[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 109 (Thursday, July 19, 2012)]
[House]
[Pages H5020-H5021]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               THE 38TH ANNIVERSARY OF INVASION OF CYPRUS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
California (Mr. Royce) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. ROYCE. Mr. Speaker, July 20 marks the 38th anniversary of the

[[Page H5021]]

Turkish invasion of the island of Cyprus. That invasion claimed the 
lives of about 5,000 Cypriots. In the neighborhood of 200,000 people 
were forcibly expelled from their homes during that time period. To put 
that in perspective, that was one-third of the population of the 
country. If this were to happen in the United States, it would be the 
equivalent of about 100,000 people becoming refugees in their own land.
  As we stand here today, that occupation continues. There are over 
30,000 Turkish troops on the island. They are stationed on over one-
third of Cyprus. Sadly, that occupied area of this beautiful land is 
one of the most militarized areas in the world. I have seen this on 
both sides of that divide. It is truly tragic that despite the wishes 
of Cypriots on both sides of that line that this cannot be resolved. 
And the Cyprus-Turkey issue, unlike many others, is one that the 
international community has been able to agree on.
  There have been 75 resolutions adopted in the Security Council--more 
than 13 by the General Assembly--calling for the return of the refugees 
to their homes and to their properties and for the withdrawal of those 
Turkish troops from Cyprus.

                              {time}  1110

  President Demetris Christofias has followed through on his promise to 
make the solution of that problem his top priority. I met with him when 
I was in Nicosia 3 years ago, and his commitment to finding a solution 
greatly impressed me in that he had reached out to Turkish Cypriots.
  I had my own opportunity, when I was in northern Cyprus, to talk to 
Turkish Cypriots, and they confirmed that their desire was to find a 
resolution to this problem, to find a way to have Turkish troops leave 
the island. And there's certainly no lack of good will, I think, in 
terms of the Cypriot community.
  So, since 2008, there have been these full-fledged negotiations with 
leaders of the Turkish Cypriot community. I think that the problem here 
is that that effort needs a reliable partner, a reasonable partner, and 
I question whether Turkey is listening in that process. From everything 
I've seen, they're not listening yet.
  I would point out that Cyprus and the United States share a deep and 
abiding commitment to upholding the ideals of freedom, democracy, 
justice, human rights, and the international rule of law. After the 
Lebanon crisis in 2006, if you'll recall, Cyprus served as the 
principal transit location for people evacuating Lebanon, including our 
U.S. citizens. I had constituents that went through Cyprus at that 
time. In the `83 Beirut barracks bombing, it was Cyprus that provided 
the staging ground for the U.S. evacuation and rescue efforts after 
that bombing.
  But I point out also that since the discovery of gas reserves in the 
eastern Mediterranean, the U.S. has advocated including revenue sharing 
from energy resources in those Cyprus settlement talks, urging that 
they be shared with the Cypriot community on both sides of that line.
  It's important to note that there are concrete efforts underway by 
the heads of the respective communities to reunify. Greek and Turkish 
Cypriots, alike, want to see that solution. Again, in my view, what 
stands in the way here is Turkey at the present time, and I wish they 
would reconsider their position.
  You can see the extent to which Cyprus is willing to compromise with 
these newly discovered energy resources. Greek Cypriot leaders are 
willing, in principle, to share the benefits of future gas production 
with Turkish Cypriots. Their only request is that revenues not be 
shared with those 30,000-plus Turkish soldiers on the island, and 
that's still not good enough for Turkey.
  You know, Mr. Speaker, 38 years of occupation, needless 
militarization in this part of the world, this divide should have ended 
long, long ago. There is still time to right this wrong. I hope Turkey 
reconsiders.

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