[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 114 (Tuesday, July 21, 2015)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1091]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




MARKING 41 YEARS SINCE THE TURKISH INVASION AND OCCUPATION OF NORTHERN 
                                 CYPRUS

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, July 21, 2015

  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to mark the 41st 
anniversary of the Turkish government's illegal invasion of Cyprus in 
1974. This tragedy of that aggression continues to this day. Northern 
Cyprus continues to be occupied by Turkish troops. More than 216,000 
Cypriots continue to be displaced or their descendants denied their 
rightful property claims in ancestral homelands--and this includes 
5,000 Americans of Cypriot descent.
  Sadly, the occupation authorities continue their direct attacks on 
the religious freedom of Orthodox Christians and the island's rich 
Orthodox Christian cultural heritage. Cyprus's ancient Christian 
heritage goes back to the mission of St. Paul and St. Barnabas in 45 
A.D.--Barnabas is remembered as the founder and patron saint of the 
Church in Cyprus. Even in recent years, Turkish security forces have 
continued to disrupt the religious services of Orthodox believers in 
northern Cyprus, and, sadly, the desecration and destruction of 
religious sites continues. Forty-one years after the Turkish 
government's invasion, Christian believers still cannot freely visit 
all religious sites on the island, nor use Christian religious sites 
for their rightful purpose. Sites looted of revered icons remain 
vacant, and sacred objects of Cypriot Orthodoxy regularly turn up on 
the international art market or are held in museums against the wishes 
of the Orthodox community. The services for the faithful that do take 
place remain tightly restricted by Turkish authorities through special 
permitting or other challenges to registering congregations. These 
violations of basic rights are a legacy of intolerance wrought by the 
1974 invasion.
  Mr. Speaker, I hope my colleagues will join me in urging the 
administration to vigorously promote meaningful settlement negotiations 
that affirm the fundamental freedoms and human rights of those Greek 
Cypriots who are displaced or enduring in northern enclaves.

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