[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 8]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 11952]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




      EXPRESSING SUPPORT FOR ENDING THE 40 YEAR DIVISION OF CYPRUS

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. DAVID N. CICILLINE

                            of rhode island

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, July 14, 2014

  Mr. CICILLINE. Mr. Speaker, this year marks the 40th anniversary of 
the Turkish invasion of Cyprus. In 1974, Turkey invaded the island of 
Cyprus reportedly to protect Turkish Cypriots from tensions with Greek 
Cypriots. Turkey then launched a second phase of the invasion which 
resulted in 1,500 missing Greek Cypriots, an estimated 5,000 civilian 
deaths and 170,000 refugees. In 1983, the Turkish Cypriot occupied area 
declared itself the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, though it has 
never been recognized by any country other than Turkey.
  Currently, around 40,000 Turkish troops patrol the occupied area, 
making the northern part of Cyprus one of the most highly militarized 
areas in the world. Thousands of Greek Cypriots are being denied their 
fundamental right to return to their homes. Greek Cypriot properties 
are constantly being confiscated or sold without their owners' consent. 
Freedom of worship continues to be restricted as access to religious 
sites are blocked and systematically destroyed. Furthermore, Turkey 
continues to obstruct the process of determining the fate of persons 
missing since the invasion by prohibiting the exhumation of remains 
from mass graves.
  Thankfully, the Cyprus Government remains fully committed to the 
United Nations (U.N.) sponsored process to reach a sustainable 
settlement that would reunify Cyprus based on a bizonal, bicommunal 
federation in accordance with relevant U.N. Security Council 
resolutions. Additionally, the President of Cyprus has outlined several 
promising measures that contributed an atmosphere that would facilitate 
the negotiating process. In February 2014, the leaders of the Greek 
Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot communities resumed formal negotiations. 
The promotion of security and stability in the region is a vital 
foreign policy issue to the United States, and the anniversary of the 
Turkish invasion should serve as a reminder that it is well past time 
to end the forcible division of Cyprus.

                          ____________________