[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 35 (Thursday, March 24, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: March 24, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                        CYPRUS REMAINS SEPARATED

                                 ______


                        HON. JOHN EDWARD PORTER

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, March 24, 1994

  Mr. PORTER. Mr. Speaker, July marks the 20th anniversary of the 
invasion of Cyprus. The situation there is a throwback to the cold war. 
Artificially divided and militarily tense, Cyprus deserves a better 
fate. The cold war is over--the long-divided Germans have reunited, and 
even Yemen has recently come together. Yet Cyprus remains separated.
  The United States must vigorously support all efforts to bring an end 
to this tragedy. We own as much, both to the Cypriot people, and in 
respect to the beliefs that no country be given license to occupy 
another, that artificial ethnic separation is not an answer, and that 
peace and democracy be allowed to flourish in a reunited Cyprus.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask that we insert two articles into the Record which 
eloquently describe the sad situation that has existed in Cyprus for 
nearly 20 years.

                 [From the Houston Post, Mar. 12, 1994]

                       Will the Wall Tumble Down?

                            (By Ken Hoffman)

       Nicosia, Cyprus.--When the Berlin Wall came down in 1989, 
     Nicosia was left standing as the world's only divided capital 
     city.
       Divided by force, religion, politics, mistrust and hatred.
       In July 1974, the small Mediterranean country, culturally 
     and politically aligned with Greece but lying only 40 miles 
     south of Turkey, was invaded by Turkish fighter boats and 
     40,000 heavily armed commandos. Turkey had long coveted 
     Cyprus, with its strategic location at the crossroads of 
     Africa, Europe and the Middle East.
       On the morning of July 20, under the pretense of protecting 
     Turkish Cypriot minorities in Cyprus and with Cyprus in its 
     usual turmoil, Turkey seized its opportunity.
       Opposed by only 16,000 Cypriot national guardsman, Turkey's 
     military objective was accomplished in less than one month.
       Thousands were dead. About 180,000 Greek Cypriots were sent 
     running for their lives to the south.
       In their place, Turkey invited 55,000 Turkish Cypriots 
     living in the south to move north. Eighty thousand settlers 
     from mainland Turkey were brought to Cyprus to solidify 
     Turkey's racial hold on the territory. The occupiers gave new 
     Turkish names to Cypriot cities. Kyrenia became Girne. 
     Famagusta became Magosa.
       More demoralizing personally to the refugee Cypriots, 
     Turkish invaders moved into their homes and took over their 
     businesses.


                          barbed wire, rifles

       Now the country has a 112-mile impenetrable border of 
     barbed wire and pointed rifles stretching from coast to 
     coast.
       From its western beaches to its eastern ports, the ``Attila 
     Line'' and a narrow buffer zone patrolled by 2,100 United 
     Nations soldiers keep Greek and Turkish Cypriots apart.
       Cypriots are not allowed, under any circumstance, to cross 
     the border. There is no telephone or mail service between 
     north and south.
       The northern 37 percent of the island has been renamed the 
     Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, an outlaw government 
     supported solely by Turkey.
       Since 1974, several United Nations resolutions have 
     condemned the Turkish invasion of Cyprus and ordered the 
     occupiers to leave. Turkey has ignored each demand.
       The Turkish invasion was devastating to Cyprus in economic 
     as well as in emotional terms.
       Turkey's capture of North Cyprus was well-aimed. The 
     occupied territory contains Cyprus' two prettiest resort 
     cities, Kyrenia and Famagusta. They took over the country's 
     lone international airport and only deep water port.
       With the conquest of the north, 70 percent of the country's 
     hotels were lost. Tourism was wiped out.


                            border crossing

       Tourists are permitted to walk through the Attila Line's 
     only gate near the old Ledra Palace Hotel in downtown 
     Nicosia.
       The Ledra Palace was once Cyprus' most elegant hotel. Now 
     it's barracks. Its elegant dining room is now a military mess 
     hall.
       To cross the border, you first show your passport to Greek 
     Cypriot military officials. They will let you by, but only 
     after asking politely that you not go. They point to a hand-
     painted sign that reads:
       Attention!
       Beyond this checkpoint is an area of Cyprus still occupied 
     by Turkish troops since the invasion in 1974. The invaders 
     expelled 180,000 Cypriots of Greek origin from their 
     ancestral home and brought over colonists from mainland 
     Turkey to replace them.
       Enjoy yourself in this land of racial purity and true 
     apartheid.
       Enjoy the sight of our desecrated churches.
       Enjoy what remains of our looted heritage and homes.
       Below the sign is a painting of Cyprus with a bloody dagger 
     stuck through the heart of Nicosia.
                                  ____


                        [From the Houston Post]

                     Cyprus Invasion Not Forgotten

                            (By Ken Hoffman)

       Nicosia, Cyprus.--Every night on television in Cyprus, they 
     flash the message ``DEN XECHNOUME.'' We have not forgotten.
       Not forgotten Turkey's bloody invasion of North Cyprus in 
     1974 that killed 6,000 people and created 100,000 Greek 
     Cypriot refugees in their own country.
       Not forgotten that Turkey continues to occupy the country's 
     most beautiful cities, the international airport and valuable 
     port of Farnagusta.
       Not forgotten that almost 20 years later, Cyprus is a 
     divided island, with an outlaw government calling itself the 
     Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus ruling 37 percent of the 
     land.
       Most of all, they have not forgotten that Turkish soldiers 
     and settlers stole their business and moved into their homes.
       Evi Fiouri certainly has not forgotten.
       In 1974, Evi was 13 years old, in her first year of high 
     school. She lived in a small gray home in the north beach 
     resort of Kyrenia with her parents and baby sister.
       Evi remembers the morning in 1974 when she heard the bombs. 
     ``We jumped out of bed and went on the roof. We could see the 
     Turkish boats. My father said we had to flee. Someone told us 
     that Turkish soldiers had already landed in a western village 
     and were committing atrocities,'' she said.
       ``They were raping girls and killing the old people. We had 
     to go immediately.''
       Her father tried to calm his daughters. He said they would 
     probably return in a few days.
       ``We were leaving just for security, until the problems 
     with Turkey was worked out * * *. For awhile before, Turkish 
     Cypriots had warned us that there would be an invasion * * *. 
     But we thought it was impossible. It was too absurd.''


                        running for their lives

       And then they heard the bombs.
       Evi grabbed a small handbag, stuck her favorite doll in it 
     and hopped into the family car.
       They drove south, but still heard the bombs. So they 
     continued on the southern highway. They listened to the 
     radio. Rumors were flying. The Turks were running rampant. 
     Helicopters filled the sky. Greek Cypriots who attempted to 
     defend their homes were killed.
       ``We realized that Kyrenia was occupied, so my father drove 
     us to Larnaca, farther in the south,'' Evi said. ``People 
     were kind to us. The Red Cross gave us clothes and food. That 
     was when I first heard the word `refugees,' and I knew that 
     it meant us. My little sister started crying. She didn't want 
     to be called a refugee.''


                           losing everything

       In Kyrenia, Evi's father had owned a lemon grove. The 
     family was considered well off. Now all they owned was a car, 
     a few suitcases and a young girl's doll.
       Evi's father did work again. Although he is retired, his 
     hobby of raising bees is profitable.
       Evi lives in the capital city of Nicosia and works for the 
     government. Her husband is customs officer. A few years ago, 
     she heard that a Turkish Cypriot police officer was living in 
     her old home.
       A United Nations soldier, who had visited Kyrenia, brought 
     back a picture. It was painful for Evi to look, she said. The 
     backyard garden her pride, was in ruins.
       ``Other homes near mine were torn down and made into potato 
     farms.''
       Cypriots are forbidden to cross the border into the Turkish 
     occupied territory. But even if she could go. Evi could not 
     bear to visit her old house.
       ``It would be too tragic. That was the happiest time in my 
     life. How would I feel to be a stranger there? To have to ask 
     to come into the home that I rightfully own? I want my old 
     home back,'' she said.
       ``I want my country back, too.''

                          ____________________