[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 107 (Friday, July 27, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1462]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


MARKING THE 27TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE TURKISH INVASION AND OCCUPATION OF 
                            NORTHERN CYPRUS

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. ILEANA ROS-LEHTINEN

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, July 27, 2001

  Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, Homer's Illiad reads on the birth of 
Venus: ``The breath of the west wind bore her Over the sounding sea, Up 
from the delicate foam, To wave-ringed Cyprus, her isle . . . . [which] 
Welcomed her joyously.''
  This describes how after her birth, Cyprus, a place of tranquility, 
beauty, and peace--worthy of gods--served as the home of Venus herself. 
However, if other stories could still be added to the volumes of Greek 
mythology, we would read of the Trojan invasion and terror seized upon 
the goddess of love's paradise island.
  Mr. Speaker, I applaud the persistent efforts of my colleagues 
Carolyn Maloney and Michael Bilirakis for calling this special order 
and arduously maintaining the plight of the Greek Cypriots in the minds 
of their fellow Members of Congress.
  On July 20, 1974, the island nation of Cyprus fell victim to 35,000 
Turkish armed forces who invaded this land and tore it apart along a 
"Green Line." Remaining one of the most militarized areas of the world, 
Northern Cyprus has suffered a vast and continued deterioration of 
human rights protection throughout the last 27 years, despite an 
international agreement signed in 1975, known as the Vienna III 
agreement, which was originally drafted in order to guarantee the most 
basic human rights and freedoms to 20,000 Greek Cypriots and Maronites 
enclaved in the Karpass Peninsula, which feel under Turkish rule. 
Today, after systematic intolerable harassment, intimidation, and 
inhuman treatment, only 400 Greek Cypriots and 160 Maronites remain.
  From the onset of the invasion in 1974, Turkish leaders initiated a 
campaign intent on the permanent displacement--or rather extinction--of 
the Greek Cypriots. Upon Turkey's invasion of Cyprus, 200,000 Greek 
Cypriots--victims of a policy of ethnic cleansing--were forced from
  Furthermore, the Turkish led occupation of Northern Cyprus has 
created a labyrinth from which Greek Cypriots can not escape. The man-
made ``green line'' imposed upon this ancient bicommunal culture is the 
embodiment of heinous practices of human rights violations employed by 
Turkish forces to divide this community. Freedom of movement and 
association are nonexistent. A Greek Cypriot press is prohibited. Even 
Turkish Cypriots are banned from engaging in bicommunal contact at the 
grassroots level with Greek Cypriots.
  In addition, is the impunity allotted to Turkish armed forces 
responsible for the disappearances of 1,463 Greek Cypriots, including 
four Cypriot-Americans, despite Turkey's obligation under the UN 
Declaration on the Protection of All Persons from Enforced 
Disappearances. The regime in place in Northern Cyprus is guilty of 
taking an island nation community and turning neighbor against 
neighbor. Thus, the 27th anniversary of Cyprus' occupation comes at the 
heels of the European Court of Human Rights decision made on May 10th 
of this year, finding Turkey guilty of violating 14 articles of the 
European Convention on Human rights, and of being an illegal and 
illegitimate occupying force in Cyprus.
  In December 1999, under the good auspices of the United Nations, 
proximity talks began, bringing both sides closer to possible 
negotiations. After 5 rounds of talks, and seemingly successful 
strides, the Turkish Cypriot leader has STALLED HOPE. His attempt for 
international recognition, despite the UN Security Council's call for 
non-recognition of Northern Cyprus in 1983, and demand for the 
withdrawal of the sovereign Republic of Cyprus' application for EU 
membership, are both ironic and foolish.
  Mr. Speaker, as a Member of Congress with a long history of support 
of due justice and freedom of the enclave in Cyprus, I speak out today 
to convey to this Congress and the Administration the crucial necessity 
to maintain pressure on the Turkish government so as to ensure the 
continuation of the proximity talks, and hopefully soon, negotiations 
leading to the return, once again of a single sovereign and peaceful 
Cyprus as Venus knew it to be.

                          ____________________