[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 127 (Tuesday, July 20, 2021)]
[House]
[Page H3675]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1015
            47TH ANNIVERSARY OF MILITARY INVASION OF CYPRUS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
New York (Ms. Malliotakis) for 5 minutes.
  Ms. MALLIOTAKIS. Madam Speaker, I rise today on the 47th anniversary 
of the Republic of Turkey's deadly and unprovoked military invasion of 
Cyprus.
  This is a dark time in the history of the Greek Cypriot people and a 
stark reminder that we must never forget Turkey's ethnic cleansing of 
200,000 Greek Cypriot people less than 50 years ago.
  The tragedy that is the illegal Turkish occupation of Cyprus that 
occurred on July 20, 1974, continues to this very day. I speak before 
you at a time when the Republic of Turkey is actively engaged in an 
aggressive, illegal, and unilateral reopening of Varosha, a once-
bustling Greek Cypriot resort town and international tourist 
destination in the Famagusta District of the island.
  Following the Turkish approach to Varosha in August 1974, the town's 
native Greek Cypriot population fled for their lives, only to later be 
denied the right to return by the occupying Turkish Armed Forces. Many 
of the Varosha refugees are still alive today, yearning to go back to 
their homes, while President Erdogan has moved to reopen Varosha to 
tourists.
  The suffering in Cyprus is not just limited to Varosha. The Turkish 
Armed Forces have illegally occupied more than one-third of the island. 
They have destroyed and converted over 500 Greek Orthodox churches to 
mosques in the course of their invasion. They stole over 60,000 
archaeological treasures, part of Greek civilization's cultural 
heritage. Their violence led to the disappearance of over 20,000 
Christian icons, and even worse, 1,130 people who remain missing since 
1974--five of them, American citizens.
  Madam Speaker, over the years, the United Nations has taken a stand 
against Turkey's illegal occupation of Cyprus, going so far as to 
deploy thousands of U.N. Peacekeepers to prevent further Turkish 
incursions into the southern half of the island. In addition, the U.N. 
Security Council gathered in 1984 and 1992 to pass Resolution 550 and 
Resolution 789, respectively, to draw red lines when it comes to 
Turkish activity in sensitive areas like Varosha.
  Specifically, these resolutions state that the Council ``considers 
attempts to settle any part of Varosha by people other than its 
inhabitants as inadmissible, and calls for the transfer of that area to 
the administration of the United Nations,'' and that, ``the area at 
present under the control of the United Nations peacekeeping force in 
Cyprus be extended to include Varosha.''
  As we grow one year closer to the 50th anniversary of Turkey's 
illegal invasion of Cyprus, the United States must take a strong stand 
at the United Nations and other international fora to address the 
growing threat posed by Turkey, its increased aggression, and to ensure 
the eventual return of homes and land to its native Greek Cypriot 
inhabitants and reunification of this island nation.
  If we, as a governing body, truly claim to stand for liberty and 
justice for all, we must speak in a unified voice on this issue. And it 
is a bipartisan issue. When he was chairman of the Senate Committee on 
Foreign Affairs, then-Senator Joe Biden promised the Greek Cypriot 
refugee community that they would return to their homeland, if he was 
ever elected President. During our first Committee on Foreign Affairs 
hearing with Secretary of State Blinken, he committed to me and my 
colleagues from both sides of the aisle that brought up this concern 
that the reunification of Cyprus would be a priority for this 
administration.
  Yet, we saw our President meet with President Erdogan, and we don't 
even believe the issue was brought up, so we will continue to speak out 
against this. I encourage my colleagues to speak out, call for action, 
and take a stand for our Greek Cypriot friends who need our support now 
more than ever.
  If we are to see the end of this occupation in our lifetimes, the 
United States must lead the way.

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