[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.
                                 <all>