| United Nations |
A/66/396 |
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General Assembly
Security Council |
Distr.: General
3 October 2011 Original: English |
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Sixty-sixth session
Agenda item 8
General debate
Letter dated 26 September 2011 from the Permanent Representative of Cyprus to the United Nations addressed to the President of the General Assembly
I have the honour to enclose herewith the text of the written statement of the delegation of the Republic of Cyprus in exercise of the right to reply to the remarks made by Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Prime Minister of the Republic of Turkey, on 22 September 2011, in the General Assembly (see annex).
I should be most grateful if you would have the text of the present letter and its annex circulated as a document of the General Assembly, under agenda item 8.
(Signed) Minas A. Hadjimichael
Permanent Representative
Annex to the letter dated 26 September 2011 from the Permanent Representative of Cyprus to the United Nations addressed to the President of the General Assembly
Statement of the delegation of the Republic of Cyprus in exercise of the right of reply to the remarks made by the Prime Minister of the Republic of Turkey on 22 September 2011 in the general debate of the General Assembly at its sixty-sixth session
The Government of the Republic of Cyprus regrets that, even from the esteemed podium of the General Assembly, the Prime Minister of Turkey, in his address during the general debate on 22 September 2011, proceeded to make threats by saying that Turkey will “do whatever is necessary” if the Government of the Republic of Cyprus continues with the exercise of its sovereign rights in its exclusive economic zone. It is Turkey’s refusal to uphold international law and legality coupled with her turning a deaf ear to United Nations Security Council resolutions that creates tension and threatens to provoke a crisis, and not the exercise of the legitimate sovereign rights of the Republic of Cyprus according to international law and in particular the 1982 Convention on the Law of the Sea.
Mr. Erdoğan also made unacceptable remarks on the ongoing direct negotiations between the two communities in their effort to resolve the Cyprus problem. If Mr. Erdoğan truly wishes to play a constructive role and “provide support to reaching a solution as soon as possible”, as he claimed in his speech, he simply needs to encourage Mr. Eroglu, the leader of the Turkish Cypriot community, to cease to retract from already found convergences and work on the agreed basis for finding a solution to the Cyprus problem.
In this regard, Mr. Erdoğan should also himself cease to sustain Turkey’s illegal puppet regime in the areas of Cyprus occupied by the Turkish military by signing “agreements” that are inevitably null and void under international law, most recently through a so-called agreement on the delimitation of Cyprus’ continental shelf. Such agreements can only be entered into and have validity in the face of international law if they are concluded with the legitimate Government of Cyprus.
Not only is Turkey destructive with regard to the process of reaching a settlement to the Cyprus problem; moreover, Mr. Erdoğan preaches about the inviolability of Security Council resolutions and the need to uphold international law, but only when that concerns others! It seems necessary to remind Mr. Erdoğan that, if a speedy solution to the Cyprus problem is to be reached, Turkey itself needs to uphold numerous relevant Security Council resolutions and act within international law. Moreover, and given the provocative behaviour of Turkey in the eastern Mediterranean region, if any further tension arises it is Turkey who will be the sole culprit.