July 23, 1981
Dear Mr. Speaker: (Dear Mr. Chairman:)
In accordance with the provision of Public Law 95 - 384, I am submitting the following report on progress made during the past sixty days toward reaching a negotiated settlement of the Cyprus problem.
The intercommunal negotiations between Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot representatives are continuing under the chairmanship of the United Nations Secretary General's Special Representative on Cyprus, Ambassador Hugo Gobbi. During the period since my last report, the Greek and Turkish Cypriots prepared for and held elections, and the pace of intercommunal negotiations slowed with one negotiating session held on June 2. Elections having been completed, regular intercommunal sessions resumed on July 8 and we anticipate the parties will continue meetings on a regular basis. Both sides have continued to negotiate in a congenial atmosphere.
We also note with pleasure that the Committee on Missing Persons held its inaugural meeting on July 14. Although procedural questions delayed the initial session, these now appear largely to have been overcome. As I noted in my report of May 19, although the problem of missing persons in Cyprus is not officially an issue for the intercommunal negotiations, it is an important humanitarian concern for both communities. Consequently, progress on this issue could be conducive to facilitating a positive negotiating atmosphere and we hope the Committee will be able to proceed with its substantive mandate in the near term.
More importantly we hope that during the coming months the parties, under the aegis of United Nations Secretary General Waldheim, will seek to move vigorously on the issues dividing them. During almost a year of steady negotiating, the parties have examined in detail the complex issues separating them. We hope they can now begin with imagination and flexibility to attack the problems and advance toward a just, fair and lasting resolution of the Cyprus question.
Sincerely,
Ronald Reagan
Note: This is the text of identical letters addressed to Thomas P. O'Neill, Jr., Speaker of the House of Representatives, and Charles H. Percy, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.