[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 1631 Introduced in House (IH)]

111th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. RES. 1631

Calling for the protection of religious sites and artifacts from and in 
   Turkish-occupied areas of northern Cyprus as well as for general 
                     respect for religious freedom.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 16, 2010

 Mr. Bilirakis (for himself, Mrs. Maloney, Ms. Ros-Lehtinen, Mr. Smith 
 of New Jersey, Mr. Sarbanes, Ms. Berkley, Mr. Franks of Arizona, Ms. 
 Titus, Mr. Schiff, Mr. Mario Diaz-Balart of Florida, Mr. Hinchey, Mr. 
    McGovern, Mr. Jackson of Illinois, Mr. Lipinski, and Mr. Space) 
submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee 
                           on Foreign Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
Calling for the protection of religious sites and artifacts from and in 
   Turkish-occupied areas of northern Cyprus as well as for general 
                     respect for religious freedom.

Whereas the Government of Turkey invaded the northern area of the Republic of 
        Cyprus on July 20, 1974, and the Turkish military continues to illegally 
        occupy the territory to this day;
Whereas the Church of Cyprus has filed an application against Turkey with the 
        European Court of Human Rights for violations of freedom of religion and 
        association as Greek Cypriots in the occupied areas are unable to 
        worship freely due to the restricted access to religious sites and 
        continued destruction of the property of the Church of Cyprus;
Whereas according to the United Nations-brokered Vienna III Agreement of August 
        2, 1975, ``Greek-Cypriots in the north of the island are free to stay 
        and they will be given every help to lead a normal life, including 
        facilities for education and for the practice of their religion . . .'';
Whereas according to the Secretary General's Report on the United Nations 
        Operation in Cyprus in June 1996, the Greek Cypriots and Maronites 
        living in the northern part of the island ``were subjected to severe 
        restrictions and limitations in many basic freedoms, which had the 
        effect of ensuring that inexorably, with the passage of time, the 
        communities would cease to exist.'';
Whereas the very future and existence of historic Greek Cypriot, Maronite, and 
        Armenian communities are now in grave danger of extinction;
Whereas the Abbot of the Monastery of the Apostle Barnabas is routinely denied 
        permission to hold services or reside in the monastery of the founder of 
        the Church of Cyprus and the Bishop of Karpass has been refused 
        permission to perform the Easter Service for the few enclaved people in 
        his occupied diocese;
Whereas there are only two priests serving the religious needs of the enclaved 
        in the Karpas peninsula, Armenians are not allowed access to any of 
        their religious sites or income generating property, and Maronites are 
        unable to celebrate the mass daily in many churches;
Whereas in the past Muslim Alevis were forced out of their place of prayer and 
        until recently were denied the right to build a new place of worship;
Whereas under the Turkish occupation of northern Cyprus, religious sites have 
        been systematically destroyed and a large number of religious and 
        archaeological objects illegally looted, exported, and subsequently sold 
        or traded in international art markets, including an estimated 16,000 
        icons, mosaics, and mural decorations stripped from most of the 
        churches, and 60,000 archaeological items dating from the 6th to 20th 
        centuries;
Whereas at a hearing held on July 21, 2009, entitled ``Cyprus' Religious 
        Cultural Heritage in Peril'' by the U.S. Helsinki Commission, Michael 
        Jansen provided testimony detailing first-hand accounts of Turkish 
        soldiers throwing icons from looted churches onto burning pyres during 
        the Turkish invasion and provided testimonies of how churches were left 
        open to both looters and vandals with nothing done to secure the 
        religious sites by the Turkish forces occupying northern Cyprus;
Whereas Dr. Charalampos G. Chotzakakoglou also provided testimony to the U.S. 
        Helsinki Commission that around 500 churches, monasteries, cemeteries, 
        and other religious sites have been desecrated, pillaged, looted, and 
        destroyed, including one Jewish cemetery;
Whereas 80 Christian churches have been converted into mosques, 28 are being 
        used by the Turkish army as stores and barracks, 6 have been turned into 
        museums, and many others are used for other nonreligious purposes such 
        as coffee shops, hotels, public baths, nightclubs, stables, cultural 
        centers, theaters, barns, workshops, and one is even used as a mortuary;
Whereas expert reports indicate that since 2004 several churches have been 
        leveled, such as St. Catherine Church in Gerani which was bulldozed in 
        mid-2008, the northern wall of the Chapel of St. Euphemianos in Lysi 
        which was destroyed by looters as they removed all metal objects within 
        the wall, the Church of the Holy Virgin in the site of Trachonas was 
        used as a dancing school until the Turkish occupiers built a road that 
        destroyed part of it in March 2010, the Church of the Templars was 
        converted into a night club, and the Church of Panagia Trapeza in 
        Acheritou village was used as a sheep stall before it was recently 
        destroyed by looters removing metal objects from medieval graves within 
        the church;
Whereas the Republic of Cyprus discovered iron-inscribed crosses stolen from 
        Greek cemeteries in the north in trucks owned by a Turkish-Cypriot firm 
        that intended to send them to India to be recycled;
Whereas United States art dealer Peggy Goldberg was found culpable for illegally 
        marketing 6th century mosaics from the Panagia Kanakaria church because 
        the judge found that a ``thief obtains no title or right of possession 
        of stolen items'' and therefore ``a thief cannot pass any right of 
        ownership . . . to subsequent purchasers.'';
Whereas the extent of the illicit trade of religious artifacts from the churches 
        in the Turkish occupied areas of northern Cyprus by Turkish black market 
        dealer Aydin Dikmen was exposed following a search of his property by 
        the Bavarian central department of crime which confiscated Byzantine 
        mosaics, frescoes, and icons valued at over =30 million;
Whereas a report prepared by the Law Library of Congress on the ``Destruction of 
        Cultural Property in the Northern Part of Cyprus and Violations of 
        International Law'' for the U.S. Helsinki Commission details what 
        obligations the Government of Turkey has as the occupying power in 
        northern Cyprus for the destruction of religious and cultural property 
        there under international law;
Whereas the Hague Convention of 1954 for the Protection of Cultural Property 
        During Armed Conflict, of which Turkey is a party, states in article 
        4(3) that the occupying power undertakes to ``Prohibit, prevent and, if 
        necessary, put a stop to any form of theft, pillage or misappropriation 
        of any acts of vandalism directed against cultural property'';
Whereas according to the 1970 United Nations Educational, Scientific and 
        Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Convention on the Means of Prohibiting 
        and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership 
        which has been ratified by Cyprus and Turkey, parties are required to 
        take steps to prevent illicit traffic through the adoption of legal and 
        administrative measures and the adoption of an export certificate for 
        any cultural object that is exported, and ``illicit'' refers to any 
        export or transfer of ownership of cultural property under compulsion 
        that arises from the occupation of a country by a foreign power;
Whereas according to the European Court of Human Rights in its judgment in the 
        case of Cyprus v. Turkey of May 10, 2001, Turkey was responsible for 
        continuing human rights abuses under the European Convention on Human 
        Rights throughout its 27-year military occupation of northern Cyprus, 
        including restricting freedom of movement for Greek Cypriots and 
        limiting access to their places of worship and participation in other 
        aspects of religious life;
Whereas the European Court further ruled that Turkey's responsibility covers the 
        acts of soldiers and subordinate local administrators because the 
        occupying Turkish forces have effective control of the northern part of 
        the Republic of Cyprus;
Whereas in March 2008, President Christofias and former Turkish Cypriot leader 
        Talat agreed to the setting up of a ``Technical Committee on Cultural 
        Heritage'' with a mandate to engage in ``serious work'' to protect the 
        varied cultural heritage of the entire island;
Whereas this Committee was developing a list of all cultural heritage sites on 
        the island to create an educational interactive program for the island's 
        youth to understand the shared heritage and to undertake a joint effort 
        to restore the Archangel Michael Church and the Arnvut Mosque;
Whereas while significant work was done on the Arnvut Mosque, the Archangel 
        Michael Church remains in disrepair; and
Whereas, on July 16, 2002, and again in 2007, the United States and the 
        Government of the Republic of Cyprus signed a Memorandum of 
        Understanding to impose import restrictions on categories of Pre-
        Classical and Classical archaeological objects, as well as Byzantine 
        period ecclesiastical and ritual ethnological materials, from Cyprus: 
        Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) expresses appreciation for the efforts of those 
        countries that have restored religious property wrongly 
        confiscated during the Turkish occupation of northern Cyprus;
            (2) welcomes the efforts of many countries to address the 
        complex and difficult question of the status of illegally 
        confiscated religious art and artifacts, and urges those 
        countries to continue to ensure that these items are restored 
        to the Republic of Cyprus in a timely, just manner;
            (3) welcomes the initiatives and commitment of the Republic 
        of Cyprus to work to restore and maintain religious heritage 
        sites;
            (4) urges the Government of Turkey to--
                    (A) immediately implement the United Nations 
                Security Council Resolutions relevant to Cyprus as well 
                as the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights;
                    (B) work to retrieve and restore all lost artifacts 
                and immediately halt destruction on religious sites, 
                illegal archaeological excavations, and traffic in 
                icons and antiquities; and
                    (C) allow for the proper preservation and 
                reconstruction of destroyed or altered religious sites 
                and immediately cease all restrictions on freedom of 
                religion for the enclaved Cypriots;
            (5) calls on the United States Commission on International 
        Religious Freedom to investigate and make recommendations on 
        violations of religious freedom in the areas of northern Cyprus 
        under control of the Turkish military;
            (6) calls on the President and the Secretary of State to 
        include information in the annual International Religious 
        Freedom and Human Rights reports on Cyprus that detail the 
        violations of religious freedom and humanitarian law including 
        the continuous destruction of property, lack of justice in 
        restitution, and restrictions on access to holy sites and the 
        ability of the enclaved to freely practice their faith;
            (7) calls on the State Department Office of International 
        Religious Freedom to address the concerns and actions called 
        for in this resolution with the Government of Turkey, OSCE, the 
        United Nations Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or 
        Belief, and other international bodies or foreign governments;
            (8) urges OSCE to ensure that member states do not receive 
        stolen Cypriot art and antiquities; and
            (9) urges OSCE to press the Government of Turkey to abide 
        by its international commitments by calling on it to work to 
        retrieve and restore all lost artifacts, to immediately halt 
        destruction on religious sites, illegal archaeological 
        excavations, and traffic in icons and antiquities, to allow for 
        the proper preservation and reconstruction of destroyed or 
        altered religious sites, and to immediately cease all 
        restrictions on freedom of religion for the enclaved Cypriots.
                                 <all>