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 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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•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 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 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 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; 
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; 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. Fi-
nally, 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 commu-
nity.’’: Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 
(1) strongly condemns Turkey’s continued occu-
pation of Cyprus, and calls upon Turkey to imme-
diately withdraw all of its estimated 35,000 occu-
pying troops from the island; 
(2) calls upon Turkey to adhere to the demo-
cratic principles and mission of the North Atlantic 
Treaty Organization; 
(3) reiterates that the settlement of the Cyprus 
problem needs to be based on a bizonal, bicommunal 
federation in a State with single sovereignty and 
international personality, and that this entity should 
embrace constitutional democratic norms and Amer-
ican principles, the European Union (EU) acquis 
Communautaire and EU Founding Treaty, United 
Nations resolutions on Cyprus, and pertinent deci-
sions of the European Court of Human Rights and 
other European courts; 
(4) calls on Turkey to cease and desist from its 
illegal interference in the Cyprus Exclusive Eco-
nomic Zone; 
(5) calls on the Turkish Government to provide 
avenues for American citizens to seek financial rem-
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•HRES 263 IH 
edies or restitution for their property losses in the 
Turkish-occupied territory of Cyprus; 
(6) demands Turkey’s cooperation in helping 
recover the four American citizens who are still 
missing as a result of the 1974 invasion of Cyprus; 
(7) calls on Turkey to remove its over 200,000 
illegal settlers from Turkish-occupied Cyprus and as-
sist in repatriating Greek-Cypriot refugees to their 
ancestral homes; and 
(8) encourages President Biden to make the 
resolution of the Cyprus problem a top foreign policy 
priority for his Administration, a position that Presi-
dent Biden has held for decades. 
Æ 
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