security, your economy and your standard of living, that you invest in brainpower, in human capital. As Cyprus moves to join the European Union, your country will find-I'm sure it has already done so-that the winds of economic competition can blow exceedingly hard. As the distinguished president of the Republic, Mr. Glafkos Clerides, said at the opening of the Cyprus International Fair last month. "Cyprus' aspiration to join the European Union and the new competitive climate that is developing do not Ieave room for hesitation and delay. We are entering a new era where new ideas, new products and services and new technologies and know-how are developing and circulating with unprecedented speed." President Clerides warned that "to meet the new challenges," everyone, "the Government, employers and employees," must "methodically and systematically...adopt a new mentality, philosophy and approach, based on the demands imposed by the globalisation of the economy. The concepts of competition, productivity, quality and technological upgrading must guide the actions and efforts...of all the Cypriot people." What President Clerides said is to me clear: With the internationalisation of the economy and with the increasing importance of science and technology, especially of telecommunications, Cyprus must be well prepared for the next century and the Third Millennium, and that in turn means well educated men and women. Surely, the University of Cyprus can lead the way not only for this country but for this entire region. Beyond a highly educated and diverse workforce, Cyprus is, of course, blessed with a location that enables it to look both East and West and so to serve as a lively centre for international business. That the respected journal, The Economist, only last week sponsored a conference here on "Doing Business in Cyprus: An International Business and Financial Centre at the Cross-roads of Europe and the Middle East" makes my point. Think for a moment of the extraordinary strengths that Cyprus has already demonstrated as such a centre. I cite only a few.
English, increasingly the international language of business, is widely spoken. You have a stable and genuinely democratic government, with a sound legal system. Yours is a free market economy, one to which tourism, shipping, construction, finance, insurance and business services are all major contributors. I have already spoken of your work force. Your transportation and communication services make Cyprus a major transit station, both sea and air. And, of course, you have a well developed telecommunications sector. The government of Cyprus pursues policies that have encouraged foreign investment, and a lively spectrum of off-shore companies do business here. I understand that although European Union countries enjoy tariff advantages, exports from the United States here have risen tenfold since 1987, from $67 million dollars to $670 million dollars, and that the United States share of Cyprus' total imports now approaches 20%, making the U.S., for the third consecutive year, the single largest exporter to the island. I was impressed, too, that in April of this year, Cyprus approved new legislation to protect intellectual property. As our distinguished United States Ambassador to Cyprus, Kenneth Brill, said only last month, "Decisions like that help preserve Cyprus' good reputation and image internationally," even as he voiced U.S. appreciation for the efforts of Cyprus to combat money-laundering. But I don't want to paint a completely rosy picture. Everyone in this room knows a lot more about the economy of Cyprus than I do. I nonetheless cannot help pointing out that only last April, an article on a special section on Cyprus in the respected Financial Times, contained the following two sentences: "Until last year, Cyprus could boast of being able to meet most of the requirements for joining the single European currency set by the Maastricht Treaty. But as formal accession talks for the island to be included in the next round of E.U. get underway, the Greek Cypriots' economic achievement is showing signs of wear and tear." Let me here interject that the impact in one country of economic developments in other parts of the world, far distant, can be rapid, substantial-and damaging. Consider, for example, in recent weeks, days even, the ripple effect of setbacks in the economies of Russia, Indonesia, Japan and South Korea. So a smaller country, like Cyprus, must take nothing for granted! This means that at a time of extraordinary change, the people of Cyprus must be ready for change, indeed, welcome it, and not be overwhelmed by it. I reiterate that absolutely indispensable to this country for the century soon to begin is a first-class system of education. Certainly the prospect of joining the European Community can only strengthen the outlook for the economy of Cyprus both within Europe and looking East toward the Newly Independent States as well as Israel and the Arab world.
Here also, I must note that, as Ambassador Holbrooke said in Nicosia last month, the United States agrees with President Clerides' invitation to Turkish Cypriots to take part in the accession process. As you know, the Turkish Cypriot leader rejected this offer even before receiving it through the EU, a decision taken despite an opinion poll last autumn showing that an overall majority in the North of Cyprus, with Turkish settlers included in the poll, wanted Cyprus to enter the EU even without Turkey, but after a settlement.
But I must underscore as well that Ambassador Holbrooke also voiced US opposition to two demands by the Turkish side: 1 ) that there must be recognition of Turkish-occupied Cyprus as a sovereign state, even before negotiations on a settlement begin and 2) that the Cypriot application for admission to the European Union be withdrawn.
Such demands, Holbrooke insisted bluntly, are "unrealistic". U.S. Under-secretary of State Thomas Pickering reinforced this position on May 22, when he said that these "preconditions ... stood very much in the way of progress and ... we objected (to them)".
The demand that Turkish-occupied Cyprus be recognised as a sovereign state is, of course, also unacceptable because it directly contradicts all UN resolutions and the 1977 and 1979 high level agreements between the two communities signed by the Turkish Cypriot leader himself.
Another issue I realise has come into the picture is the decision of the Government of Cyprus to purchase defensive missiles from Russia, a move wholly understandable in light of Turkish military threats and an occupying force of 35,000 troops. On the other hand, President Clerides has repeatedly asserted that such missiles would not be needed if the entire island were demilitarised.
And although I certainly cannot pretend to speak for the Government of Cyprus, I should not be surprised if an honest - I repeat, honest - commitment to serious discussion of demilitarisation were to come from the Turkish side, delivery of the missiles could be postponed.
Indeed, I have long thought that one of the factors indispensable to a solution of the Cyprus problem is security - for both Greeks and Turks. It seems to me that in any settlement acceptable to both sides and to Greece and Turkey, there must be, following departure of foreign troops, provision, to assure such security for all Cypriots, for a multi-national peace-keeping force.
Such a force might well be a NATO operation for, aside from the United Nations, NATO is the one organisation where Greece and Turkey are on the same level.
With respect to the matter of constitutional arrangements, the United Nations, the European Union, the United States and the republic of Cyprus are all agreed that there must be on the island a bizonal, bicommunal federation, with a single sovereignty.
I suggest, by way of example of the tone one hopes would characterise a federation that can command the support of both communities on the island and both Greece and Turkey, consideration be given to the proposal of Costa Carras for cross-voting. Rather than voting only for candidates of their own community, as before, Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots would vote twice, all citizens casting ballots in the election of both communities. In this way, candidates and legislators from each community would for the first time acquire a stake in appealing to the other.
The goal should be, I respectfully suggest, an agreement that provides for such a single sovereign state in which Greek Cypriots will accord a significant degree of self-government to Turkish Cypriots who, in turn, must agree to territorial compromises that will enable them to share in the economic growth that both reunification and membership in the European Union would bring.
After all, everyone knows there is a huge gap in per capita annual income between Greek Cypriots and the "North."
The challenge then must be to take into account the fears and apprehensions of both Greek and Turkish Cypriots so that both communities will feel that they are dealt with fairly.
How to get there?
Well, I have no magic answer but I do offer a couple of observations.
First, in the final analysis, as a highly respected senior member of Congress told me last week, a decision to settle the Cyprus question is up to Turkey.
Will there be the will on the part of Turkish political leaders and given the configuration of power in Turkey, the Turkish military, to decide that that country, so rich, culturally and in other ways, will move into the next century as a modern; democratic state or be a pariah among nations?
The Turks must determine which way they will go, and Cyprus is a touch stone.
A second observation: We must press hard for a renewal in Cyprus of contacts between the two sides. Remember that last December, seizing the opportunity provided by the disagreement between the EU and Turkey over the Luxembourg meeting, the Turkish Cypriot leader stopped all contact across the Green Line between Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots. He thereby cut short a most promising process whereby large numbers of both communities were meeting in regular and structured fashion. Yet neither the Greek Cypriot nor Turkish Cypriot community bore any responsibility for the Luxembourg disagreement.
A metaphor for such contacts, such communication, is the inauguration, announced last month in the Buffer Zone by Ambassador Holbrooke, of the first direct telephone lines between the two parts of Cyprus since 1974.
As Holbrooke said, "Communications reduce misunderstanding. Communication can reduce tensions. Communications bring modern benefits to the island..."
This is a very important development", added Holbrooke, "... and it shows that even in the midst of difficult diplomatic discussions, progress is possible."
Here I remind you that last month, as a consequence of many meetings, a great deal of human contact at all levels, and much effort, also involving the United States, there is now renewed hope for peace in a land tortured by division and bloodshed for many years, Northern Ireland. As Foreign Minister Kasoulides said here on May 26, "We see that problems as complex and as difficult as that of Northern Ireland finally end up in the path towards a solution, while the continuing occupation of a significant part of Cyprus is an historic anachronism."
So, too, again with the engagement of American diplomats, in this case, Cyrus Vance and Matthew Nimetz, there has been major advance toward resolving the dispute between ' Athens and Skopje over the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.
I know that our own distinguished United States Ambassador to Cyprus, Kenneth Brill, has spoken eloquently of the importance of resuming bicommunal contacts here while only last month, at The Economist conference, Ambassador Thomas Miller criticised the suspension of bicommunal links by the Turkish Cypriot side, warning that `'politically the refusal of the Turkish Cypriots to engage in straight-forward discussions on practical problems reinforces the international image of being the intransigent or non-cooperative side.''
Surely students, teachers, business and professional leaders from the two sides ought, on the part of communities that pretend to be civilised, to be able to talk to one another, as individuals and as members of citizens? groups and other non-governmental organisations.
Surely with such high stakes involved-for the people of Greece, the people of Turkey and especially for the people of Cyprus-it should prove possible, as we look to the year 2000, to resolve a problem that continues to threaten the peace of the Eastern Mediterranean. With dialogue possible elsewhere in the world, why not in Cyprus?
I have told you of my own involvement in Cyprus as a Member of the Congress of the United States and of my continuing interest in improving relations between Greece and Turkey.
I have spoken of a venture, the Centre for Democracy and Reconciliation in Southeastern Europe, that although modest at the outset, can in time, in a troubled part of the world, sow seeds of hope rather than despair. I have commented on a few of the factors that seem to me essential to finding a just and lasting resolution of a problem-the tragedy of a divided Cyprus-that should affront the consciences of us all. I am glad that my own country is helping in this effort. How splendid it would be if, even before the start of the next millennium, we can see a united Republic of Cyprus, in which all its citizens enjoy the fruits of freedom, democracy and the rule of law!