[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 676 Introduced in House (IH)]
112th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. RES. 676
To expose and halt the Republic of Turkey's illegal colonization of the
Republic of Cyprus with non-Cypriot populations, to support Cyprus in
its efforts to control all of its territory, to end Turkey's illegal
occupation of northern Cyprus, and to exploit its energy resources
without illegal interference by Turkey.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
June 5, 2012
Mr. Engel (for himself and Mr. Bilirakis) submitted the following
resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
RESOLUTION
To expose and halt the Republic of Turkey's illegal colonization of the
Republic of Cyprus with non-Cypriot populations, to support Cyprus in
its efforts to control all of its territory, to end Turkey's illegal
occupation of northern Cyprus, and to exploit its energy resources
without illegal interference by Turkey.
Whereas the Republic of Cyprus is an independent, sovereign nation-state;
Whereas the Republic of Cyprus, as the only sovereign state on the island of
Cyprus, is a member of the United Nations, the European Union, and other
key international organizations;
Whereas Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton stated that the Republic of
Cyprus is ``strategically important'';
Whereas Cyprus is a close friend and partner of the United States in the
volatile eastern Mediterranean region;
Whereas Cyprus and the United States share basic values of democracy and market-
based economies;
Whereas United Nations Security Council Resolution 939 of July 29, 1994,
reaffirms that a solution to the Cypriot issue must be based on a State
of Cyprus with a single sovereignty and international personality, and a
single citizenship, with its independence and territorial integrity
safeguarded, and comprising two politically equal communities as
described in the relevant Security Council resolutions, in a bicommunal
and bizonal federation, and that such a settlement must exclude union in
whole or in part with any other country or any form of partition or
secession;
Whereas the Republic of Turkey illegally occupies the northern area of Cyprus
with an armed force of 43,000 Turkish troops;
Whereas Article 49 of the 4th Geneva Convention of 1949 states, ``the Occupying
Power shall not deport or transfer parts of its own civilian population
into the territory it occupies'';
Whereas in 1954, Turkey ratified the 4th Geneva Convention of 1949;
Whereas Turkey is attempting to colonize the part of Cyprus it occupies by
sending hundreds of thousands of its citizens to live permanently on
Cyprus;
Whereas the demographic makeup of the indigenous population of the Republic of
Cyprus is approximately 675,000 Greek-Cypriots, 90,000 Turkish-Cypriots,
and 8,000 others;
Whereas this demographic makeup is being dramatically and illegally altered by
the influx of non-Cypriot colonists sent from Turkey;
Whereas the number of Turkish colonists who have been transplanted to Cyprus is
estimated to be at least 200,000 and could be as high as 500,000 based
on statements of Turkish-Cypriot opposition leaders, trade unionists,
and journalists;
Whereas the occupation regime rejected the Council of Europe's recommendation to
have an island-wide census carried out by a competent international
organization by blocking such a census in the occupied area;
Whereas Turkey's colonization plan was publicly exposed when Turkish Prime
Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan told Turkish-Cypriots protesting against
the transfer of Turkish colonists in the summer of 2011, ``If you don't
want us to send people, you need to have more babies.'';
Whereas Turkey's attempt to portray its illegal occupation and colonization
practices as protecting Turkish-Cypriots from Greek-Cypriots has been
brought into serious question by recent history including the 17,000,000
intercommunal visits without violence since 2003;
Whereas Greek-Cypriots and Turkish-Cypriots have a history of peaceful
coexistence for nearly all of their 400 years together;
Whereas according to Turkish-Cypriot opposition leaders, nearly half of all
Turkish-Cypriots have left the country for Great Britain, the United
States, or Australia since Turkey's colonization of Cyprus began to the
point that today less than 90,000 Turkish-Cypriots live in the occupied
area;
Whereas according to the leader of the Turkish-Cypriot ``Communal Democracy
Party'', Turkish-Cypriots are ``in danger of extinction both in terms of
the population and culturally'';
Whereas in recent years, the Republic of Cyprus along with other countries in
the eastern Mediterranean, including Israel, have discovered vast
reserves of natural gas within their territorial waters and Exclusive
Economic Zones (EEZ);
Whereas Cyprus and Israel recently signed an agreement defining the boundaries
of their respective EEZ's, and on that basis are proceeding with the
exploration of the area's natural gas reserves;
Whereas a United States company is currently developing hydrocarbon deposits in
the offshore EEZ's of Cyprus and Israel;
Whereas these developments are potentially significant for the energy security
of Europe;
Whereas the United States Government supports the sovereign rights of Cyprus and
Israel to explore hydrocarbon deposits in their respective EEZ's;
Whereas in a classic colonialist attempt to exploit the national wealth of
Cyprus, Turkey is attempting to extend its illegal occupation and
control of parts of Cyprus to include Cyprus' EEZ so it can unjustly
seize and exploit the energy resources which are rightfully the property
of the Republic of Cyprus;
Whereas Turkey's drive to capture the energy resources of the Republic of Cyprus
has been accompanied by a variety of provocative and bellicose actions
including--
(1) sending warships off of Cyprus' southern coast to escort a Turkish
research vessel looking for hydrocarbon deposits;
(2) Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan publicly warning that
his country would ``retaliate even more strongly'' to any further mineral
exploration by Cyprus around the island;
(3) Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu warning of a ``necessary
response'' if Cyprus went ahead with its energy development plans;
(4) Turkey's European Union Minister Egemen Bagis threatening that,
``This is what we have a navy for. We have trained our marines for this. We
have equipped the navy for this. All options are on the table. Anything can
be done'';
(5) conducting air and naval military exercises south of Cyprus in the
area of exploration; and
(6) declaring invalid the agreement between Israel and Cyprus
demarcating their EEZ's;
Whereas the highest levels of the United States Government privately urged
Turkey to not follow through with its threats against Cyprus for
exercising its sovereign right to explore its own natural resources;
Whereas on April 26, 2012, Turkey began illegally drilling for oil and natural
gas on the island of Cyprus, clearly within the Republic of Cyprus'
sovereign territory, and named a well ``Turkish homeland'', as the first
in a ``drilling package'' that also includes exploration throughout
Cypriot waters;
Whereas Turkish efforts to colonize areas of Cyprus and exploit its natural
resources have even led certain leading Turkish officials, such as
European Union Minister Egemen Bagis, to call for ``annexing northern
Cyprus to Turkey'', which would be in direct violation of the United
Nations Charter and United Nations Security Council resolutions on
Cyprus; and
Whereas 40,000 Turkish-Cypriots protested against Turkish austerity measures
during demonstrations last year, with hundreds shouting and holding
signs reading, ``Ankara, get your hand off our shores'': Now, therefore,
be it
Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
(1) respects and accepts the sovereignty of the Republic of
Cyprus as the only sovereign state on the island of Cyprus;
(2) urges the Government of the Republic of Turkey to
respect, accept, and formally recognize the sovereignty of the
Republic of Cyprus over all of the territory of the island of
Cyprus, end its illegal military occupation of Cyprus, and
accept and fully implement all United Nations Security Council
Resolutions on Cyprus;
(3) supports the Republic of Cyprus in its plans to explore
and exploit energy reserves within its Exclusive Economic Zone
(EEZ) and praises Cyprus and Israel for working cooperatively
to develop the energy holdings in the region;
(4) urges the Government of Turkey to cease all activities
and plans to further develop energy resources illegally within
the territory and EEZ of the Republic of Cyprus;
(5) opposes Turkey's threatening statements and naval
movements designed to keep Cyprus from exploiting its energy
resources;
(6) expresses serious concern about Turkey's ongoing
efforts to colonize the area of northern Cyprus by sending
hundreds of thousands of non-Cypriot Turkish citizens to
Cyprus;
(7) considers the Government of Turkey in grave violation
of Article 49 of the 4th Geneva Convention of 1949 by
transferring parts of its own civilian population into occupied
northern Cyprus; and
(8) urges the Administration to call on Turkey to end its
illegal colonization of Cyprus with non-Cypriot populations,
end its illegal occupation of northern Cyprus, and end its
illegal interference with Cyprus' exploitation of its energy
resources.
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