March 11, 1998

In a move aimed at placing obstacles to the UN efforts to revive the intercommunal talks, the so-called parliament in the Turkish occupied areas of Cyprus, approved on March 10 1998, a "resolution" supporting a proposal from Mr. Denktash that the Turkish Cypriots should not take part in future talks, unless the so-called "state" in the occupied part of the Republic of Cyprus is recognized.

According to Turkish Cypriot Press reports, the resolution was adopted by the majority of parties, supporting Mr. Denktash. The opposition, Republican Party and the Party of Communal Liberation did not approve of the "resolution." Moreover, the Patriotic Union Movement has also reacted to the "resolution." A joint statement signed by Ozker Ozgur and Alpay Durduran declared that the "Assembly Resolution" violates the basic agreements between the two communities and the UN Resolutions concerning Cyprus and runs counter to the parameters formulated within the framework of the United Nations with regard to the solution of the Cyprus problem.

The opposition felt that the "resolution" was adopted on the basis that a non-solution is a solution and aims at accelerating the integration process of the occupied areas with Turkey. The statement stressed that the intercommunal talks should resume immediately without any preconditions.

It should be recalled that operative paragraphs 5 and 6 of the Security Council Resolution 367 of 1975 explicitly mandated the Secretary-General to undertake efforts between the representatives of the two communities and on the basis of paragraph 4 of General Assembly Resolution 3212 (XXIX) that negotiations are taking place with the good offices of the Secretary-General between the Representatives of the two communities.

Furthermore, the Security Council in its Resolutions 541 of 1983 and 550 of 1984 declared the Unilateral Declaration of Independence in the occupied part of Cyprus as legally invalid, called for its withdrawal, and further called upon all states not to recognize any Cypriot state other than the Republic of Cyprus.

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