Security Council resolution 716 (1991) [Cyprus]

Resolution 716 (1991) of 11 October 1991

The Security Council,

Having considered the report of the Secretary-General of 8 October 1991 on his mission of good offices in Cyprus (S/23121),

Noting with satisfaction the progress made in preparing a set of ideas as the basis for arriving at an agreed overall framework agreement on Cyprus,

Noting with concern the difficulties encountered in completing this work,

Regretting that it was not possible to convene the high-level international meeting foreseen in the statement by the President of the Security Council of 28 June 1991 (S/22744),

1. Commends the Secretary-General for his efforts during the past few months and endorses his report and observations;

2. Reaffirms its previous resolutions on Cyprus;

3. Reaffirms its position on the Cyprus question, expressed most recently in resolution 649 (1990) and in line with the 1977 and 1979 high-level agreements between the parties in Cyprus, that the fundamental principles of a Cyprus settlement are the sovereignty, independence, territorial integrity and non-alignment of the Republic of Cyprus; the exclusion of union in whole or in part with any other country and any form of partition or secession; and the establishment of a new constitutional arrangement for Cyprus that would ensure the well-being and security of the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot communities in a bi-communal and bi-zonal federation;

4. Reaffirms that its position on the solution to the Cyprus problem is based on one State of Cyprus comprising two politically equal communities as defined by the Secretary-General in the eleventh paragraph of annex I to his report dated 8 March 1990 (S/21183);

5. Calls on the parties to adhere fully to these principles and to negotiate within the framework of them without introducing concepts that are at variance with them;

6. Reaffirms that the Secretary-General's mission of good offices is with the two communities whose participation in the process is on an equal footing;

7. Endorses the Secretary-General's intention to resume discussions in early November with the two parties in Cyprus and Greece and Turkey to complete the set of ideas on an overall framework agreement;

8. Considers that convening a high-level international meeting chaired by the Secretary-General in which the two communities and Greece and Turkey would participate represents an effective mechanism for concluding an overall framework agreement on Cyprus;

9. Requests the leaders of the two communities and Greece and Turkey to cooperate fully with the Secretary-General and his representatives so that the high-level international meeting can be convened before the end of this year;

10. Requests the Secretary-General to report to the Council in November 1991 whether sufficient progress has been made to convene the high-level international meeting and, should conditions not be ripe, to convey to the Council the set of ideas as they will have evolved by that time with his assessment of the situation.

Adopted unanimously at the 3013th meeting.