[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 148 (Wednesday, September 17, 2008)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1827]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           HONORING THE CITY OF FAMAGUSTA, REPUBLIC OF CYPRUS

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. JOHN P. SARBANES

                              of maryland

                    in the house of representatives

                     Wednesday, September 17, 2008

  Mr. SARBANES. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the memory of a 
city that once represented all that is good about Democracy and free 
enterprise, of a city that was a vibrant cultural and economic center 
and of a city that has been rendered a ghost town by an unlawful 
military occupation.
  The city of Famagusta is located in the outer rim of Europe on the 
island Republic of Cyprus. Before Turkey's 1974 illegal invasion and 
occupation of the Republic of Cyprus, Famagusta showcased the successes 
of the newly independent Republic.
  Famagusta led the development of the nascent Republic's economy and 
was known to the world as a great entertainment and tourist 
destination. The city housed 50 percent of Cyprus's touristic 
accommodations and also served as Cyprus's principal port, handling 
over 80 percent of the country's general cargo, and nearly 50 percent 
of the total passenger traffic to and from the island.
  In 1974, 60,000 Cypriots called Famagusta home, and another 15,000 
made their living working in the city. During the summer months 
European holidaymakers swelled the population to more than 100,000.
  The vitality and good fortune of Famagusta ended when the Turkish 
military subjected it to intense aerial bombardment. In the face of the 
Turkish air force and invading army, the Greek-speaking Cypriot 
population evacuated the city.
  The Turkish military sealed off the Varosha section of the city and 
has forbidden the entry of human life there for 34 years. Varosha lays 
frozen in time with the shelves of its department stores stocked with 
the wares of the 1970s, the hotel's breakfast tables are set for the 
tourist who never arrived and the roads and buildings are overrun by 
brush and vermin.
  The decline of this once proud and vibrant city has been catalogued 
by its inclusion on the World Monuments Fund's 2008 Watch List of the 
100 Most Endangered Sites in the world.
  The Turkish military's continued occupation of the city and exclusion 
of its lawful inhabitants has been condemned by United Nations Security 
Council Resolution 550/1984 that calls for the transfer of the 
occupied, but uninhabited city of Famagusta to the United Nations for 
the orderly resettlement of the city by its rightful inhabitants.
  Following Turkey's illegal invasion and occupation of Cyprus, 
Congress enacted 22 U.S.C.A. Sec. 2373(a)(5), which sets forth the 
requirement that United States foreign policy support the United 
Nations Secretary General's efforts to resettle the occupied, but 
uninhabited city of Famagusta by its rightful inhabitants.
  Once again this June 2, 2008, the Report of the Secretary General on 
the United Nations Operation in Cyprus holds the Government of Turkey 
responsible for the failure to hand over Famagusta for resettlement by 
its rightful inhabitants.
  It is on this Remembrance Day of Famagusta that I tell my fellow 
members of the House that it is high time for Turkey to end its 
senseless and cruel occupation, and allow the people of this fine city 
to return to their homes so that they may rebuild and restore her faded 
glory for the benefit of all Cypriots.

                          ____________________