IV 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. RES. 263 

Condemning Turkey for its illegal occupation of Cyprus and encouraging 

President Biden to make the resolution of the Cyprus problem a top 

foreign policy priority. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 28, 2023 

Ms. MALLIOTAKIS (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 Biden to make the resolution of 

the Cyprus problem a top foreign policy priority. 

Whereas Turkey has been a North Atlantic Treaty Organization (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 authoritarian leader of Turkey since 2003, has grounded 

his decision making in an extremist form of religio-nationalism; 


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•HRES 263 IH 

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 European 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 invade 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 Republic 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 Turkish military are the only rightful owners of that real 


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•HRES 263 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 Economic Zone; 

Whereas President Erdogan has illegally reopened the beach 

in Varosha, a once-thriving tourist town which the Turkish military ethnically cleansed of its Greek Cypriot population in 1974; 

Whereas President Erdogan has openly called for a ‘‘twostate’’ 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; and 

Whereas, in a January 27, 1989, letter to a prominent 

Greek-American leader from Delaware, Dr. Dean Lomis, 

then-Senator Biden stated: ‘‘. . . we must urge the new 

Administration [President George H.W. Bush] to make 

Cyprus a higher policy priority in American foreign policy 

. . . we cannot lose sight of the fact that the rights of 

Greek Cypriots have been trampled upon, and we must 

ensure that their claims to ancestral land and property 

seized during the 1974 invasion are not compromised. Finally, we must send a signal to Turkey that until it has 

removed every last soldier from Cyprus, it will never be 


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•HRES 263 IH 

recognized as a full member of the international community.’’: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 

2 (1) strongly condemns Turkey’s continued occu3 pation of Cyprus, and calls upon Turkey to imme4 diately withdraw all of its estimated 35,000 occu5 pying troops from the island; 

6 (2) calls upon Turkey to adhere to the demo7 cratic principles and mission of the North Atlantic 

8 Treaty Organization; 

9 (3) reiterates that the settlement of the Cyprus 

10 problem needs to be based on a bizonal, bicommunal 

11 federation in a State with single sovereignty and 

12 international personality, and that this entity should 

13 embrace constitutional democratic norms and Amer14 ican principles, the European Union (EU) acquis 

15 Communautaire and EU Founding Treaty, United 

16 Nations resolutions on Cyprus, and pertinent deci17 sions of the European Court of Human Rights and 

18 other European courts; 

19 (4) calls on Turkey to cease and desist from its 

20 illegal interference in the Cyprus Exclusive Eco21 nomic Zone; 

22 (5) calls on the Turkish Government to provide 

23 avenues for American citizens to seek financial remVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:56 Apr 26, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HR263.IH HR263

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•HRES 263 IH 

1 edies or restitution for their property losses in the 

2 Turkish-occupied territory of Cyprus; 

3 (6) demands Turkey’s cooperation in helping 

4 recover the four American citizens who are still 

5 missing as a result of the 1974 invasion of Cyprus; 

6 (7) calls on Turkey to remove its over 200,000 

7 illegal settlers from Turkish-occupied Cyprus and as8 sist in repatriating Greek-Cypriot refugees to their 

9 ancestral homes; and 

10 (8) encourages President Biden to make the 

11 resolution of the Cyprus problem a top foreign policy 

12 priority for his Administration, a position that Presi13 dent Biden has held for decades. 

Æ 


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