Joint meetings held in New York; status quo 'not acceptable.' (Cyprus)

The Security Council on 25 November reaffirmed its endorsement of the set of ideas, including the territorial adjustments reflected in the 21 August 1992 report (S/244 72) of Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali, as the basis for reaching an overall framework agreement on Cyprus. It also reaffirmed that the present status quo was not acceptable and that an overall agreement in line with the set of ideas should be achieved without further delay.

In unanimously adopting resolution 789 (1992), the 15-member body noted that the joint meetings between the leaders of the Greek and Turkish Cypriot communities, held in New York between 28 October and 11 November, had not achieved "their intended goal"--the completion of work on an overall framework agreement based on the entire set of ideas endorsed by the Council in resolution 774 (1992) of 26 August--"in particular because certain positions adopted by the Turkish Cypriot side were fundamentally at variance with the set of ideas".

The Turkish Cypriot side was called upon to adopt positions consistent with the set of ideas on issues identified by the Secretary-General. All concerned were asked to be prepared in the next round of talks in March 1993 to make decisions that would bring about a speedy agreement. (For details, see UN Chronicle, September 1992.)

The Secretary-General reported (S/24830) on 19 Novembember that the joint meetings had demonstrated that differences remained between the positions of each side and the set of ideas. The fundamental differences of the Turkish Cypriot positions fell under three broad headings: the concept of the federation, displaced persons and territorial adjustments.

Mr. Boutros-Ghali said it appeared that there was a "deep crisis of confidence" between the two sides. He supported confidence-building measures to improve prospects for progress.

In resolution 789, the Council recognized that the completion of that process in March 1993 would be greatly facilitated by the implementation by each side of measures designed to promote mutual confidence. All concerned were urged to commit themselves to a number of confidence-building measures. These included:

* As a first step...