RESTRICTED
WORLD TRADE WT/TPR/R/2
22July1997
ORGANIZATION(97-3099)
Trade Policy Review Body
REPORT OFTHE MEETING OFTHE
TRADE POLICY REVIEW BODY HELD
ON25AND 26JUNE 1997
1. TheTrade Policy Review Body meton25-26 June 1997 toconduct thereview ofthe
Republic ofCyprus.
2. Prior tothestartofthereview, thestatements reproduced verbatim below were made bya
number ofdelegations.
Turkey
Turkey doesnotrecognize theGreek Cypriot Administration astheGovernment ofCyprus.
Soithasnever beentheintention ofmydelegation toparticipate inthistradepolicy review. Therefore
theirpresence orabsence inthismeeting isofnoconsequence tothisdelegation. Butadocument
distributed forthepurposes ofthismeeting which refers toTurkey hascome toourattention. Iam
talking about document WT/TPR/G/25 anditsparagraph 8.Sowewereobliged tocome heretoset
therecord straight. Thesentence reads asfollows:
"Cyprus economy wasdestroyed bythe1974Turkish invasion andoccupation ofthenorthern
37percentofitsterritory which caused thedisplacement ofonethirdofCyprus population."
Itmisrepresents facts. Firstly, theproblems inCyprus didnotstartin1974. Secondly, and
inparallel, refugee problems started longbefore 1974. In1974, Turkey usedherrighttointervene
toprevent theannexation oftheisland bytheGreek Junta atthetime, andtheannihilation oftheTurkish
Cypriots. TheTurkish Cypriots suffered mostandwitnessed andlivedthrough itall.They havesent
aletter totheDirector-General oftheWTO outlining theirviews onthismatter. Weshare those views.
Iamreading thetextofthatletter fortherecord:
"Turkish Repbulic ofNorthern Cyprus: Ministry ofForeign Affairs andDefence: 24June1997
Mr.Director General, Ithascome tomyknowledge thattheGreek Cypriot administration ofSouthern
Cyprus, purporting tobethe"Government oftheRepublic ofCyprus" willbeheldbetween 25-26
June, 1997withacountry report entitled "Trade Policy Review: Cyprus", submitted toyouresteemed
organization. Inthisconnection, Iwould liketobring toyourkindattention thefollowing withregard
tocertain allegations made bytheGreek Cypriot administration inthesaidreport:
Iwould liketopoint outattheoutset that,theGreek Cypriot administration inSouth Cyprus,
which purports torepresent theisland asawhole, infacthasnolegalauthority orjurisdiction over
Northern Cyprus. TheRepublic ofCyprus wasfounded in1960inaccordance withtheinternational
Cyprus treaties bytheTurkish Cypriot andGreek Cypriot peoples when theBritish Government
relinquishedthesovereigntyofCyprustothepartnershipRepublic,composedoftheaforesaidpolitically
equal partners, "acting conjointly andinpartnership". Thelegitimacy ofthe1960 Republic layinWT/TPR/R/2
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thejointpresence andeffective participation ofbothsides inalltheorgans ofthestate. None ofthe
parties hadtherighttoruletheother, norcould anyofthem assume therighttobetheGovernment
ofthewhole island intheabsence oftheother inalltheorgans ofthestateanditsGovernment. Indeed,
theraison d'etreofthefounding ofthispartnership Republic wasthatoneCommunity would not
dominate theother.
Thepartnership "Republic ofCyprus" wasdestroyed bytheGreek Cypriot partner 'sarmed
onslaught ontheTurkish Cypriot partner inDecember 1963 when allTurkish Cypriot elements in
allthestateorgans were forcefully ejected. Since then, theTurkish Cypriots havebeenself-ruling
under ademocratically elected government, while theGreek Cypriot sidecontinues withfalsepretence
thatitis"thelegitimate Government ofCyprus".
Thesaidreport alleges thattheTurkey has"invaded" and"occupied" one-third oftheisland,
itought tobepointed outthattheTurkish intervention which followed theGreek-Greek Cypriot coup
in1974 wasinevitable inthefaceofthemortal danger posed against theTurkish Cypriots byGreek
andGreek Cypriot forces which werepoised tooverrun Turkish Cypriot areas inamatter ofdaysand
carry outtheirextermination plans. Itistruethattherewasaninvasion inCyprus in1974andinfact
inthepreceding 11years before then, butitwastheGreek invasion ofCyprus, clearly identified as
suchbyArchbishop Makarios inhisdramatic speech totheUNSecurity Council on19July, 1974.
Theillegal annexation ofCyprus byGreece wasprevented bythetimely intervention ofTurkey which
wascarried outinaccordance withtherights andobligations under Article 4oftheTreaty ofGuarantee
of1960. What theGreek Cypriots choose todescribe as"invasion", therefore, wasafullylegaland
legitimate peace operation which liberated theTurkish Cypriots fromGreek Cypriot terror andinhuman
treatment. Furthermore, given thepastexperiences oftheTurkish Cypriot people withtheGreek
Cypriots, itisobvious thatthepresence oftheTurkish Army isavitalsecurity requirement forthe
Turkish Cypriot people pending anegotiated lasting settlement oftheissue.
Thesaidreport alsomakes reference todisplacement ofonethirdoftheCyprus population
aftertheevents of1974. Thedisplacement mentioned inthereport inreality came about asaresult
ofthearmed attacks against theTurkish Cypriot people inaccordance withapre-conceived andsinister
planknow asthe"Akritas Plan". Hundreds ofTurkish Cypriots weremurdered orwounded; 30,000
Turkish Cypriots (one-fourth oftheTurkish Cypriot population) wereforced outof103villages and
became homeless refugees; afactwhich canalsobeseeninastudy called the"Ortega Report" which
shows theresults ofasurvey carried outbytheUnited Nations Peace-keeping Force inCyprus on
July1964 ondestruction ofhousing in111villages inCyprus.
Between 1963-1974 Turkish Cypriots livedinsmall enclaves theyhadbeenforced intobythe
armed assaults oftheGreek Cypriots. Thetotalareaofthese enclaves corresponded toamere 3%
oftheterritory ofCyprus. Infact,theTurkish Cypriots lived under conditions towhich theUN
Secretary-General referred as"veritable siege" inhisreports totheSecurity Council. Itisonlyin
1974, asaresult oftheGreek Cypriot coupd'etatanditsaftermath, thattheCreek Cypriots suffered
from therefugee problem which hadafflicted theTurkish Cypriot people forsomany years.
These factsclearly indicate thatnotonlydidtheseparation ofthetwopeoples fromeachother
in1974represent thefinalstageofalong-lasting process ofalienation, butalsothattheGreek Cypriots
weretheoneswhobrought about thisseparation anddivision bytheirefforts tobring Cyprus under
thedomination andruleofGreece. Inanyevent, thequestion ofthedisplaced persons hasbeensettled
byanagreement between thetwosides atthethirdround oftheintercommunal talksheldinVienna
in1975, whereby thetwocommunities agreed onaregrouping ofpopulations intheirrespective zones.WT/TPR/R/2
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Furthermore, thesaidreport alsomentions thattheeconomy oftheisland wasdestroyed in
1974anditrebounded in4years. Unfortunately, theTurkish Cypriot economy isstilltrying torecover,
despitethesevereembargoimposedonit.Itisafactthattheillegitimate,unconstitutional"Government"
status oftheGreek Cypriot sideresults intheusurpation, bytheGreek Cypriot administration, ofall
economic andfinancial assistance which isgiven forthewhole ofCyprus bytheoutside world. The
Turkish Cypriots didnotreceive apenny ofthisaid,except forasmall proportion fromtheUNHCR
andIslamic countries. Thishasledtothecreation ofanimmense economic gapbetween thetwopeoples
andzones inCyprus.
When theCyprus problem broke outinDecember 1963, therespective percapita income of
eachcommunity wasabout thesame. Today, asaresult oftheabove-mentioned unjust situation, it
isinfavour oftheGreek Cypriots byaratioof3to1.Itisestimated thatsince 1974, theGreek
Cypriots havereceived financial assistance fromtheoutside world around US$2 billion, which makes
them oneofthehighest recipients offoreign aidintheworld onapercapita basis.
Asregards tothecontinuous reference totheEUmembership andeconomic preparations for
joining theEU,itisclearthattheGreek Cypriot administration isdisregarding therealities oftheCyprus
problem. TheTurkish Cypriot sidehasmade itsposition onEUmembership abundantly clearfrom
theverybeginning. Theapplication made ostensibly onbehalf ofthe"Republic ofCyprus" wasmade
unilaterally andisdevoid ofanylegality. TheEUmembership oftheisland asforeseen bytheUN
SetofIdeas canbetaken upindiscussion onlyafterthefinalpolitical settlement isreached, keeping
inmindthataccording totheInternational Treaties governing Cyprus, Cyprus cannot joininternational
political andeconomic unions unless Turkey andGreece aremembers. Asisknown, theZurich and
London Agreements, which hadestablished thebi-communal 1960 Republic ofCyprus, prohibited
themembership oftheRepublic ininternational organizations andpacts ofalliance inwhich Greece
andTurkey arenotbothmembers.
Itwould bemuch appreciated, ifyouwould kindly taketheabove mentioned information into
consideration inyourfuture dealings withtheGreek Cypriot Administration ofSouth Cyprus.
Please accept, Mr.Director General, theassurances ofmyhighest consideration. (signed)
Taner Erkin, Minister ofForeign Affairs andDefence"
TheRepublic ofCyprus
Iregret thattheTurkish representative chose, forreasons relating totheinternal situation in
Turkey, toundermine theprocess ofanon-political forum inanattempt tojustify whathasalready
been condemned bytheinternational community, i.e.hiscountry 'sbrutal invasion andcontinual
occupation ofalmost 40percentoftheterritory ofasmall neighbouring State, theRepublic ofCyprus,
whichis,despiteTurkey'seffortsandpressures,universallyrecognizedbyallcountriesandInternational
Organizations including theWTO. Thebehaviour oftheTurkish representative isanaffront tothis
organization andhascreated adangerous precedent foritseffective functioning. Wehavenoted the
expressions ofexasperation anddisagreement ofsomany delegations withtheTurkish arrogance and
audacity aswellastheirconcern fortheirattempt topoliticise anon-political forum.
Theso-called "Turkish Republic ofNorthern Cyprus" isanillegal entity whose proclamation
oftheSecurityCouncilthroughresolutions541and550,hasstronglycondemned.MoreovertheSecurity
Council requested allStates andInternational Organizations, nottoassist orinanyway facilitate this
illegal entity, whose status ininternational lawissimilar tothatofthediscredited Bantustans ofthe
apartheid era. Iwould liketotakethisopportunity toexpress myGovernment 'sappreciation totheWT/TPR/R/2
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Director-General,MrRenatoRuggieroforhisprincipleddecisionnottocirculatetheletteroftheTurkish
Permanent Representative conveying apaper, fullofliesandhatred, byanillegal andnotrecognized
entity.
Inourreport which provoked theTurkish unwarranted reaction, wesimply outlined ourtrade
policies. Itisobvious toanygoodwill reader thatwedidnotinanywaytrytogiveitapolitical
character. Thereference totheTurkish invasion wasmade inthecontext ofquoting awellestablished
illegal factor inorder toshow thatdespite itscatastrophic effects, andthelossof75percentofour
productive resources, Cyprus strove withhardwork torestore successfully itseconomy andbeable
toimplement itscommitments under theWTO.
TheTurkish representative repeated hisworn-out argument thattheinvasion byhiscountry
wassupposedly made fortheprotection oftheTurkish Cypriots. Icould quote alotofTurkish politicians
whoexplicitly referred totherealreason ofTurkish intervention, i.e.geo-strategic considerations and
expansionism. Iwould alsoliketorefertothefactthattheTurkish Cypriots forwhom Turkey claims
tohaveintervened inCyprus aremassively fleeing the"paradise" shehadcreated intheoccupied
territories. Eversincetheinvasion theyareemigrating ingreatnumbers andarenowseeking political
asylum intheUnited Kingdom andother countries. Unfortunately, theTurkish Cypriot community,
which numbered 120,000 before theTurkish invasion, hasnowbeenreduced toonly70,000. Intheir
place Turkey brought overmore than90,000 settlers from Anatolia inanattempt tochange the
demographic structure oftheisland anddilute thepolitical willoftheTurkish Cypriot community.
TheTreaty ofGuarantee, towhich theTurkish representative made areference, doesnotprovide
therightofunilateral armed intervention inCyprus, which, inanyway, would beillegal asitruns
counter toArticle 2.4oftheUNCharter prohibiting theuseorthreat ofuseofforce. Turkey knows
perfectly wellthatthesolepurpose oftheTreaty ofGuarantee isthemaintenance oftheindependent
territorial integrity andsecurity oftheRepublic ofCyprus, theexcluding oftheRepublic 'sunion with
anyother Stateandaverting itsdivision. TheTurkish invasion violated theTreaty ofGuarantee and
international lawandorder, bringing suffering toGreek Cypriots andTurkish Cypriots alike.
With regard totheso-called economic embargo, Ishould point outthatthesuffering ofour
Turkish Cypriot compatriots, which weregret, isprimarily duetotheintegration oftheeconomy of
theoccupied territory tothatofTurkey, withallthenegative repercussions. TheCyprus Government
offers fullsocial benefits totheTurkish Cypriots, encouraging atthesame timetheiremployment in
thefreeareas, under equal terms withallother Cypriots. Concerning theallegation thattheRepublic
ofCyprus received foreign aidinorder ofUS$2 billion, itissoludicrous thatitdoesnotdeserve further
comment. Suffice tomention thattheTurkish Cypriot community, constituting only18percentof
thepopulation, received more thanitsfairshare ofthisforeign aid.Itisobvious thattheTurkish
allegations aremade forlocalconsumption onlyinorder tojustify theeconomic underdevelopment
oftheoccupied areas brought about bytheTurkish invasion anddespite theplundering andexploitation
oftheproperties oftheGreek Cypriot population.
AstoCyprus 'accession process totheEU,thisisamatter between theRepublic ofCyprus
andtheUnion ofTurkey obviously doesnothaveavetopower overCyprus 'application andthishas
beenreaffirmed timeandagain atthehighest level byallmember countries oftheEU. Cyprus is
nowengaging inaserious effort toprepare itself foreventual membership which meets theinterests
ofallCypriots, andtobegin accession negotiations early nextyear.
Inconclusion, Ihopethatwecannowproceed withtheTPRprocess which wassounjustifiably
impeded bytheTurkish representative. Ibelieve thatrelevant measures should betaken sothat,in
future, nosuchpoliticization bepermitted inthisforum.WT/TPR/R/2
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European Union
TheEuropean Community regrets thatthestartofthismeeting hasbeendelayed. Inparticular,
weregret theintrusion ofapolitical controversy intheTPRprocess. There areotherforafordiscussion
ofpolitical issues anddiscussion ofsuchissues should takeplace inthose fora. Wereserve allour
rights tocirculate awritten statement ofourviews onthematter.
Greece
Thestatement made bytheCommission oftheEuropean Union fullycovers ourpoint, this
isofcourse theposition oftheEUunity andthatishowwealways express ourselves, Ihaveasked
fortheflooronlybecause thename ofGreece hasbeenmentioned inaseparate manner bythedelegate
ofTurkey. Greece hasnoreply tomake; wearefullycovered bythestatement made bytheEuropean
Union; thisisthemost appropriate ifnot,themost civilized manner ofresponding tothistypeof
discussion. Thisisnottheappropriate forum, andsince thename ofGreece hasbeenquoted Iwould
liketoemphasize thatwehavenothing toanswer, andfullysubscribe tothestatement made bythe
representative oftheEU.
Egypt
Mydelegationfollowedwithgreatinteresttheeventswhichtookplaceinyesterday'sandtoday's
meeting. Wehavesome comments thatwewanttomake, wewanttostatethefollowing. Therequest
ofthedistinguished Ambassador ofTurkey, regarding reading astatement onbehalf ofanother country
which isnotamember ofthisorganization, could create aprecedent situation which mayhaveanegative
effect inthefuture work ofallthebodies oftheorganization. Mydelegation would notwanttomake,
ortoseethatthereis,interaction between political issues andtradeissues inthisorganization andwe,
asEgypt, areasaware aseveryone about thepolitical background oftheproblem ofCyprus. Ofcourse
wehaveclose relations, youcansayhistorical relations, withalltheparties concerned inthisdispute,
butwewanttostatethatthisisnottheproper forum toraisethequestion ofCyprus. TheSecretary
General oftheUnited Nations exerts efforts toresolve thisissue asapolitical issue, notasatrade
issue. Solet'snotbring problems ofpolitical issues tothisorganization; thisorganization 'sworkshould
beconcentrated ontradeissues only. Cyprus, asamember ofthisorganization, should havetheright
tobetreated onanequal basisasother member States intheorganization. Mydelegation would urge
alltheparties involved inthisproblem torefrain fromraising thispolitical issue inorder tofacilitate
thework oftheorganization andtohelp theinternational community, represented bythe
UNSecretary-General, toreach anaccepted agreement fromalltheparties onthedispute oftheisland
ofCyprus.
India
With reference tothestatements which havejustbeenmade, weappreciate theefforts made
bytheChairman andtheflexibility shown byother members onthisissue. However, since these
statements havebeenmade fortherecord, mydelegation wishes tostate, andrequests toplace onthe
record ofthese proceedings, thatnon-trade matters, suchashavebeenreferred tointhisissue, cannot
actasanyprecedent fortheTPRB initsfuture meetings. Wewish tostatethatinmaking these
observations wehavetheinterest oftheGATT/WTO system, ofwhich wearefounder members.