No. 410
Editorial Note
A letter from Prime Minister Papagos to United Nations Secretary-General Hammarskjöld, August 16, requested that an item on self-determination for Cyprus be put on the agenda of the General Assembly. (United Nations Document A/2703) The General Committee of the United Nations General Assembly recommended inclusion of this item on the agenda by a vote of 9 to 3 (including the United Kingdom), with 3 abstentions (including the United States), [Page 747] September 23. In the General Assembly on the following day, Iraq proposed postponement of a decision on inscription of the Cyprus item for a few days. This motion failed of adoption by a vote of 24 (including the United States) to 24 (including Greece), with 12 abstentions (including Turkey and the United Kingdom). The British Representative (John Selwyn Lloyd) opposed inscription on the ground that it interfered in a matter of British domestic jurisdiction, since the British had sovereignty over Cyprus. (United Nations Document A/PV.477, paragraphs 112–147) The Greek Representative (Stephanopoulos) argued for the right of self-determination in Cyprus. (Ibid., paragraphs 155–180) Selim R. Sarper, Turkish Permanent Representative to the United Nations, stated that the administration of Cyprus was a British domestic affair in which the United Nations was not authorized to intervene, according to Article 2, paragraph 7, of the United Nations Charter. (Ibid., paragraphs 181–190) The General Assembly placed the Cyprus item on its agenda by a vote of 30 (including Greece) to 19 (including Turkey and the United Kingdom), with 11 abstentions (including the United States), September 24.
A Greek draft resolution, which was dated December 13 and placed before Committee I of the General Assembly on the following day, expressed the “wish” that the principle of self-determination be applied to Cyprus. (United Nations Document A/C.1/L.124) New Zealand submitted a draft resolution “not to consider further” the Cyprus question and requested priority in discussion and voting on its proposal in Committee I, December 14. (United Nations Document A/C.1/L.125) Committee I granted priority to the New Zealand draft resolution by a vote of 28 to 15, with 16 abstentions. Its Chairman (Urrutia, Colombia) ruled that a two-thirds majority vote was not required on the motion for priority. (United Nations Document A/C.1/SR.749, paragraph 17)
United States Representative Lodge in Committee I supported the Chairman’s ruling and the New Zealand resolution, which, he said, would not prevent Greece from stating its case, since a decision not to consider the Cyprus question further did not preclude discussion. Lodge stated that “prolonged consideration in this forum would only increase tensions and embitter national feelings at a time when the larger interests of all concerned are best served by strengthening existing solidarity among freedom-loving nations.” (USUN press release 2084, December 14, quoted in part in U.S. Participation in the UN, 1954, page 61) Nutting (United Kingdom), Kyrou (Greece), and Sarper (Turkey) then made statements in Committee I on the Cyprus question. (United Nations Documents A/C.1/SR.749, paragraphs 28–33, and A/C.1/SR.750, paragraphs 1–39 and 40–74) The Soviet Representative (Georgiy N. Zarubin, [Page 748] Soviet Ambassador in the United States) supported the Greek draft resolution in Committee I on December 15. (United Nations Document A/C.1/SR.752, paragraphs 19–23)
In an effort to provide a reasoned basis for the New Zealand draft resolution in Committee I on December 15, El Salvador and Colombia proposed an amendment to add a preamble which read as follows: “Considering that, for the time being, it does not appear appropriate to adopt a resolution on the question of Cyprus.” (United Nations Document A/C.1/L.126) New Zealand accepted this amendment and the preamble was adopted by a separate vote of 44 (including Greece, the United Kingdom, and the United States) to 0, with 16 abstentions (including Turkey) in Committee I. It then adopted the New Zealand draft resolution as amended by a vote of 49 to 0, with 11 abstentions. (United Nations Documents A/C.1/L.125 and L.126) The Greek draft resolution was not voted on.
The United Nations General Assembly adopted the New Zealand draft resolution as amended on December 17 by a vote of 50 (including Greece, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and the United States) to 0, with 8 abstentions. (United Nations Document A/Resolution/292 [Resolution 814 (IX)]; text in United Nations Document A/2890, page 5) Turkish Representative Sarper said that Turkey’s vote for the resolution did not imply recognition of the General Assembly’s competence to consider the Cyprus question. He said in the future no just and equitable settlement of the “so-called question of Cyprus” was possible without Turkish cooperation and consent. (United Nations Document A/PV.514, paragraphs 258–261) British Representative Nutting said that British support for this “procedural resolution” did “not imply acceptance of the Assembly’s right to take up the substantive consideration” of the Cyprus question. (Ibid., paragraphs 270–274) Greek Representative Kyrou stated that the resolution postponed for the time being a decision on a question which remained pending before the United Nations. (Ibid., paragraphs 281–291)