[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 603 Introduced in House (IH)]







109th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. RES. 603

 Supporting the removal of Turkish occupation troops from the Republic 
                               of Cyprus.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           December 14, 2005

Mr. Andrews (for himself, Mr. Bilirakis, Mr. Sherman, Mrs. Maloney, Ms. 
  Lee, Mr. Pallone, Ms. Berkley, Ms. Watson, Ms. Linda T. Sanchez of 
California, and Mr. Kucinich) submitted the following resolution; which 
        was referred to the Committee on International Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
 Supporting the removal of Turkish occupation troops from the Republic 
                               of Cyprus.

Whereas the United States has shown consistent interest in resolving the Cyprus 
        issue and has encouraged every effort in that direction;
Whereas both Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot leaders continue to affirm their 
        commitment to reaching a settlement that reunifies the island and its 
        people;
Whereas the Greek Cypriots have implemented a package of trade, aid, and good 
        faith measures designed to assist their Turkish Cypriot compatriots by 
        ensuring that the Turkish Cypriots can enjoy the same rights and 
        privileges enjoyed by all other citizens of Cyprus, such as free 
        movement of goods, improved healthcare, education, trade, and employment 
        opportunities;
Whereas Turkish occupying troops have been in Cyprus ever since the illegal 
        occupation of 1974, and the number of these troops has increased over 
        the last three decades so that there are now more than 40,000 Turkish 
        troops in the occupied part of Cyprus, making this country one of the 
        most militarized countries in the world;
Whereas for the first time in thirty years trade has begun in both directions 
        between Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots, and Turkish Cypriots 
        participated in the Cyprus International Fair with the support of the 
        authorities of the Republic of Cyprus;
Whereas the April 2003 opening of crossing points through the cease-fire line, 
        which forcibly divides the island, demonstrated that Greek Cypriots and 
        Turkish Cypriots can live in harmony without animosity and within the 
        rule of law of the European Union (EU), and that eight million crossings 
        have occurred since then almost incident free;
Whereas Cyprus' accession to the EU in April 2004 has opened new avenues for the 
        resolution of the division of the island and provided a greater sense of 
        security for both Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots;
Whereas a resolution of the Cyprus issue will assist Turkey to proceed with its 
        accession to the EU; and
Whereas goodwill and mutual confidence must precede a peaceful and lasting 
        resolution of the Cyprus problem: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) wishing to accelerate the momentum for the 
        reunification of the Republic of Cyprus, urges as a further 
        step, the immediate withdrawal of the Turkish troops of 
        occupation;
            (2) calls upon the Government of the United States to 
        advocate for the immediate withdrawal of Turkish troops from 
        the occupied territories of the Republic of Cyprus;
            (3) expresses its strong support of the contents of the 
        European Commission's 2005 Progress Report on Turkey, which 
        states that Turkey--
                    (A) continues to wrongfully impose its veto on the 
                membership of Cyprus in certain international 
                organizations;
                    (B) insists in excluding Cyprus and Malta from the 
                strategic cooperation between the European Union (EU) 
                and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in 
                crisis management thus hampering such cooperation; and
                    (C) restricts Cyprus-flagged vessels from entering 
                Turkish ports and Cypriot civilian aircraft from using 
                Turkish national airspace; and
            (4) calls upon Turkey to normalize relations with the 
        Republic of Cyprus and stop hampering strategic cooperation 
        between the EU and NATO.
                                 <all>