Mr. SCHIFF. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to commemorate an anniversary of human suffering, loss of life, and the usurpation of the basic rights of people and nations to live within secure borders. The anniversary I am referring to is that of the Turkish invasion and occupation of northern Cyprus 27 years ago. Some 6,000 Turkish troops and 40 tanks invaded the resource-rich north coast of Cyprus. In less than a month's time, more than one-third of the island was under Turkish control, displacing 200,000 Greek Cypriots from their homes.
Today, 35,000 Turkish soldiers, armed with the latest weapons and supported by land and sea, are stationed in the occupied area, making it, according to the United Nations Secretary General, one of the most militarized regions in the world. At an estimated cost of $300 million annually, Turkey continues to defy the international community and the U.N. resolutions with its policies towards Cyprus.
To date, more than 1,600 Greek Cypriots and four Americans remain unaccounted for, serving as a silent reminder of the unlawful invasion.
Eighty-five thousand Turks have been brought over from Turkey to colonize the occupied area with the aim of changing the demography of the island and controlling the political situation. The Greek Cypriot community that remains enclaved within the occupied villages continues to live under conditions of oppression, harassment, and deprivation.
Throughout the occupation, the U.N. has been trying to encourage a solution to the Cyprus problem. U.N. Secretary Kofi Annan has sponsored proximity talks between the President of Cyprus, Glafcos Clerides, and Rauf Denktash, the self-proclaimed leader of the occupied area. Unfortunately, those talks have been suspended due to Rauf Denktash's abrupt departure from the negotiating table.
Turkey's military and financial backing provides a leverage for the Turkish Cypriot leadership in its unwillingness to make any compromises. In 2000, Turkey provided $195.5 million to the self-proclaimed Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus to relieve budget deficits and a 3-year aid package to boost the economy.
A sixth round of U.N.-mediated proximity talks did not convene in January, 2001, because Denktash refused to participate. The U.N. has said that Denktash has requested new talks not be scheduled. On May 29, 2001, the Turkish National Security Council, which expresses the views of the powerful Turkish military, declared an agreement depends on "the acknowledgment of the sovereign equality of two states on the island.''
Mr. Speaker, the United States has a national interest in fostering peace and stability in the eastern Mediterranean region. We as a Nation cannot continue to pretend our NATO partner is not in clear violation of international law for its continued illegal occupation of its neighbor.
Last year, the Turkish government announced it had awarded a $4 billion contract for attack helicopters to an American company, Bell-Textron. However, before the sale can take place, the Department of State must issue an export license, and its decision must take into account both foreign policy and human rights considerations.
Sending attack helicopters to Turkey runs directly counter to American interests and values in the region and does not in any way foster peace and stability in the eastern Mediterranean.
Turkey has had a long record of using U.S.-supplied military equipment in direct violation of U.S. law. In 1974, Turkey employed U.S.-supplied aircraft and tanks in its invasion of northern Cyprus. Turkish forces continue to occupy today with the use of U.S.-supplied military equipment.
For the past 16 years, Turkey has been illegally using American weaponry, especially attack helicopters, in a campaign against its Kurdish population and has threatened to use them against Greece and Cyprus as well.
Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and even our own State Department have reported that Turkey has illegally used American attack helicopters in these attacks on the Kurds.
In a judgment delivered at Strasbourg on May 10, 2001, in the case of Cyprus versus Turkey, the European Court of Human Rights of the Council of Europe found Turkey to be in violation of 14 articles of the European Convention on Human Rights.
The 16-1 decision relating to the situation that exists in the occupied northern part of Cyprus since the 1974 Turkish invasion, found Turkey to be in violation of (Article 2) right to life; (Article 3) prohibition of inhuman or degrading treatment; (Article 5) right to liberty and security; (Article 6) right to a fair trial; (Article 8) right to respect for private and family life, home and correspondence; (Article 9) freedom of thought; (Article 10) freedom of expression; (Article 13) right to an effective remedy; (Article 1 of Protocol No. 1) protection of property; and (Article 2 of Protocol No. 1) right to education.
We in the United States pride ourselves for our respect for fundamental freedoms. Human rights norms are the cornerstone of U.S. foreign policy. It is time, Mr. Speaker, for the U.S. to use its considerable influence with Turkey to press Ankara to end its 27-year occupation of Cyprus.
Why are we so accommodating toward a country whose military regularly intervenes in domestic politics; a country that refuses to come to terms with its history of genocide against the Armenians; a country that is in violation of international law in the Aegean Sea; a country that imprisons an American citizen for allegedly conducting illegal prayer in a private home and insulting the secular regime; a country that has imprisoned four democratically elected Kurdish parliamentarians and a host of Turkish human rights activists and journalists; and a country that refuses to fully respect the rights and religious practices of its Christian communities?
It is time to speak out against these violations. It is time for the United States to take the lead.