[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 113 (Friday, July 24, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1919]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         AN ANNIVERSARY TO REMEMBER AND MOURN, AND NEVER REPEAT

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                        HON. ILEANA ROS-LEHTINEN

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, July 23, 2009

  Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Madam Speaker, thirty-five years ago, Turkey 
launched a massive and illegal military invasion of its sovereign 
neighbor, Cyprus.
  On July 20, 1974, the Turkish government sent troops to Cyprus, 
allegedly in response to an effort to unify Cyprus with Greece, citing 
its interpretation of its rights as a ``guarantor'' nation to cloak its 
military invasion under the guise of ``restoring the constitutional 
order'' of Cyprus.
  As a result of this invasion, over five thousand Greek Cypriots were 
killed, over sixteen hundred Greek Cypriots were reported missing, and 
two hundred thousand Greek Cypriots were forcibly displaced from their 
homes. Today, Cyprus remains a divided nation, and over forty-three 
thousand Turkish troops still illegally occupy almost half of the 
island.
  Since the 1974 invasion, the international community has repeatedly 
condemned the Turkish invasion, and has called for the reunification of 
Cyprus and the final withdrawal of Turkish troops from the island. In 
fact, more than seventy-five resolutions have been adopted by the 
United Nations (UN) Security Council and more than thirteen by the UN 
General Assembly, calling for the return of Greek Cypriot refugees to 
their homes and properties.
  Turkey has not heeded these calls.
  To the contrary, over one hundred and sixty thousand settlers from 
Turkey now occupy the homes or property of Greek Cypriots evicted from 
northern Cyprus. These illegal settlers today outnumber the native 
Turkish Cypriots by almost two to one.
  These thirty-five years of occupation in northern Cyprus have also 
led to the tragic devastation of hundreds of religious and cultural 
sites. On July 21, 2009, the U.S. Commission on Security and 
Cooperation in Europe, also known as the Helsinki Commission, issued a 
report entitled, ``Destruction of Cultural Property in the Northern 
Part of Cyprus and Violations of International Law,'' stating that 
icons, manuscripts, frescoes and mosaics have been looted from Greek 
Orthodox, Catholic, Armenian Orthodox, Maronite and Jewish religious 
sites in northern Cyprus.
  The Helsinki Commission Report stated that, in the occupied north, 
over five hundred Orthodox churches or chapels have been pillaged, 
demolished or vandalized. Additionally, seventy-seven churches have 
been turned into mosques, twenty-eight churches are being used by the 
Turkish military as hospitals or camps, and thirteen churches have been 
turned into barns. The historic St. Anastasia monastery is now a hotel 
with a swimming pool and casino; and the Byzantine-era monastery of 
Antiphonetes has had its icons and murals removed and sold to art 
dealers. The Helsinki Commission reported that, in contrast to those 
Turkish actions, the Republic of Cyprus has spent about $600,000 since 
2000 to renovate seventeen historic mosques in the southern portion of 
Cyprus.
  I am cautiously encouraged by the efforts of President of Cyprus 
Dimitris Christofias and the leader of the Turkish Cypriot community in 
the north, Mr. Mehmet Talat in their reunification negotiations now 
being held under the auspices of the United Nations. They have now held 
more than thirty-five rounds of direct talks since negotiations began 
on September 3, 2008, and they continue to meet on a regular basis. It 
is clear that the reunification of Cyprus should be based on a bi-
communal, bi-zonal federal state with a single sovereignty, 
international personality and citizenship.
  Ultimately, any final solution to the division of Cyprus must be 
developed by the Cypriot people themselves. However, the Turkish 
government has yet to give the leader of the Turkish Cypriot community 
the necessary freedom to negotiate a solution, has not agreed to 
withdraw its troops, and has not publically announced its support for 
the reunification efforts. To the contrary, on July 20, 2009, the 
Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Cemil Cicek announced that Turkey will 
never abandon its rights as a ``guarantor'' power on Cyprus, even if a 
peace deal is signed between Greek and Turkish Cypriot leaders later 
this year.
  This is precisely the false premise with which Turkey justified its 
military invasion in 1974, and the echoes of this false justification 
will reverberate in the hearts of the people of Cyprus, who continue to 
live with the brutal consequences of the 1974 incarnation of this 
argument. The international community rejected this argument thirty-
five years ago, and it must today condemn such statements as 
counterproductive to the reunification process.
  It is time that we commemorate the last anniversary of the presence 
of Turkish troops on Cyprus. It is time the leaders of the Cypriot 
communities have full freedom to negotiate the reunification of their 
country, without pressure and imposed conditions from other nations. It 
is time for there to be a new generation of Cypriots born into a 
unified homeland.

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