[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 93 (Tuesday, July 18, 2000)]
[House]
[Page H6358]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  COMMEMORATION OF THE 26TH ANNIVERSARY OF TURKISH INVASION OF CYPRUS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 19, 1999, the gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Maloney) is 
recognized during morning hour debates for 4 minutes.
  Mrs. MALONEY of New York. Mr. Speaker, once again, as I have every 
year that I have been a Member of Congress, it is my distinct honor and 
privilege to commemorate the 26th anniversary of the 1974 illegal 
Turkish invasion of Cyprus. Over 77 members of the Hellenic Caucus join 
me in the spirit of remembering this important illegal date.
  The continued presence of Turkish troops represents a gross violation 
of human rights and international law. Although the President has only 
a little more than 6 months remaining in office, he has a golden 
opportunity to once and for all help resolve the problem of reuniting 
Cyprus.
  Since their invasion of Cyprus in July of 1974, Turkish troops have 
continued to occupy 37 percent of Cyprus. This is in direct defiance of 
numerous nations' resolutions and has been a major source of 
instability in the eastern Mediterranean, but recent events have 
created an atmosphere where there is now no valid excuse for not 
resolving this long-standing, thorny problem. However, this cannot 
happen without the committed and sustained U.S. leadership.
  More than 20 years ago, in 1977 and 1979, the leaders of the Greek 
and Turkish Cypriot communities agreed to work together to establish a 
bicommunal, bizonal federation to replace the unitary government 
created under the 1960 constitution. Even though this agreement was 
codified in U.N. Security Council resolution 939 of July 14, 1994, 
there has been no action on the Turkish side to fill in the details and 
once and for all have a final agreement. Instead, for the last 26 
years, there has been a Turkish Cypriot leader presiding over a regime 
recognized only by Turkey. It has also meant the financial decline of 
the once rich northern part of Cyprus to just one quarter of its former 
earnings.
  As my colleagues know, this conflict reached a low point after the 
European Union summit of December 1997 when Cyprus was invited to 
participate in accession negotiations while Turkey was deemed not yet 
ready. But since then, we have seen several positive steps towards 
peace. First in December, the European Union formally invited Turkey to 
become a candidate. Then President Clinton made it clear, and he made a 
clear statement to Turkish President Ecevit that a resolution of the 
Cyprus problem could not involve a return to pre-1974 conditions. Most 
recently, we saw a thawing in Greek-Turkish relations resulting from 
the earthquake diplomacy in which each country gave assistance to the 
other during the tragic earthquakes last August and September.
  With these developments, there is now no valid reason for the Turkish 
side to resist direct and serious negotiations on all issues during the 
continuation of meetings in Geneva. The U.S., the EU, Greece and Cyprus 
have all acted to accommodate Turkish concerns but it remains to be 
seen whether Turkey will put pressure on Denktash to bargain in good 
faith. And make no mistake about it, if Turkey wants the Cyprus problem 
resolved, it will not let Denktash stand in the way. We cannot let one 
person dictate Turkish Cypriot policy.

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