84. The Greek delegation wishes to associate itself with the well-deserved praises and congratulations addressed to Mr. Fanfani on his election to the Presidency of this Assembly. It also wishes to express the Greek Government's great satisfaction at seeing this high office filled by such an eminent statesman from a country to which Greece is bound by so many ties. I should like to add the best wishes of the Greek Government and delegation for the speedy recovery of our President.
85. I should also like to pay tribute to the President for the nineteenth session, Mr. Quaison-Sackey, whose patient efforts contributed in large measure to overcoming the constitutional crisis in our Organization.
86. Lastly, I should like to greet the new Members of our family, the Gambia, Singapore and the Maldive Islands. Their admission is yet another step towards achieving the goal of universality of the United Nations.
87. After the disappointments of the nineteenth session of the Assembly, our Organization managed to avoid a rock on which it might well have foundered; but, having escaped shipwreck, we should not let ourselves drift for, after all, what was achieved was only a temporary settlement not a final solution. The principles over which the crisis arose must be redefined and reaffirmed, for they are fundamental and cannot be ignored without danger to the prestige and effectiveness of the United Nations.
88. The ability to undertake peace-keeping operations is what distinguishes our Organization more than anything else from its predecessor; it constitutes the decisive difference between a powerless organization, doomed to failure, and an effective organization in which suffering mankind can place its hopes.
89. The question of peace-keeping operations and their financing can now be approached in a less alarming atmosphere although still with a sense of urgency. Two points have already been agreed upon, namely that the developing countries should be granted some reduction in their assessments and that the responsibility of the permanent members of the Security Council for the maintenance of peace imposes special obligations on them with respect to the financial burden. The general agreement on these two points and the prospect of voluntary contributions make a variety of formulas possible. In our desire to reach a settlement, however, we cannot, without endangering the very structure of the Charter, depart too much from the fundamental principle of the collective financial responsibility of all Member States for the activities of the Organization.
90. Greece, which has always put its trust in the United Nations and has had recourse to its procedures in the disputes in which it has been involved, has demonstrated this confidence by making the largest financial contribution, in relation to its resources and regular budget assessment, of any Member State to the United Nations Peace-keeping Force in Cyprus. Despite that, and despite the economic difficulties which it is experiencing, Greece has been one of the first countries to pledge a voluntary contribution in order to help to put the finances of our Organization on a sound footing.
91. The ratification of the amendments to the Charter within the time-limits laid down in the resolution adopted by the General Assembly at its eighteenth session [resolution 1991 (XVIII)] is an auspicious event. It shows a unanimous recognition of the new political realities on the part of the great Powers. Moreover, the enlargement of the Security Council makes it more representative of the United Nations as a whole and, consequently, should make more acceptable its predominant role in matters of peacekeeping and their financial implications. The enlargement also of the Economic and Social Council will enable that body to pursue its task with renewed vigour. Its importance is in no way diminished by the simultaneous commencement of activities of the Trade and Development Board.
92. Lastly, the United Nations has not neglected its duty under the Charter of developing and encouraging respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted in 1948, was a historic milestone on this road. Since then, we have been working to give human rights a legal and contractual form which, alone, can effectively ensure their observance. Despite the inevitable delays, we may hope that an agreement will be reached on the implementation clauses and that our efforts will soon be rewarded by the adoption of definitive texts of international covenants on human rights, which would in itself contribute enormously to ensuring respect for these rights. It is high time that some progress was made towards this goal.
93. While it is natural that any conflict or danger of a conflagration demands the urgent attention of the United Nations, there is another problem, a chronic one but no less urgent, to which we are called upon to devote constant efforts. I refer to disarmament which cannot wait until all disputes are settled. Although it is true that it is easier to make progress in disarmament in an atmosphere of relative calm, it is no less true that any agreement on a collateral measure would contribute greatly to the lessening of international tension.
94. A resolution adopted by the Disarmament Commission, which met in New York in June, has clearly shown that, despite the agreement reached between the great Powers more than four years ago on the principles of general and complete disarmament, at present the best hope for progress lies in the sphere of collateral measures, particularly on the questions of underground explosions and the non-dissemination of nuclear weapons.
95. The Conference of the Eighteen-Nation Committee on Disarmament has had little time to carry out the task delegated to it under this resolution. It would therefore be useful if the Committee would resume its work as soon as possible with any encouragement and guidance which the General Assembly might offer it. We are not unaware of the enormous difficulties involved in this task. We will therefore associate ourselves with any measure which might promote progress in this matter.
96. Having obtained their independence at the cost of a long and bloody war and having defended it by armed force from generation to generation, the Greeks understand better than anyone the impatience of the peoples under foreign rule. The task which awaits these peoples on their liberation would be greatly facilitated if those Powers which persist in expending their efforts in attempting to contain liberation movements utilized their resources better by aiding the newly independent nations to their mutual advantage.
97. But if the struggle for decolonization is nearing its end, the struggle to achieve the level of material wellbeing, education and health necessary to human dignity is only just beginning.
98. The assistance required by a developing country may be provided by a single country which, in that case, will often appear to be seeking to obtain a preponderant influence. Or the assistance may be provided by two or more countries. In that case, it is difficult to avoid a struggle for influence. Lastly, the assistance may be provided within the framework of international co-operation. That is the form which we advocate unhesitatingly. Our preference is not dictated by political considerations alone. Direct assistance can only be temporary and auxiliary. What the developing countries need above all is a consolidation of the primary commodity markets. Only by basing its progress on its own resources can a nation hope to achieve genuine equality in its international relations.
99. Since the great depression of the 1930's, the countries which export primary commodities have made no real progress in their efforts to exercise control over their sales of these products, while the industrialized nations have been more successful in limiting the economic swings that affected them.
100. The General Assembly, despite the limitation of its activity, at the nineteenth session, nevertheless approved, in its main decision of the session, resolution 1995 (XIX) on the establishment of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development. This permanent organ of the General Assembly has recently begun to function. We attach the greatest importance to this new international machinery in the joint effort to promote economic and social development, especially in the developing countries.
101. We are aware, however, that there is no magic formula for economic development. It can be achieved only by efforts undertaken simultaneously, collective efforts in the economic, commercial, social technical and cultural spheres. The importance and the complexity of the questions falling within the scope of the Trade and Development Conference and the variety of the tasks to be undertaken are apparent from the calendar of meetings to be held by the different organs of the Conference during the remaining months of 1965 and during 1966.
102. The advanced nations should increase and expand their role in the common task of development. For, as was recently pointed out by the Secretary-General of the United Nations and by the Economic and Social Council, the results achieved during the first five years of the United Nations Development Decade have by no means resolved the most essential problems of under-development. In fact, these problems are steadily becoming more acute. However, we rely on the international organizations and, in particular, on the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development to prepare the ground for us to take the political decisions.
103. The question of economic, development is closely linked with the population problem, the study of which has received a new impetus since it was raised during the sixteenth session in 1961, The political, social, moral and technical aspects of this problem will be under study for a long time yet, but the statistical projections which it has been possible to make, thanks to new scientific procedures and methods, are enabling countries with rapidly rising populations, where it is particularly urgent to raise the standard of living, to assess here and now the economic impact of demographic pressure on their long-term development plans. Each country and each Government must decide, in complete freedom and in accordance with its own social structure, tho policy which it should adopt in this sphere. The role of the United Nations and that of its more advanced Members should be to furnish the developing countries, should they decide to ask for it, with the assistance they need, either in carrying out more advanced study of their particular problem, or in implementing a specific programme. In order to do this, the competent organs of our Organization must henceforth be provided with adequate resources.
104. However important the general problems of peace and however useful the contribution of each one of us to their solution, let us not forget that we each of us have a clear duty, however modest, to help towards the maintenance and consolidation of peace. We have a duty not only to contribute to regional agreements, but, more simply still, to apply ourselves to cultivating good relations with the greatest possible number of States, beginning with our immediate neighbours, and not to permit disputes to arise which might become a danger to peace. In this connexion, my country has unceasingly worked to improve its relations with all countries, especially its neighbours, both those bordering on it and those with which it has a common frontier in the Mediterranean. In the Balkans, Greece has managed to create a friendly climate, with the help of the other Balkan countries. Greece has long had close relations with Yugoslavia. Its relations with Romania have expanded greatly and, recently, relations between Greece and Bulgaria have shown considerable progress. In these circumstances, Greece can only deeply deplore the deterioration of its relations with its neighbour and ally, the Republic of Turkey, during the last two years.
105. This statement is occasioned less by the question of Cyprus itself than by the measures of reprisal against innocent people to which Turkey has resorted. These distressing actions began with the arbitrary expulsion of dozens of Greek subjects who had long been resident in Turkey. These became mass expulsions after the Greco-Turkish Convention of Establishment, Commerce and Navigation was denounced on a futile pretext. Thousands of Greek subjects were banished from places which had been their homes for generations. Through fear and intimidation, such measures and harassments of all kinds have provoked the exodus of thousands of other Greeks who are Turkish citizens and who, consequently, were not liable to expulsion.
106. On the slightest pretext, the Greeks living in Turkey are subjected to harassment, intimidation and boycott. The police and the courts no longer protect them against wrong-doers. Teachers in the minority schools live under a constant threat and are removed from their posts. On the islands of Imbros and Tenedos, where the population has remained for the most part Greek, Greek language schools have been closed; despite the special status of the islands, arbitrary measures have been extensively taken to expropriate, under various pretexts, farm property and real estate, with the sole aim of despoiling the Greek inhabitants and changing the ethnic composition of the population.
107. The Oecumenical Patriarchate, which has existed in Constantinople for seventeen centuries, and its venerable Head have not escaped persecution. The Patriarchate’s printing-house, which is essential for the religious publication of the Supreme See of the Orthodox Church, has been sequestrated. The Patriarchal orphanage has been closed. Two bishops have been deprived of their Turkish nationality and expelled. Recently, a Turkish priest who' was defrocked and excommunicated forty years ago, and his sons whom he had ordained himself, claiming to represent an alleged Turkish Orthodox Church, has had the impious audacity to attempt, with the encouragement of the Turkish authorities, to take over the Oecumenical Patriarchate. Under the tolerant eye of the Turkish police, they have already laid hands on two important churches of the diocese of Istanbul by virtue of unauthorized deeds obtained for them through the compliance of the authorities. At the same time, the headquarters of the Oecumenical Patriarchate has been placed under police guard and all visitors must prove their identity and justify their visit. His Holiness the Patriarch has been warned not to communicate with other churches in the exercise of his oecumenical apostolate. This persecution has been accompanied by a virulent press campaign. Everything Greek or Orthodox is represented as a danger to Turkey.
108. The climate of tension is sustained by border incidents and frequent violation of Greek air-space which cannot be attributed to navigational errors.
109. In the face of these provocations, which are all violations of the spirit and often of the letter of the Lausanne Treaty of Peace, the cornerstone of relations between Greece and Turkey, the Greek Government has not lost its temper. It has confined itself to making representations at Ankara and keeping the Security Council regularly informed of events. In a spirit of moderation, Greece has so far refrained from any measures against Turks living in its territory. However, instead of restraining the leaders in Ankara, this seems to have convinced them that they could harass the Greeks in Turkey with impunity. We therefore have an absurd situation in which Turkey is committing numerous hostile acts against Greece, and puts forward exorbitant demands, yet at the same time asserts that it wants to hold negotiations with Greece in order to facilitate the solution of the question of Cyprus.
110. I deeply regret having been obliged, before taking up that question, to bring these facts to the notice of the universal conscience which members represent. These facts are in themselves worthy of your attention, particularly since they have an adverse effect on the question of Cyprus, which is before you, for the peaceful solution we are all seeking can be achieved only if there is a general relaxation of tension between the countries involved.
111. I was struck by the fact that my distinguished colleague Mr. Isik, the Turkish Minister for Foreign Affairs, insisted in his statement [1343rd meeting] on the need for a dialogue between Turkey and Greece. I do not wish to question his sincerity; but those who order measures against Greeks in his country would be better advised to match these good intentions with more appropriate behaviour. Before going any further I should like to state that for Greece there is no other way to settle a dispute between nations than by peaceful means, namely by discussions. The essential point, however, is to know who is discussing what with whom. This means that a valid spokesman must be sought in each case, with whom the points on which an agreement might be reached shall be discussed.
112. Another fact which struck me in the statement of my Turkish colleague was his almost complete silence concerning the results of United Nations actions in Cyprus. True, he expressed his country's thanks to the Powers which had helped to form the United Nations Force in Cyprus. For my part, I wish to express the gratitude of Greece to those countries. But the Turkish Minister for Foreign Affairs made no reference whatsoever to the United Nations Mediator on Cyprus, Mr. Galo Plaza, although the latter was appointed by the Secretary-General under a decision o£ the Security Council [resolution 186 (1964)] to present as complete and objective a report as possible.
113. Greece would like to pay tribute to the entire United Nations action in Cyprus, to our Secretary-General who has once more proved himself so worthy of his office and so conscious of our Organization's role, and to the Mediator, Mr. Plaza, whose efforts have been commensurate with the gravity of the problems. Comments can of course be made concerning the report of a mediator, whatever its merits. Attention may be drawn to possible errors, but to reject the report as a whole, as Turkey has done, and to go so far as to attack the Mediator himself is to attack the very principle of mediation. Mediation is one of the most effective means at the disposal of the United Nations in the case of a conflict of this type. The United Kingdom Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs has even proposed that an organized body of mediators should be established [see 1351st meeting, para. 44]. I do not wish to examine this proposal: I mention it only to show the extent to which the concept of mediation appears consistent with the aims of the United Nations. We all have a duty, therefore, to respect this kind of effort and not to treat it lightly.
114. Greece, for its part, has sought to comply with all decisions of United Nations organs. It was to show its respect for those decisions that, following the recommendations of the Mediator, it agreed to initiate talks with Turkey in accordance with the principles of the United Nations.
115. I do not have to review the report of the Mediator, Mr. Plaza, since it is before you. Nor do I wish to speak in place of my colleague from Cyprus, who will no doubt present his country's viewpoint.
116. I shall merely state briefly the position of the Greek Government and I would point out that the majority of our conclusions and arguments are corroborated by the report of the Mediator, who has very frankly reported the real situation, which is perhaps not to the liking of everybody.
117. Firstly, we believe there is no requirement to discuss the principle of respect for treaties, to which some have displayed a rather worried attachment. That principle has always existed, but has not prevented a large number of treaties from dying a slow or violent death. With regard to the constitutional system established in Cyprus on the basis of the Zurich and London treaties, Mr. Plaza comments in paragraph 163 of his report that it is a "constitutional oddity". The distinguished statesman from Ecuador is here using the restrained language of a mediator. In reality, it is a legal monstrosity, which, as often happens with monstrosities, has not been able to survive for long. My colleague Mr. Isik said that in principle he was not against the revision of these treaties. Whether you say, as we do, that these treaties are null or whether you say that they should be revised, you are recognizing that a new reality, which we must face, now exists.
118. Secondly, to speak of two communities instead of a majority and a minority cannot alter the fact that there is a large Greek majority and a small Turkish minority in Cyprus. This fact assumes different proportions as soon as we refer to partition, of whatever kind, or co-administration for the island. For we are dealing merely with a minority which is scattered over the whole of the country, and is not concentrated in distinct areas. As for co-administration, that would mean resurrecting the monstrous and absurd system under which the minority can frustrate the decisions of the majority.
119. I should like to point out to the Assembly that if these singular conceptions of constitutional and international law were to be tolerated, we would have to accept the idea that the map of the world and the constitution of a very large number of countries would have to be completely altered, because there are minorities almost everywhere which could demand partition or co-administration. Mankind has long fought for recognition of the rights of minorities. If the Turkish argument were accepted, we would enter a new phase of history, the era of the struggle for the rights of majorities. The virtual unanimity expressed here this morning on the question of Southern Rhodesia is solemn confirmation of the world view that no minority may ever either govern the population of a country or deprive it of its rights.
120. Thirdly, I should like to state that, on the other hand, we strongly favour all possible guarantees for the rights of the Turkish minority in Cyprus, This aspect of the question should not present any problem, since the people of Cyprus are willing to accept even international guarantees of minority rights. In this connexion, I am sure you will note with satisfaction a new document which has been transmitted to the Secretariat. I refer to the Declaration by the President of the Republic of Cyprus regarding the rights which he recognizes and wishes to have guaranteed for the Turkish minority [see A/6039].
121. Fourthly, I wish to comment on another aspect of the Greek Government's policy. Much concern has been expressed for the independence of the Republic of Cyprus, and some have even mentioned ideas of annexation allegedly entertained by Greece. My country has never had, does not have and cannot have any expansionist tendencies. The liberation of its territory was achieved after a long struggle and over a period of 120 years. Greece could not now become an expansionist nation. On the other hand, it cannot accept, under any pretext, that the people of Cyprus should be reduced to a truncated independence. There cannot be two kinds of sovereign States, some which enjoy all the attributes of independence and others which may not do so. The Republic of Cyprus, like every other free and sovereign State, has a right to unrestricted independence.
122. I think that what I have said proves that Greece intends to continue to conform with the principles which govern the United Nations and to respect the decisions of the Organization. It will do so to the end. That is why it wishes to express its satisfaction that the Secretary-General, in the introduction to his annual report, emphasizes his intention to continue mediation efforts in the spirit of the Security Council resolution dated 4 March 1964 [186 (1964)], and that he hopes that the countries involved will jointly seek a peaceful solution to the Cyprus problem [see A/6001/Add.1, section V]. We accept this conclusion in its entirety. With regard to the talks recommended by the resolution, we wish to state that by putting the problem on the basis of the principles and decisions of the United Nations, the spirit of the Security Council resolution and the mediation called for by the Council, we have established the framework for future action. With regard to Turkey in particular, this is the time to state that Greece considers, itself to be a valid spokesman in any discussion of relations between Greece and Turkey in general and the aspects of the Cyprus question which are connected with those relations.
123. But as far as the question of the independence and the future of the Republic of Cyprus is concerned, Greece does not claim the right to take decisions against the will of, without the knowledge of, or in the place of the people of Cyprus. Only the Cypriots themselves have the right to take decisions regarding their own future. There can be no equitable and lasting solution of the Cyprus question without the agreement of the Cypriot people.
124. In stating this fundamental truth, and its desire to continue to contribute to all United Nations mediation efforts and to act in accordance with the recommendations of the organs of the United Nations, Greece feels that it is serving the cause of a people that desires to be free, the cause of relations between Greece and Turkey, the cause of peace in the eastern Mediterranean and the cause of the United Nations.
125. For that reason, Greece believes itself entitled to ask the General Assembly also to make the necessary gesture which will bring a peaceful solution closer. That solution should not be long delayed, because the Cyprus crisis and certain actions of the Turkish Government have already repeatedly endangered the peace which it is the mission of the United Nations to preserve.