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[Congressional Bills 118th Congress] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office] [H. Res. 1199 Introduced in House (IH)]
118th CONGRESS 2d Session H. RES. 1199
Recognizing the 50th anniversary of the Turkish invasion and occupation of northern Cyprus.
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IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
May 6, 2024
Ms. Malliotakis (for herself, Mr. Bilirakis, Ms. Titus, Mr. Sarbanes, and Mr. Pappas) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs
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RESOLUTION
Recognizing the 50th anniversary of the Turkish invasion and occupation of northern Cyprus.
Whereas, on July 20, 1974, the Government of Turkey ordered its military to invade the Republic of Cyprus in violation of the Treaty of Establishment, the Treaty of Alliance, the North Atlantic Treaty, and the Treaty of Guarantee which established the Republic of Cyprus and guaranteed the independence of the Republic of Cyprus, as well as the United Nations Charter and customary international law; Whereas this year marks 50 years since the illegal Turkish invasion in 1974 and continued occupation since then of Cyprus, marking the first time since World War II that a European country was militarily invaded in violation of international law; Whereas the people of Cyprus have suffered, for 5 decades, the persistent violation of their human rights and fundamental freedoms due to this invasion and continued occupation; Whereas more than 160,000 Cypriots (corresponding to one-third of the population of the island in 1974) have been forcibly displaced from their ancestral land, becoming refugees in their own country; Whereas the Government of Turkey has brought in over 200,000 illegal settlers into the occupied territory of Cyprus seeking to change the demography as well as the sociopolitical fabric of the area, in violation of the Geneva Conventions and international humanitarian law; Whereas the United Nations Security Council responded on the day of the invasion with Resolution 353, calling for an immediate cease-fire and the withdrawal of foreign military personnel from Cyprus; Whereas Turkey has refused to comply with judgments from the European Court of Human Rights, confirming that persons, including United States citizens who hold title to real property located in the area of the Republic of Cyprus under the illegal Turkish occupation, are the only rightful owners of that real property; Whereas, on August 16, 1974, a cease-fire agreement was reached establishing a buffer zone monitored by the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP), effectively dividing the island into Turkish-controlled and Greek Cypriot-controlled zones; Whereas Turkey's policy of illegal colonization includes constant harassment of the enclaved people, restrictions on their movement, denial of access to adequate medical care, denial of adequate facilities for education, and restrictions on the right to use their property and the free exercise of their religious rights in line with its deliberate policy of ethnic cleansing; and Whereas, in October 2020 and July 2021, Turkey began illegally reopening parts of the fenced-off area of Varosha, aiming to inhabit it by settlers under the control of the illegal occupying regime in violation of United Nations Security Council Resolutions 550 (1984) and 789 (1992) which call for the immediate return of Varosha to its legal inhabitants under United Nations administration: Now, therefore, be it Resolved, That the House of Representatives-- (1) marks with sober recognition the 50th anniversary of the Turkish invasion and occupation of northern Cyprus; (2) strongly condemns Turkey's continued occupation of Cyprus and calls upon Turkey to immediately withdraw all of its estimated 35,000 occupying troops from the island; (3) reiterates that the settlement of the Cyprus problem must be based on a bizonal, bicommunal federation with a single sovereignty, a single citizenship, and a single international personality, embracing constitutional democratic norms and international principles; (4) calls on Turkey to remove its over 200,000 illegal settlers from Turkish-occupied Cyprus and assist in repatriating Greek-Cypriot refugees to their ancestral homes; (5) demands Turkey's full cooperation in determining the fate of all remaining missing persons, including 4 United States citizens; and (6) calls on Turkey to abide by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and respect the sovereign rights of the Republic of Cyprus in its maritime zones.