[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 120 (Tuesday, July 22, 2008)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7025-S7026]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            34TH ANNIVERSARY OF TURKEY'S INVASION OF CYPRUS

  Ms. SNOWE. Mr. President, I rise to mark a dark anniversary for the 
Hellenic-American community, and its Cypriot members in particular. 
Thirty-four years ago this week, the armed forces of Turkey violated 
the sovereignty and territory of the Republic of Cyprus by illegally 
invading and ultimately occupying its northern third.
  The continued division and military occupation of Cyprus by Turkey 
remains a gross violation of the human rights and fundamental freedoms 
of all Cypriots and a blatant disregard for the rule of law. The 
European Court of Human Rights has repeatedly condemned Turkey for 
violating fundamental rights of Cypriots such as the right to life, the 
right to liberty and security, the right to the protection of property 
and the prohibition of inhuman or degrading treatment--rights we as 
Americans also regard as sacrosanct.
  Throughout these decades of injustice, the Greek Cypriot community 
has sought a just resolution to the ``Cyprus Question.'' And we are 
certainly at a potentially historic crossroads in the effort to end 
this tragic division. With the February election of President 
Christofias and his focus on engaging the Turkish Cypriot community, 
the coming months may turn out to be among the most consequential in 
the island's long history. Certainly, for the people of the Republic of 
Cyprus, the illegal occupation of the north cannot come to an end soon 
enough.
  Meeting with Cypriot Foreign Minister Markos Kyprianou in early 
April, I was therefore heartened to hear in detail about the progress 
made at President Christofias' March meeting with Mehmet Ali Talat, the 
leader of the Turkish Cypriot community, which resulted in the 
establishment of working groups on the outstanding substantive issues 
to be resolved between the two communities. Shortly thereafter, the two 
communities opened a critical border crossing on Ledra Street in the 
heart of Nicosia in early April. The two leaders have met twice more to 
review the progress of the working groups, and are scheduled to again 
meet at the end of this week.
  These efforts only strengthen my long-held commitment to work to 
ensure that the United States stands by its close ally, the Republic of 
Cyprus, to achieve a resolution to the tragic division of the island 
that is fair to Greek Cypriots. As we learned from our experience with 
the justified rejection of the Annan Plan by Greek Cypriots in 2004--
the Cyprus Question is one that can only be resolved through mutual 
agreement on a solution, not an imposition of one.
  The magnanimity of the Greek Cypriot community in seeking a fair 
solution to the division of the island despite the injustices they have 
suffered for nearly three and a half decades was also highlighted for 
me in October, when I met with the Mayor-in-exile of Famagusta, Alexis 
Galanos, concerning the Republic's hope for the orderly resettlement of 
the ``ghost neighborhood'' of Varosha by its rightful inhabitants under 
U.N. administration, which would also open the harbor for use by both 
communities. Support for this plan--which the international community 
called for in United Nations Security Council Resolution 550 of 1984--
demonstrates not only the willingness but also the wisdom of the Greek 
Cypriot community in seeking just and workable outcomes to seemingly 
intractable problems on the island. I am pleased to be working with 
Ambassador Andreas Kakouris of Cyprus to garner congressional support 
for this initiative.
  Moreover, the United States should be doing its part to address one 
of the most devastating effects of the occupation on Cypriot-American 
families by providing the means for U.S. citizens with claims to 
property in the Turkish-occupied north of Cyprus to seek redress for 
the homes that have been destroyed or taken from them. The invasion by 
the Turkish troops in 1974 forced nearly 200,000 Greek Cypriots--nearly 
one-third of the Cypriot population at the time--from their homes, 
making them refugees in their own country. A large proportion of the 
properties from which the Greek Cypriot owners were expelled was 
unlawfully distributed to the tens of thousands of illegal settlers 
from Turkey. An estimated 7,000 to 10,000 U.S. citizens of Cypriot 
descent have claims to such properties.
  That is why my colleague Senator Menendez and I have introduced the 
American-Owned Property in Occupied Cyprus Claims Act, which would 
direct the U.S. Government's independent Foreign Claims Settlement 
Commission to receive, evaluate, and determine awards with respect to 
the claims of U.S. citizens and businesses that lost property as a 
result of Turkey's invasion and continued occupation of northern 
Cyprus. The bill would further grant U.S. Federal courts jurisdiction 
over suits by U.S. nationals against any private persons occupying or 
otherwise using the U.S. national's property in the Turkish-occupied 
portion of Cyprus. The act would expressly waive Turkey's sovereign 
immunity against claims brought by U.S. nationals in U.S. courts 
relating to property occupied by the Government of Turkey and used by 
Turkey in connection with a commercial activity carried out in the 
United States.
  More than just providing redress to Cypriot-Americans who have had 
their ancestral homes taken from them, this legislation would uphold 
the larger shared values of justice and personal dignity that the 
citizens of both the United States and the Republic of Cyprus value so 
highly. It is my hope and pledge that, whatever progress is made in the 
current talks between the two communities on the island, the United

[[Page S7026]]

States will continue to stand by its close ally to ensure that fairness 
is not sacrificed in the interest of expediency. For it is not just the 
rights of the Greek Cypriot community that are at stake, but the 
viability of the human and civil rights that all democracies--that most 
enduring of Hellenic institutions--hold most dear.

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