Soviet Union proposes representative international conference on Cyprus within United Nations framework.

Soviet Union proposes representative international conference on Cyprus within United Nations framework

The USSR has proposed a representative international conference on Cyprus, within the framework of the United Nations, as "a real way of ensuring the radical solution of the international aspects' of that problem.

Entitled "Principles of a Cyprus settlement and ways of achieving it', the proposal (A/41/96-S/17752) stated that such a conference could "work out jointly, with the participation of all interested parties, solutions which would be in the interest of both Greek and Turkish Cypriots, as well as of peace and universal security'. All parties must co-operate with the Secretary-General in his efforts at mediation carried out in strict compliance with the mandate entrusted to him by the Security Council, the USSR added.

Oleg Troyanovsky, Permanent Representative of the USSR, transmitted the proposal to Secretary-General Javier Perez de Cuellar on 21 January.

Mr. Perez de Cuellar said the proposal had been given to the various parties concerned, and that he and his staff were studying it "with great attention'. He welcomed the support expressed in the document for his continuing mission of good offices to find "a just and lasting solution of the Cyprus question'.

The outcome of the work of such a conference, according to the Soviet proposal, might be the signing of a treaty or other document providing for the following "organically interrelated components' of a settlement: demilitarization of the island, including the withdrawal of all foreign troops and the elimination of all foreign military bases and sites; a system of effective international guarantees of the independence, sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity of the Republic of Cyprus; and respect by all parties for its status as a non-aligned State.

International guarantees of the independence of Cyprus should rule out any future outside interference in the Republic's affairs, the USSR proposal said. Guarantors, it said, could be the permanent members of the Security Council or the Security Council as a whole, as well as Greece and Turkey, and certain non-aligned countries. Measures for applying the guarantees would be taken with the common consent of all guarantor countries. Cyprus must "not be the object of the use or threat of force', the Soviet Union stressed.

The participants in the conference could be the Republic of Cyprus (with a representative of each of the two communities), Greece, Turkey and all Security Council members. Other States, in particular those from the non-aligned group, could also be invited to participate.

The interests of general security, as well as the vital interests of the people of Cyprus, made it "imperative to eliminate the focal points of tension' in Cyprus by achieving a comprehensive, just and lasting solution to the problem, the USSR stated. The USSR based its position on the assumption that such a settlement would be viable only if achieved through the collective efforts of all interested parties and based on the following principles: Cyprus must remain "an independent and autonomous united State with its territorial integrity unimpaired', and its sovereignty must extend to the entire territory of the island "without exception'. The division of Cyprus "in any way whatsoever' or its complete or partial absorption by any country or countries could not be accepted, the USSR said.

Questions of the internal structure of the State of Cyprus, including the possibility of establishing a federation, must be resolved by the Greek and Turkish Cypriots themselves "by peaceful means, through constructive negotiations which take account of the legitimate interests of both communities, without any outside interference.