[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 1199 Introduced in House (IH)]

<DOC>






118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. RES. 1199

Recognizing the 50th anniversary of the Turkish invasion and occupation 
                          of northern Cyprus.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 6, 2024

 Ms. Malliotakis (for herself, Mr. Bilirakis, Ms. Titus, Mr. Sarbanes, 
and Mr. Pappas) submitted the following resolution; which was referred 
                  to the Committee on Foreign Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
Recognizing the 50th anniversary of the Turkish invasion and occupation 
                          of northern Cyprus.

Whereas, on July 20, 1974, the Government of Turkey ordered its military to 
        invade the Republic of Cyprus in violation of the Treaty of 
        Establishment, the Treaty of Alliance, the North Atlantic Treaty, and 
        the Treaty of Guarantee which established the Republic of Cyprus and 
        guaranteed the independence of the Republic of Cyprus, as well as the 
        United Nations Charter and customary international law;
Whereas this year marks 50 years since the illegal Turkish invasion in 1974 and 
        continued occupation since then of Cyprus, marking the first time since 
        World War II that a European country was militarily invaded in violation 
        of international law;
Whereas the people of Cyprus have suffered, for 5 decades, the persistent 
        violation of their human rights and fundamental freedoms due to this 
        invasion and continued occupation;
Whereas more than 160,000 Cypriots (corresponding to one-third of the population 
        of the island in 1974) have been forcibly displaced from their ancestral 
        land, becoming refugees in their own country;
Whereas the Government of Turkey has brought in over 200,000 illegal settlers 
        into the occupied territory of Cyprus seeking to change the demography 
        as well as the sociopolitical fabric of the area, in violation of the 
        Geneva Conventions and international humanitarian law;
Whereas the United Nations Security Council responded on the day of the invasion 
        with Resolution 353, calling for an immediate cease-fire and the 
        withdrawal of foreign military personnel from Cyprus;
Whereas Turkey has refused to comply with judgments from the European Court of 
        Human Rights, confirming that persons, including United States citizens 
        who hold title to real property located in the area of the Republic of 
        Cyprus under the illegal Turkish occupation, are the only rightful 
        owners of that real property;
Whereas, on August 16, 1974, a cease-fire agreement was reached establishing a 
        buffer zone monitored by the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus 
        (UNFICYP), effectively dividing the island into Turkish-controlled and 
        Greek Cypriot-controlled zones;
Whereas Turkey's policy of illegal colonization includes constant harassment of 
        the enclaved people, restrictions on their movement, denial of access to 
        adequate medical care, denial of adequate facilities for education, and 
        restrictions on the right to use their property and the free exercise of 
        their religious rights in line with its deliberate policy of ethnic 
        cleansing; and
Whereas, in October 2020 and July 2021, Turkey began illegally reopening parts 
        of the fenced-off area of Varosha, aiming to inhabit it by settlers 
        under the control of the illegal occupying regime in violation of United 
        Nations Security Council Resolutions 550 (1984) and 789 (1992) which 
        call for the immediate return of Varosha to its legal inhabitants under 
        United Nations administration: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) marks with sober recognition the 50th anniversary of 
        the Turkish invasion and occupation of northern Cyprus;
            (2) strongly condemns Turkey's continued occupation of 
        Cyprus and calls upon Turkey to immediately withdraw all of its 
        estimated 35,000 occupying troops from the island;
            (3) reiterates that the settlement of the Cyprus problem 
        must be based on a bizonal, bicommunal federation with a single 
        sovereignty, a single citizenship, and a single international 
        personality, embracing constitutional democratic norms and 
        international principles;
            (4) calls on Turkey to remove its over 200,000 illegal 
        settlers from Turkish-occupied Cyprus and assist in 
        repatriating Greek-Cypriot refugees to their ancestral homes;
            (5) demands Turkey's full cooperation in determining the 
        fate of all remaining missing persons, including 4 United 
        States citizens; and
            (6) calls on Turkey to abide by the United Nations 
        Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and respect the 
        sovereign rights of the Republic of Cyprus in its maritime 
        zones.
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