[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Con. Res. 47 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

112th CONGRESS
  2d Session
S. CON. RES. 47

Expressing the sense of Congress on the sovereignty of the Republic of 
       Cyprus over all of the territory of the island of Cyprus.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              June 6, 2012

   Mr. Menendez (for himself and Ms. Snowe) submitted the following 
 concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign 
                               Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION


 
Expressing the sense of Congress on the sovereignty of the Republic of 
       Cyprus over all of the territory of the island of Cyprus.

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 and multilateral organizations;
Whereas Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has stated that the Republic of 
        Cyprus is ``strategically important'';
Whereas the Government of Cyprus is a close friend and partner of the United 
        States Government in the volatile eastern Mediterranean region;
Whereas United Nations Security Council Resolution 939 (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 Government of Turkey illegally occupies the northern area of Cyprus 
        with an armed force of 43,000 troops;
Whereas Article 49 of the Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of 
        Civilian Persons in Time of War, done at Geneva August 12, 1949, states, 
        ``The Occupying Power shall not deport or transfer parts of its own 
        civilian population into the territory it occupies.'';
Whereas, in 1954, the Government of Turkey ratified the Geneva Convention 
        relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, done at 
        Geneva August 12, 1949;
Whereas the Government of Turkey is attempting to colonize the part of Cyprus it 
        occupies by sending hundreds of thousands of citizens of Turkey to live 
        permanently in Cyprus;
Whereas the demographic composition of the Republic of Cyprus in 1974 was 
        estimated to be 506,000 Greek-Cypriots and 118,000 Turkish-Cypriots;
Whereas the current demographic composition of the Republic of Cyprus is 
        estimated to be 672,000 Greek-Cypriots, 89,000 Turkish-Cypriots, and 
        200,000-500,000 citizens of Turkey transferred by the Government of 
        Turkey to live permanently in Cyprus;
Whereas the Turkish-Cypriot community's leadership rejected the Council of 
        Europe's request to conduct an island-wide census to accurately 
        determine the current demographic composition of the island's 
        population;
Whereas the Government of Turkey's colonization plan was publicly exposed when 
        Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan told Turkish-Cypriots 
        protesting against the transfer of colonists from Turkey in the summer 
        of 2011, ``If you don't want us to send people, you need to have more 
        babies.'';
Whereas the demographic composition of Cyprus is being dramatically and 
        illegally altered by the influx of non-Cypriot colonists sent from 
        Turkey;
Whereas 40,000 Turkish-Cypriots protested against Turkish austerity measures 
        during demonstrations in 2011, with hundreds shouting and holding signs 
        reading, ``Ankara, get your hand off our shores.'';
Whereas, on March 4, 2012, Turkey's European Union Minister, Egemen Bagis, 
        called for ``annexing northern Cyprus to Turkey,'' an action that would 
        be in direct violation of the United Nations Charter, United Nations 
        Security Council resolutions on Cyprus, and United States Government 
        policy toward Cyprus;
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 (EEZs);
Whereas Cyprus and Israel recently signed an agreement defining the boundaries 
        of their respective EEZs, and, on that basis, are proceeding with the 
        exploration of natural gas reserves;
Whereas a United States company is currently developing hydrocarbon deposits in 
        the offshore EEZs of Cyprus and Israel;
Whereas these developments are significant for the energy security and 
        independence of Europe;
Whereas the United States Government supports the sovereign rights of Cyprus and 
        Israel to explore hydrocarbon deposits in their respective EEZs;
Whereas the Government of Turkey is seeking to expand its illegal occupation to 
        control portions of the EEZ of Cyprus and illegally seize and exploit 
        the energy resources of Cyprus;
Whereas the Government of Turkey has engaged in a variety of provocative and 
        bellicose actions, including sending warships off the southern coast of 
        Cyprus to escort a Turkish research vessel looking for hydrocarbon 
        deposits, conducting air and naval military exercises south of Cyprus in 
        the area of exploration, declaring invalid the agreement between Israel 
        and Cyprus demarcating their maritime borders, and threatening the use 
        of military action against Cyprus;
Whereas the highest levels of the United States Government have privately urged 
        the Government of Turkey not to follow through with its threats against 
        Cyprus for exercising its sovereign right to explore its natural 
        resources; and
Whereas, on April 26, 2012, the Government of Turkey began illegally drilling 
        for oil and natural gas on the island of Cyprus, within the sovereign 
        territory of the Republic of Cyprus: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives concurring), 
That Congress--
            (1) respects and accepts the sovereignty of the Republic of 
        Cyprus over all of the territory of the island of Cyprus;
            (2) urges the Government 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 the Governments of the Republic of 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 the Government of Turkey's threatening 
        statements and naval movements designed to prevent the Republic 
        of Cyprus from exploiting its energy resources;
            (6) expresses serious concern about the effort by the 
        Government of Turkey to colonize the area of northern Cyprus by 
        sending hundreds of thousands of non-Cypriot Turkish citizens 
        to live in Cyprus;
            (7) considers the Government of Turkey in grave violation 
        of Article 49 of the Geneva Convention relative to the 
        Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, done at Geneva 
        August 12, 1949, by transferring parts of its civilian 
        population into occupied northern Cyprus; and
            (8) urges the President to call on the Government of Turkey 
        to end its illegal colonization of Cyprus with non-Cypriot 
        populations, terminate its occupation of northern Cyprus, and 
        cease its illegal interference with the exploitation by the 
        Government of the Republic of Cyprus of its energy resources.
                                 <all>