UN General Assembly
1965

109. The position of the Turkish Government on the question of Cyprus is clear. It is based upon equity, justice and law. That Government resolutely opposes any attempt to solve the problem by recourse to faits accomplis or to force; it fully supports the principle of respect for international commitments and therefore considers that treaties cannot be modified except with the approval of all the parties concerned — which, incidentally, is in full conformity with the principles of the Charter and the rules of international law. The Turkish Government has at no time considered depriving the other parties concerned, particularly the Greek Cypriot community, of their contractual and legitimate rights; but it also has a responsibility to protect the constitutional and legitimate rights of the Turkish community. Its main concern is entente, on the island, between the two communities and entente, in the Eastern Mediterranean, between Turkey and Greece. Entente on the island cannot be brought about by one community's domination of the other, or by putting an end to the island's independence and annexing it to another State. Today, as in the past, we are convinced of the need to settle this question by negotiation and by an agreement between the parties, and not by faits accomplis or by violence.