📑 Archive-1983 Letter from Varol Akçın - On Turkish Diplomacy ; For One Cyprus Under a Federal Roof - The New York Times

NOV. 26, 1983

1983

To the Editor:

Your assessment of recent developments in Cyprus is erroneous (Nov. 16 editorial, ''Turkish Land Grab in Cyprus''). The Turkish Government has always supported and continues to support the settlement of the Cyprus question through inter-communal talks under the auspices of the U.N. Secretary General. There is no change in this policy.

The declaration of independence of the Turkish Cypriot National Assembly makes clear that Turkish Cypriots do not consider independence to be an end in itself but rather a vehicle to achieve the final objective of a single Cypriot state under a federal roof.

The Turkish Cypriots have also declared as their objective a federal and bizonal solution on the basis of the previous summit agreements between the Turkish and Greek Cypriot leaders. The Turkish Cypriots in their declaration of independence proclaim that union of their new Republic with any state is excluded, except for a union with the Greek Cypriot state in a federal, bizonal and nonaligned Cyprus Republic. These facts led the Turkish Government to recognize the Turkish Cypriots' decision to exercise their right of self-determination. The Turkish Cypriots first exercised their right of self-determination in 1960 when, with the Greek Cypriots as co-founders, the Cypriot state was formed as a new independent country. Greek/Greek-Cypriot attempts to unite the island with Greece in 1963 resulted in the separation of the two Cypriot communities, with Turkish Cypriots struggling to survive in besieged enclaves. In 1974, the coup engineered by the Athens junta to annex the island resulted in physical separation into two zones. Since 1963, the Turkish Cypriots have had their own administration. Your correspondents apparently have a grasp of the basic positions of the parties that eludes your editorial writer who declares that ''Turks and Turkish Cypriots have resisted proposals for a federal, bizonal government.'' On Nov. 17, a correspondent in Nicosia correctly noted that it is the Turkish Cypriots who have argued for the bizonal approach.

We believe that a new initiative taken by the Turkish Cypriot president aimed at a joint federal Cypriot government and his constructive proposal to that end constitute a timely opportunity for a final Cyprus solution. The Turkish Cypriot declaration of independence is a decision made as a result of the persistent rebuffs stemming from Greek and Greek- Cypriot intransigence.

Finally, Turkish-American defense cooperation serves the mutual interests of both countries. It should not be affected by extraneous matters such as the Cyprus issue. 

VAROL AKCIN

Press Counselor, Turkish Embassy Washington, Nov. 19, 1983

A version of this letter appears in print on November 26, 1983, on Page 1001022 of the National edition with the headline: Letter: On Turkish Diplomacy ; For One Cyprus Under a Federal Roof.

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