•HRES 1631 EH 
Whereas the very future and existence of historic Greek Cyp-
riot, Maronite, and Armenian communities are now in 
grave danger of extinction; 
Whereas the Abbot of the Monastery of the Apostle Barnabas 
is routinely denied permission to hold services or reside 
in the monastery of the founder of the Church of Cyprus 
and the Bishop of Karpass has been refused permission 
to perform the Easter Service for the few enclaved people 
in his occupied diocese; 
Whereas there are only two priests serving the religious needs 
of the enclaved in the Karpas peninsula, Armenians are 
not allowed access to any of their religious sites or in-
come generating property, and Maronites are unable to 
celebrate the mass daily in many churches; 
Whereas in the past Muslim Alevis were forced out of their 
place of prayer and until recently were denied the right 
to build a new place of worship; 
Whereas under the Turkish occupation of northern Cyprus, 
religious sites have been systematically destroyed and a 
large number of religious and archaeological objects ille-
gally looted, exported, and subsequently sold or traded in 
international art markets, including an estimated 16,000 
icons, mosaics, and mural decorations stripped from most 
of the churches, and 60,000 archaeological items dating 
from the 6th to 20th centuries; 
Whereas at a hearing held on July 21, 2009, entitled ‘‘Cy-
prus’ Religious Cultural Heritage in Peril’’ by the U.S. 
Helsinki Commission, Michael Jansen provided testimony 
detailing first-hand accounts of Turkish soldiers throwing 
icons from looted churches onto burning pyres during the 
Turkish invasion and provided testimonies of how church-
•HRES 1631 EH 
es were left open to both looters and vandals with noth-
ing done to secure the religious sites by the Turkish 
forces occupying northern Cyprus; 
Whereas Dr. Charalampos G. Chotzakakoglou also provided 
testimony to the U.S. Helsinki Commission that around 
500 churches, monasteries, cemeteries, and other reli-
gious sites have been desecrated, pillaged, looted, and de-
stroyed, including one Jewish cemetery; 
Whereas 80 Christian churches have been converted into 
mosques, 28 are being used by the Turkish army as 
stores and barracks, 6 have been turned into museums, 
and many others are used for other nonreligious purposes 
such as coffee shops, hotels, public baths, nightclubs, sta-
bles, cultural centers, theaters, barns, workshops, and 
one is even used as a mortuary; 
Whereas expert reports indicate that since 2004 several 
churches have been leveled, such as St. Catherine Church 
in Gerani which was bulldozed in mid-2008, the northern 
wall of the Chapel of St. Euphemianos in Lysi which was 
destroyed by looters as they removed all metal objects 
within the wall, the Church of the Holy Virgin in the site 
of Trachonas was used as a dancing school until the 
Turkish occupiers built a road that destroyed part of it 
in March 2010, the Church of the Templars was con-
verted into a night club, and the Church of Panagia 
Trapeza in Acheritou village was used as a sheep stall be-
fore it was recently destroyed by looters removing metal 
objects from medieval graves within the church; 
Whereas the Republic of Cyprus discovered iron-inscribed 
crosses stolen from Greek cemeteries in the north in 
trucks owned by a Turkish-Cypriot firm that intended to 
send them to India to be recycled;
•HRES 1631 EH 
Whereas United States art dealer Peggy Goldberg was found 
culpable for illegally marketing 6th century mosaics from 
the Panagia Kanakaria church because the judge found 
that a ‘‘thief obtains no title or right of possession of sto-
len items’’ and therefore ‘‘a thief cannot pass any right 
of ownership * * * to subsequent purchasers.’’; 
Whereas the extent of the illicit trade of religious artifacts 
from the churches in the Turkish occupied areas of 
northern Cyprus by Turkish black market dealer Aydin 
Dikmen was exposed following a search of his property 
by the Bavarian central department of crime which con-
fiscated Byzantine mosaics, frescoes, and icons valued at 
over 30 million; 
Whereas a report prepared by the Law Library of Congress 
on the ‘‘Destruction of Cultural Property in the Northern 
Part of Cyprus and Violations of International Law’’ for 
the U.S. Helsinki Commission details what obligations 
the Government of Turkey has as the occupying power in 
northern Cyprus for the destruction of religious and cul-
tural property there under international law; 
Whereas the Hague Convention of 1954 for the Protection of 
Cultural Property During Armed Conflict, of which Tur-
key is a party, states in article 4(3) that the occupying 
power undertakes to ‘‘Prohibit, prevent and, if necessary, 
put a stop to any form of theft, pillage or misappropria-
tion of any acts of vandalism directed against cultural 
property’’; 
Whereas according to the 1970 United Nations Educational, 
Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Conven-
tion on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Il-
licit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership which 
has been ratified by Cyprus and Turkey, parties are re-
•HRES 1631 EH 
quired to take steps to prevent illicit traffic through the 
adoption of legal and administrative measures and the 
adoption of an export certificate for any cultural object 
that is exported, and ‘‘illicit’’ refers to any export or 
transfer of ownership of cultural property under compul-
sion that arises from the occupation of a country by a 
foreign power; 
Whereas according to the European Court of Human Rights 
in its judgment in the case of Cyprus v. Turkey of May 
10, 2001, Turkey was responsible for continuing human 
rights abuses under the European Convention on Human 
Rights throughout its 27-year military occupation of 
northern Cyprus, including restricting freedom of move-
ment for Greek Cypriots and limiting access to their 
places of worship and participation in other aspects of re-
ligious life; 
Whereas the European Court further ruled that Turkey’s re-
sponsibility covers the acts of soldiers and subordinate 
local administrators because the occupying Turkish forces 
have effective control of the northern part of the Republic 
of Cyprus; 
Whereas in March 2008, President Christofias and former 
Turkish Cypriot leader Talat agreed to the setting up of 
a ‘‘Technical Committee on Cultural Heritage’’ with a 
mandate to engage in ‘‘serious work’’ to protect the var-
ied cultural heritage of the entire island; 
Whereas this Committee was developing a list of all cultural 
heritage sites on the island to create an educational inter-
active program for the island’s youth to understand the 
shared heritage and to undertake a joint effort to restore 
the Archangel Michael Church and the Arnvut Mosque;
•HRES 1631 EH 
Whereas while significant work was done on the Arnvut 
Mosque, the Archangel Michael Church remains in dis-
repair; and 
Whereas, on July 16, 2002, and again in 2007, the United 
States and the Government of the Republic of Cyprus 
signed a Memorandum of Understanding to impose im-
port restrictions on categories of Pre-Classical and Clas-
sical archaeological objects, as well as Byzantine period 
ecclesiastical and ritual ethnological materials, from Cy-
prus: Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 
(1) expresses appreciation for the efforts of those 
countries that have restored religious property wrongly 
confiscated during the Turkish occupation of northern 
Cyprus; 
(2) welcomes the efforts of many countries to ad-
dress the complex and difficult question of the status of 
illegally confiscated religious art and artifacts, and urges 
those countries to continue to ensure that these items 
are restored to the Republic of Cyprus in a timely, just 
manner; 
(3) welcomes the initiatives and commitment of the 
Republic of Cyprus to work to restore and maintain reli-
gious heritage sites; 
(4) urges the Government of Turkey to— 
(A) immediately implement the United Nations 
Security Council Resolutions relevant to Cyprus as
•HRES 1631 EH 
actions called for in this resolution with the Government 
of 
Turkey, 
OSCE, 
the 
United 
Nations 
Special 
Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief, and other 
international bodies or foreign governments; 
(8) urges OSCE to ensure that member states do 
not receive stolen Cypriot art and antiquities; and 
(9) urges OSCE to press the Government of Turkey 
to abide by its international commitments by calling on 
it to work to retrieve and restore all lost artifacts, to im-
mediately halt destruction on religious sites, illegal ar-
chaeological excavations, and traffic in icons and antiq-
uities, to allow for the proper preservation and recon-
struction of destroyed or altered religious sites, and to 
immediately cease all restrictions on freedom of religion 
for the enclaved Cypriots. 
Attest: 
Clerk.