[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 109 (Tuesday, July 23, 1996)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1351-E1352]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    CYPRUS HAS SUFFERED FOR 22 YEARS

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                            HON. BOB FILNER

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, July 23, 1996

  Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to join my colleagues in 
commemorating a tragic event--Turkey's military invasion of the 
Republic of Cyprus in July 1974. But I think we all agree that the even 
greater tragedy is the fact that 21 years later, Turkey's illegal 
occupation of northern Cyprus remains in place and the suffering of the 
people of Cyprus continues.
  Driven from their homes and villages, brutalized, and denied 
information as to the fate of over 1,600 loved ones missing since the 
invasion, the people of Cyprus have patiently cooperated with 
international negotiators--for 21 years--in the hopes of securing a 
peaceful coexistence.
  Mr. Speaker, Greek-Americans in San Diego and across the United 
States also share in the agony created by the occupation of Cyprus. 
They agonize about missing friends and family, the destruction of the 
Greek Cypriot culture and the denial of access to ancestral homelands 
now occupied by the Turkish army. These people have suffered too long!
  And so, together with the Greek-American community, I urge Congress 
and the administration to adopt a far more active role in pressing the 
Turkish Government to withdraw its

[[Page E1352]]

troops from Cyprus, end the human rights abuses there and provide a 
full accounting of those who are missing.
  It's time we let Turkey know that a peaceful resolution to this 
crisis is tragically overdue.

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