USIA - Transcript: Cavanaugh Press Conference on Cyprus Issue, 97-01-16

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TRANSCRIPT: CAVANAUGH PRESS CONFERENCE 1/16 ON CYPRUS ISSUE

(Meets with Turkish officials) (3400)

Speaking at a news conference in Ankara January 16, Cavanaugh said the government of Cyprus promised not to deploy recently purchased anti- aircraft missiles on the island for another 16 months, "a substantial period of time in which this issue can be addressed and be put aside, so that it will no longer be a problem in this region."

Cavanaugh is director of the Office of Southern European Affairs at the Department of State.

Following is a transcript of the press conference:

(Begin text)

CAVANAUGH: Good morning. It's nice to be here with you today. I'd like to say I think this has turned out to be a successful diplomatic mission in what the United States was concerned could have been a crisis atmosphere that could spin in directions that no one had hoped for or would have wanted. We learned last January, with the situation in Kardak, how quickly events can become dramatic in this region. And we wanted to make sure very quickly in this instance that everyone understood we were opposed to this decision by the government of Cyprus to purchase the Russian missiles, that we thought this was a mistake, that this was not the path towards working on a peaceful settlement for Cyprus, equally, that we were firm in our view that there was no acceptable aggressive response to this decision. I think that message has been delivered. I think the government of Cyprus understands that fully. Not only do they understand that we thought that was a mistake, they understand that that will remain the position of the United States government. These missiles should never come to that island. This is not a way to enhance peace and stability in this region.

In Cyprus, I was able to obtain assurances that for the next 16 months not a single component of that system would arrive. There has been some question -- I saw, some of your press reports today -- about, well, that might not be very valuable. Some people had said it would be 16 or 18 months till anything was deployed, anyway. I can tell you that some of the press reports out of Russia had said: from the factory, that the missiles might be available in several months, a maximum within a year. There were other indications, other experts thought, substantial components of that system could have arrived in Cyprus also in a much shorter time frame. I think what we have been able to do is assure that there is a substantial period of time in which this issue can be addressed and be put aside, so that it will no longer be a problem in this region. Yesterday, I had some very lengthy meetings with the Foreign Ministry, with Mr. Batu, with Under Secretary Oymen. I'll have additional meetings with the Turkish Foreign Ministry this morning. Later this afternoon, I'll meet with the General Staff; I'll meet with General Bir. I'll also see General Kilic, the Secretary General of the National Security Council. I'll pass to him the basic message I've been passing all along on this trip. But I will also pass to them the positive things we have heard in Nicosia and, as well, positive things we have heard in Athens that make us believe that any potential for crisis now has gone. With that, why don't I stop there and then take your questions.

Q: Chris Nuttal, BBC. Mr. Cavanaugh, do you not fear that this issue has blighted any chance of any diplomatic initiative towards getting the two leaders of the island together for the next 16 months or more now?

CAVANAUGH: The United States is concerned that this is definitely a setback to international efforts to advance a settlement in Cyprus. It's also a setback to some specific efforts that we have been engaged in. I think there can be no doubt about it that this decision has soured in many ways the political atmosphere. Our hope is to put things back on a more positive track. Part of my mission in Cyprus was also to do that. And, in that connection, we were able to get the commitment of both the leaders of the Greek Cypriot and the Turkish Cypriot community to move quickly ahead with the implementation of the U.N. package of measures to improve the security, safety situation along the cease-fire lines. We hope that that will take place in the weeks ahead. And we believe the United Nations believes as well that those measures would go far towards reducing the prospects for unexpected incidents.

Q: Barcin Inanc, Milliyet. Mr. Cavanaugh, are you in any kind of a negotiation, whereby the Greek side will say that they have withdrawn from their decision but would ask for something else in correspondence? We know that the Turkish side would not accept something like that. So, have you told the Turkish side that the missile issue would not be used as a negotiation chip by the Greek side?

CAVANAUGH: When I was in Cyprus, I made very clear to the press after the meeting I had with the Cypriot government that, while I have gotten assurances these missiles would not be coming, not a single part for 16 months, that I had also not asked them to cancel that deal. I can tell you that during my meetings here in Turkey, the ones I have had, and the ones I will have later today, I am also not asking Turkey to respond in any way to that deal, not to provide anything. Our view is, as I said, this decision was a mistake. This should not be rewarded with, in effect seen as a way to gain greater diplomatic leverage. It has hurt the political atmosphere. That's a problem; we hope to address that. We hope to resolve diplomatically that decision. But, no, I don't expect Turkey to have to bargain to be able to get this decision reversed. The hope is that the United States and others in the international community will be able to do that -- to make it clear that the missiles aren't needed and aren't coming.

Q: Lale Sariibrahimoglu, Cumhuriyet. As the United States, are you prepared to allow non-NATO weapons on the island? And, secondly, have you specifically made proposals on confidence-building measures to Turkey now, in Ankara, concerning the moratorium on overflights, ban on overflights? At what stage are you now on these issues?

CAVANAUGH: Let me say this is our basic position on weapons, because I think it's true. Our view is that there are too many troops and too many weapons on the island of Cyprus. Today, this island is one of the most militarized pieces of territory in the world. This is not helpful for peace. This is not helpful for security. This cannot make any citizen of Cyprus particularly comfortable when they go to sleep at night. We understand the mistrust that exists on Cyprus. We understand the historic roots of that. We understand the need for security for all the people of Cyprus. But no one can be happy having the number of weapons, the number of troops that exist on that island today. As regards the question of overflights, this is an issue, I think many of you know, that has been on the table for quite a while. I have discussed it here today. I did discuss it yesterday, the day before yesterday, in Athens. It remains on the table, and we hope to be able to move forward with this. I am somewhat optimistic that that may be possible in the very near term.

Q: Kelly Coutourier, Washington Post. Mr. Cavanaugh, I'd like to follow up on the question about the U.S. position on allowing non-NATO weapons and technology in the eastern Mediterranean. What exactly is the U.S. position? And what does the U.S. plan to do vis-a-vis Russia?

CAVANAUGH: On non-NATO weapons, you said? Let me give you the basic, as I said, the basic position of the United States on weapons for Cyprus. There are too many weapons; there are too many troops. As you know, we do not sell weapons to Cyprus. We believe that it would not fit with that policy. We have not sold them weapons. We also have restrictions on the delivery of weapons to Cyprus, as people are very well aware. We believe this is not the way to enhance the security of the people of Cyprus. The way to enhance the security of the people of Cyprus is through a comprehensive political settlement acceptable to both communities. That's a direction we are working on. That's a direction we are focused on. As regards non-NATO weapons in the entire eastern Mediterranean region, it's obvious countries have a right for self-defense. It's obvious countries -- a variety of countries -- will buy weapons that aren't from NATO countries. The global arms market, unfortunately, appears to be quite rich and quite lucrative. What is clear. though, is that purchases of arms should never be done in a way in which they undermine security and create greater tension. And I think what we have made clear here is our view that the purchase, the purchase contract for these Russian missiles did not serve to enhance security or stability in this region.

Q: Associated Press. Many analysts have predicted that the Cypriot government has used the missile purchase as a way to get the negotiations on reuniting the island back on track. They have been stalled for many years. And the government of Cyprus has repeated that, sort of, two days ago when they said, "Well, we haven't changed our decision on buying the missiles or not, but we'll reconsider it, depending on how the efforts of the U.N. and other parties proceed." So, will the next 16 months be a way to solve the Cyprus issue, now that this incident has shown that there can be crisis situations easily on the island, or is this going to be just another 16 months to solve the missile crisis only?

CAVANAUGH: I am glad you raised your question that way, because I do believe it points out the fundamental concern here. I think the situation in Cyprus is longstanding, and I think you are right. It's one that really can't be tolerated in the long term, if we want to have the kind of peace and stability necessary to allow this corner of Europe to advance politically and economically in the way everyone would like to see it advance. The international community has been determined to try to find a solution. Efforts have been stepped up over the past year or two to work on that solution. I don't think, however, that the missile decision itself enhances the prospects for that solution. As I said, it sours the political atmosphere. This isn't leverage that leads to a solution. You don't decide to buy missiles and then find that that makes everybody say, "Oh, gee, then this must be just the right time to sit down at a peace table seriously, negotiate, and compromise." I think that the ability to do that still exists. I think it's important that people do that. I am a little troubled this decision will set efforts back several months, but our intention, as I have made clear, is to try to move ahead. Our hope was that some of the measures that Mr. Denktash and President Clerides said they fully support are a way to help move ahead the discussions on a restriction on the overflight of combat aircraft, which we think also is a tension reduction effort for Cyprus. If that advances, that's yet another way to build an atmosphere to move ahead. What we hope to do in the 16 months is both make sure this missile situation is gone -- I think I've made that clear -- but also make sure that you can craft the environment so you can move ahead toward a solution for Cyprus, and hopefully not requiring anywhere near 16 months. We would much rather see this happen in the near term.

Q: Selin Caglayan, Hurriyet. Sir, I want to ask very simply how you are planning to solve this issue. Do you have a plan for that?

CAVANAUGH: Which issue?

Q: This missile crisis, so-called.

CAVANAUGH: I think the nature of diplomacy is that one rarely wants to put all the cards on the table, face up. But I think what you've seen by the response of the United States this week is that we are very committed to making sure this is not a problem in this corner of Europe. We've already gone to considerable steps to defuse this as a potential for crisis. As I said, we saw last year how quickly things can get out of hand in this region. I think that situation does not exist today. We will work to make it disappear. I have some ideas on how that can be done. Washington has ideas on how that can be done. And, hopefully, in the weeks and months ahead, those will prove to be effective.

Q: Barcin Inanc, Milliyet. There is something that I don't understand. I guess I am missing something. You keep saying that this is a mistake and that this problem has to be solved and that these missiles should not come to the island. But then you underline the fact that you have not asked the Cypriot side to cancel this deal. So what are you asking?

CAVANAUGH: I underline the fact that, literally days after a decision had been made that seemed to be quite popular politically in Cyprus, I did not pursue that avenue or that approach. I think that was not fitting with the times. What I did pursue was to defuse this as any potential crisis in the short term. And I think that worked. That doesn't mean I won't ask later that the deal should be canceled.

Q: Chris Nuttal, BBC. I think the real Turkish fear is that Greece and the Greek Cypriots are trying to wind up the pressure here to force the international community to intervene and impose some kind of Dayton-style deal for Cyprus which will then force them to withdraw their 30,000 troops and remove their protection for the Turkish Cypriot community, which they obviously don't want to do. Do you envisage any kind of Dayton-style agreement regarding Cyprus?

CAVANAUGH: Let me say what our view is as regarding a settlement for Cyprus, because I think it's important, and it should make people less concerned. Our view has always been that a settlement for Cyprus would be one that's arrived at not so much by the international community but by the parties themselves, that the parties themselves have to sit down together and find a settlement that is mutually acceptable, that meets the needs of their communities, that they can be comfortable with.

Cyprus has been an elusive issue for a long time. It is a difficult issue. Everyone understands that. No one should expect a solution to be quick or easy. People should also understand at the same time, however, a solution can't be forced. A forced solution would not be a durable settlement. There is little point in having gone through all of this difficult history in Cyprus and to work toward a solution that wouldn't be maintained.

So, the environment to move forward on that, the support of the international community -- we're building that. But the commitment, the decision, the solution comes from the parties themselves. It also comes from their partners. It's clear that the parties and their partners have to be comfortable with the solution. It's clear the solution has to provide for their basic concerns -- concerns about security, concerns about democracy, concerns about the political process. And I think those things can be worked out at a table.

The environment that was in place for Dayton was very, very different, dramatically different in Bosnia than what you see today in Cyprus. Cyprus is a problem. It's a long-standing problem. There are problems between the two communities there. That's a long-standing problem. We have not seen in recent times the kind of conflict -- you could argue in twenty, thirty years -- the kind of conflict that we witnessed, that the world witnessed, in Bosnia. We have been talking -- I mentioned this week that last year was the worst level of violence in Cyprus since 1974. This is true, but it's also true these are demonstrations and casualties numbering five people. Any loss of life is a horrible thing. It's a horrible event. But, again, the loss of five people on Cyprus is very different than the situation in Bosnia on the eve of the Dayton process.

Q: Kelly Coutourier, Washington Post. Could you just state, please, the U.S. position on Cyprus's intended accession to the European Union?

CAVANAUGH: The United States generally supports the expansion of the European Union. We believe this is a useful process to help enhance European security architecture, to help build greater prosperity in Europe. We have been very supportive, in fact, of Turkey's enhanced relationship with Europe. I can tell you that, on Friday, Assistant Secretary for European Affairs John Kornblum and I were in the Hague meeting with the EU Presidency and talked at some length not only about Cypriot accession to the EU but also enhancement of Turkey's relationship with the EU. We support Turkey's quest for full membership in the EU. We think that's important. We also support Cypriot accession to the EU. We think that the expansion of the EU and NATO enlargement are both paths to help improve stability and prosperity in Europe.

Q: Conxita Isik, ANKA News Agency. It was more or less the same, but, just as a follow up to that: Do you support the Turkish view that the membership of Cyprus should be simultaneous with the membership of Turkey?

CAVANAUGH: I don't want to get into hearing repeatedly what are actually legal arguments, concerns about whether this treaty necessitates that. I think, by what we've seen, the European Union's lawyers themselves don't believe there is a restriction on Cypriot accession. But, what I would say in response to that is the United States' view is that the best way to have Cyprus to go into the European Union would be with a political settlement. I think it would be clear that that would enhance the accession process; it would enhance the situation on the island; and it's the best avenue to move forward. A number of people, including European Union members, have said that that's why there is so much importance attached to trying to find a settlement in Cyprus this year. With the issue of EU accession looming, talks on Cypriot EU accession expected to begin six months after the conclusion of the IGC (Inter-Governmental Conference, the successor to the Maastricht Conference), this is a very fortuitous time, if possible, to advance a Cyprus settlement, because if that was done, it would make that process much easier. I would add a view I've heard from Europe that the bringing into the European Union of a bizonal, bicommunal federation with a very strong Turkish component would also be an enhancement for Turkey's relationship with the European Union.

(End transcript)

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