[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 99 (Wednesday, July 20, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1549-E1550]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  THE 31ST ANNIVERSARY OF TURKISH ILLEGAL INVASION AND OCCUPATION OF 
                                 CYPRUS

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. MICHAEL BILIRAKIS

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, July 20, 2005

  Mr. BILIRAKIS. Mr. Speaker, I rise again today, as I have for more 
than 2 decades, to voice intense objection to the illegal occupation of 
Cyprus by Turkish troops and to declare my grave concern for the future 
of the island. The Turkish incursion into Cyprus, 30-plus years ago, 
has rendered a legacy of internal division, and should worry those in 
this Chamber who cherish freedom and espouse the virtues of democracy.
  In July 1974, Turkish troops invaded and captured the northern part 
of Cyprus, seizing more than a third of the island. The Turkish 
strategy included ethnic cleansing. Not only did the Turks expel 
200,000 Greek-Cypriots from their homes, but Turkish troops were also 
responsible for the systematic killing of 5,000 innocent civilians. In 
the process, Turkey installed 40,000 military personnel on Cyprus. 
Today, these troops, in conjunction with United Nations (U.N.) 
peacekeeping forces, make the small, once peaceful island of Cyprus one 
of the most militarized areas in the world. Well over a quarter of a 
century later, approximately 1,500 Greek-Cypriots remain missing, 
including four Americans.
  The Greek-Cypriot and Turkish-Cypriot communities are separated by a 
113-mile barbed wire fence, called the Green Line. Until 2003, the 
Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), a government formally 
recognized only by Turkey, prohibited Greek-Cypriots from freely 
crossing the Green Line to visit the towns and communities of their 
families. Controlling 37 percent of the island, Turkey's military 
occupation has had severe consequences, most notably the dislocation of 
the Greek-Cypriot population and the resulting refugees.
  More than thirty years later, despite efforts by G-8 countries and 
the U.N. generally, the forced separation of these two communities 
persists. The U.N., with the explicit support of the United States, has 
sponsored several rounds of proximity talks between the Greek-Cypriots 
in the South and the Turkish-controlled north.
  The U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan took a lead role in brokering a 
reunification proposal. On several occasions, my colleagues and I 
strongly voiced our serious concerns with the Annan plan through 
letters, meetings, and floor statements. We warned that the plan, as 
written, was not viable and did not assuage the Greek-Cypriots' 
security fears. Without a doubt, greater efforts should have been made 
to address these legitimate security concerns.
  By ignoring these concerns, Greek-Cypriot voters were put in the 
adverse position of having to oppose the plan. On April 24, 2004, they 
made clear that the suggested settlement failed because it did not 
provide certain guarantees, nor did it ensure complete compliance by 
Turkey once the plan was implemented. Had their concerns been 
addressed, I have no doubt that the Annan plan would have received an 
overwhelming positive vote.
  The Annan plan did not include a thorough removal of foreign troops 
from Cyprus. Although previous versions of the Annan plan called for 
the complete withdrawal of Greek and Turkish forces once Turkey joined 
the European Union, the final version of the Annan plan provided for an 
indefinite presence of Turkish troops in Cyprus. According to the plan, 
the number of troops would gradually decrease to 650 over a period of 
fourteen years.
  The plan also provided for the continuation of the Treaty of 
Guarantee, maintaining the guarantor powers (Turkey, Greece, and the 
United Kingdom) the right to unilaterally intervene in order to 
preserve the ``constitutional order'' of the United Cyprus Republic and 
its constituent states. The Annan plan failed to clarify that this 
treaty would not authorize military intervention.
  This is a critical point, because Turkey insist that it continues to 
have the right to intervene militarily in Cyprus.
  Additionally, the Annan plan did not provide for a property recovery 
system that would recognize the rights and interests of displaced 
Greek-Cypriots, nor did it include a satisfactory property compensation 
system. Specifically, the plan allowed for one-third restitution and 
two-thirds compensation for Greek-Cypriots who would lose the use of 
their northern properties. The Federal Government of Cyprus would be 
responsible for disbursing the restitutive funds. Nine-tenths of the 
Federal State's resources, however, derive from Greek-Cypriots. 
Therefore, the plan essentially called for Greek-Cypriots to pay for 
the loss of their property.
  In addition, the plan required constituent states to pay the 
compensation for property transfers. This meant that Greek-Cypriot 
refugees would have to request compensation from the Greek-Cypriot 
Constituent State. Again, Greek-Cypriot taxpayers, who were the victims 
of the invasion, would be paying for their own losses.
  The Annan plan failed to institute policies that could have 
engendered cohesion between the two communities. The plan failed to 
provide a viable government free of built-in deadlocks and voting 
restrictions, establishing instead a system based on permanent ethnic 
division and the denial of democratic rights to a segment of the 
population. The plan ignored the right of all Cypriots to buy property 
and to live wherever they choose without being limited by ethnic 
quotas. Furthermore, the plan set complicated and restrictive 
provisions regarding the right of Greek-Cypriot refugees to return to 
their homes in the north. In fact, the plan mandated that no more than 
33.3 percent of the TRNC population could be Greek-Cypriot. This 
restriction would have been permanent. In addition, under the plan, 
Greek-Cypriots permanently living in the TRNC and possessing its 
internal citizenship status would not have the right to participate in 
elections for its 24 representatives in the federal Senate.
  Since the vote on the referenda, Greek-Cypriots have been criticized 
for allegedly rejecting peace and the ``only chance'' for 
reunification. Many people--including the Greek-Cypriots themselves--
regret that the presented plan did not allow both communities to 
respond positively. Criticism and anger, however, will only further 
divide the island precisely when the Cypriot people need the support of 
the international community to continue on the path toward lasting 
peace.

  Greek-Cypriots should not be blamed for voting against a plan that 
they believed did not

[[Page E1550]]

meet the interests of their country and their futures. It is one thing 
for others to comment on the terms and conditions for settlement, but 
it is the Cypriots who must live with whatever plan is adopted.
  The Government of Cyprus continues to emphasize that it remains 
committed to reunify Cyprus as a bi-zonal, bi-communal federation with 
democratic and human rights for all Cypriots. The Cypriot Government 
has announced a series of measures aimed at assisting those Turkish 
Cypriots residing under the control of the occupying Turkish army. The 
package included a wide range of political, social, humanitarian, 
educational and economic measures that would enhance the Turkish-
Cypriots' ability to enjoy many of the benefits that the Republic of 
Cyprus offers to its citizens--including benefits which result from its 
European Union membership. Far beyond a merely symbolic gesture, the 
package is a substantive program to integrate the Turkish-Cypriot 
community into the larger Cypriot society.
  The Republic of Cyprus and Greek-Cypriots have provided the Turkish-
Cypriot community more than $700 million dollars in aid. In the past 
two years, the government of Cyprus has paid more than $43 million 
dollars in social insurance pensions to Turkish-Cypriots, and Turkish-
Cypriots working outside the Green Line made $7 million dollars in 
wages last year. Since April 2003, more than 24,000 Turkish-Cypriots 
have received free treatment in hospitals and medical centers inside 
the Republic of Cyprus, the combined cost of which totals more than $9 
million dollars.
  Since the invasion more than three decades ago, Turkish occupied 
areas have received free electricity from the Cyprus Electricity 
Authority at a cost of nearly $343 million dollars. Together, more than 
150,000 birth certificates, identity cards and passports have been 
provided to Turkish-Cypriots by the Republic of Cyprus, so that 
Turkish-Cypriots could travel and acquire work more efficiently. The 
Republic of Cyprus has begun a program where it pays the full tuition 
fees of Turkish-Cypriot pupils in secondary education private schools 
in the government controlled areas. The program to date has promised 
more than 5.4 million in tuition fees, and the program added five times 
as many students this year than it did in its first year, 2003.

  The occupying Turkish regime partially relaxed restrictions that 
limited travel across the Green Line. Since then, there have been more 
than five million incident-free border crossings by Turkish and Greek 
Cypriots to visit areas and homes that were inaccessible to them for 
over 30 years. As a result, Greek-Cypriots have infused more than $57 
million dollars into the impoverished, Turkish-occupied economy in the 
North. It isn't clear whether opening the border was just a tactic to 
ease frustrations, or a sign that Turkey has had a fundamental change 
of heart. Nevertheless, it has produced rare displays of human kinship, 
exchanges of flowers and pastries, and emotional visits to homes 
abandoned in the mid-1970s.
  Still, neither the Government's incomplete, albeit well-intentioned, 
benefit package for Turkish-Cypriots, nor the limited lifting of 
restrictions by Turkey's occupying regime, substitutes for a 
comprehensive resolution to end Cyprus' divide. I urge the Bush 
Administration, the United Nations the European Union, and this 
honorable body to respect the democratic decision of the Cypriot 
people, to remain engaged in efforts to resolve the Cyprus problem, and 
to work toward a fair and lasting reunification of Cyprus.
  As Cyprus works toward reunification it is imperative that leaders 
and diplomats from the United States and other nations respect and 
observe Cypriot law and international law in their dealings with 
Cyprus. Recently, Members of Congress traveled directly into the 
northern airport of Cyprus in Tymbou. Direct flights into occupied 
Cyprus are inconsistent with principles of international law and in 
tension with domestic law of the United States. In particular, it is 
indisputable that international law mandates that flights cannot enter 
a country's airspace without the consent of the sovereign government. 
Indeed, the Convention on International Civil Aviation, signed in 
Chicago on December 7, 1944, provides that ``the contracting States 
recognize that every State has complete and exclusive sovereignty over 
the airspace above its territory.'' The Republic of Cyprus' sovereignty 
over the entire territory of Cyprus has been recognized and reaffirmed 
by numerous U.N. Security Council Resolutions, as well as long-standing 
U.S. policy.

  Section 620C of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, amended in 1979, 
separately establishes that the United States' foreign policy towards 
Cyprus is to support the withdrawal of all Turkish forces from Cyprus 
and the reunification of the island. Any government or congressional 
trip will not only derail and discourage reunification efforts, but to 
the contrary, will be exploited as an implicit recognition of the so-
called ``Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus'' by the United States, 
thus further reinforcing the island's division.
  It is my understanding that at no time has the Republic of Cyprus 
authorized flights into the illegal airports situated in the occupied 
area of Cyprus. Moreover, flights into these airports are not 
necessary; the Republic of Cyprus encourages visits to the occupied 
area in a manner that does not create insurmountable legal issues and 
reinforce the existing division of the island.
  What is surprising and disappointing is that our own State Department 
encouraged these Members to fly directly to the airport in the TRNC 
under the guise of easing the isolation of Turkish-Cypriots. The State 
Department has authorized U.S. government personnel to travel directly 
to northern Cyprus, but they require that they must use their tourist 
passports. I don't understand why they are not instructed to use their 
official passports since they are visiting the TRNC on official 
business. I believe that if the legality of direct travel to TRNC were 
not in dispute, requiring U.S. government personnel to use their 
tourist passports would be pointless.
  The State Department maintains that this policy is consistent with 
U.S. and international law and that neither U.S. nor international law 
prohibits U.S. citizens from traveling directly to the TRNC. While the 
State Department is technically correct that nothing precludes U.S. 
leaders, diplomats, staff, or citizens from entering the airport in the 
north of Cyprus, such actions do contravene the Chicago Convention and 
contradict established U.S. foreign policy.
  I have sent letters to President George W. Bush and U.S. Secretary of 
State Condoleezza Rice expressing concern regarding the legality of 
U.S. citizens, U.S. government personnel, and Members of Congress 
flying directly from Turkey to the airport at Tymbou in the occupied 
northern part of Cyprus. The letters also requested legal clarification 
on direct flights to TRNC by U.S. citizens, U.S. government personnel, 
and Members of Congress. These letters were signed by more than thirty 
of my colleagues.
  I think they need to be reminded that the United States recognizes 
the Republic of Cyprus as the only government of Cyprus, the Republic 
of Cyprus has not authorized flights into the northern airport, and the 
Republic of Cyprus and the United States are signatories to the Chicago 
Convention. Therefore, when U.S. citizens travel to Cyprus through the 
northern airport they not only undermine an ally of the United States, 
but they also flout U.S. foreign policy, which has been in place for 
ten consecutive presidential terms. As the U.S. government never would 
allow members of the Cypriot House of Representatives to enter the 
United States through an airport that is not designated as a legal port 
of entry, it also should discourage U.S. citizens, U.S. government 
personnel, and Members of Congress from doing the same in Cyprus.
  Such actions do little more than undercut the reunification efforts. 
The Turkish invasion of Cyprus is responsible for the destabilization 
of the Republic of Cyprus. Likewise, unauthorized travel into the 
northern airport, especially by American leaders, belittles the 
Republic of Cyprus' authority and destroys its credibility. Cyprus' 
sovereignty deserves no less reverence from the United States than any 
other nation with which the U.S. deals and considers an ally.
  American leaders should set an example for the rest of the world to 
follow, and in all our dealings with Cyprus, our utmost concern ought 
to be reunification. We should look to correct the wrong that occurred 
more than thirty years ago. We should work to bring about a just 
resolution to the situation. And, at the very least, we must act to 
halt the continuing injustice which the world community allows to 
continue in Cyprus.

                          ____________________