IV
119THCONGRESS
1
STSESSION H. RES. 17
Condemning Turkey for its illegal occupation of Cyprus and encouraging
President Trump to make the resolution of the Cyprus problem a top
foreign policy priority.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JANUARY7, 2025
Ms. M
ALLIOTAKIS(for herself, Mr. BILIRAKIS, Mr. PAPPAS, and Ms. TITUS)
submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee
on Foreign Affairs
RESOLUTION
Condemning Turkey for its illegal occupation of Cyprus and
encouraging President Trump to make the resolution
of the Cyprus problem a top foreign policy priority.
Whereas Turkey has been a North Atlantic Treaty Organiza-
tion (NATO) member since 1952 and is thus a treaty
ally of the United States;
Whereas modern Turkey was founded upon the principles of
republicanism and laı¨cite´;
Whereas Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the au-
thoritarian leader of Turkey since 2003, has grounded
his decision making in an extremist form of religio-na-
tionalism;
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Whereas, under President Erdogan, Turkey seeks to establish
itself as the hegemon of the Eastern Mediterranean,
North Africa, and the Caucuses, and as a result has
taken provocative actions toward NATO allies, the Euro-
pean Union, and the broader region;
Whereas President Erdogan’s expansionist political ideology
necessitates aggression toward Cyprus;
Whereas the Government of Turkey ordered its military to in-
vade the Republic of Cyprus in 1974 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 the Government of Turkey has tolerated or abetted
the desecration of more than 500 Orthodox Christian
churches and religious sites in the territory of the Repub-
lic of Cyprus that the Turkish military occupies;
Whereas the Government of Turkey has brought in over
200,000 illegal settlers into the occupied area of Cyprus
to change the sociopolitical and demographic fabric of the
area, in violation of the Geneva Conventions;
Whereas Turkey is a member state of the European Court
of Human Rights (ECHR);
Whereas the ECHR has issued decisions and judgments in
which the Court confirms that persons, including United
States citizens, who hold title to real property located in
the area of the Republic of Cyprus occupied by the Turk-
ish military are the only rightful owners of that real
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•HRES 17 IH
property, but Turkey has refused to comply with the
ECHR judgment;
Whereas, despite having agreed to do so, the Government of
Turkey has failed to support international efforts to find
and identify the remains of persons, including four
United States citizens who remain missing since the
Turkish invasion of the Republic of Cyprus in 1974;
Whereas Turkey illegally violates the Cyprus Exclusive Eco-
nomic Zone;
Whereas President Erdogan has illegally reopened the beach
in Varosha, a once-thriving tourist town which the Turk-
ish military ethnically cleansed of its Greek Cypriot popu-
lation in 1974; and
Whereas President Erdogan has openly called for a ‘‘two-
state’’ solution regarding Cyprus, in violation of United
Nations resolutions, international law, and the position of
the United States Government, which is that a Cyprus
solution should be within the framework of a bizonal,
bicommunal federation: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 1
(1) strongly condemns Turkey’s continued occu-2
pation of Cyprus, and calls upon Turkey to imme-3
diately withdraw all of its estimated 35,000 occu-4
pying troops from the island; 5
(2) calls upon Turkey to adhere to the demo-6
cratic principles and mission of the North Atlantic 7
Treaty Organization; 8
(3) reiterates that the settlement of the Cyprus 9
problem needs to be based on a bizonal, bicommunal 10
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•HRES 17 IH
federation in a State with single sovereignty and 1
international personality, and that this entity should 2
embrace constitutional democratic norms and Amer-3
ican principles, the European Union (EU) acquis 4
Communautaire and EU Founding Treaty, United 5
Nations resolutions on Cyprus, and pertinent deci-6
sions of the European Court of Human Rights and 7
other European courts; 8
(4) calls on Turkey to cease and desist from its 9
illegal interference in the Cyprus Exclusive Eco-10
nomic Zone; 11
(5) calls on the Turkish Government to provide 12
avenues for American citizens to seek financial rem-13
edies or restitution for their property losses in the 14
Turkish-occupied territory of Cyprus; 15
(6) demands Turkey’s cooperation in helping 16
recover the four American citizens who are still 17
missing as a result of the 1974 invasion of Cyprus; 18
(7) calls on Turkey to remove its over 200,000 19
illegal settlers from Turkish-occupied Cyprus and as-20
sist in repatriating Greek-Cypriot refugees to their 21
ancestral homes; and 22
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(8) encourages President Trump to make the 1
resolution of the Cyprus problem a top foreign policy 2
priority for his Administration. 3
Æ
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