•HRES 676 IH 
Whereas Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton stated 
that the Republic of Cyprus is ‘‘strategically important’’; 
Whereas Cyprus is a close friend and partner of the United 
States in the volatile eastern Mediterranean region; 
Whereas Cyprus and the United States share basic values of 
democracy and market-based economies; 
Whereas United Nations Security Council Resolution 939 of 
July 29, 1994, reaffirms that a solution to the Cypriot 
issue must be based on a State of Cyprus with a single 
sovereignty and international personality, and a single 
citizenship, with its independence and territorial integrity 
safeguarded, and comprising two politically equal commu-
nities as described in the relevant Security Council reso-
lutions, in a bicommunal and bizonal federation, and that 
such a settlement must exclude union in whole or in part 
with any other country or any form of partition or seces-
sion; 
Whereas the Republic of Turkey illegally occupies the north-
ern area of Cyprus with an armed force of 43,000 Turk-
ish troops; 
Whereas Article 49 of the 4th Geneva Convention of 1949 
states, ‘‘the Occupying Power shall not deport or transfer 
parts of its own civilian population into the territory it 
occupies’’; 
Whereas in 1954, Turkey ratified the 4th Geneva Convention 
of 1949; 
Whereas Turkey is attempting to colonize the part of Cyprus 
it occupies by sending hundreds of thousands of its citi-
zens to live permanently on Cyprus; 
Whereas the demographic makeup of the indigenous popu-
lation of the Republic of Cyprus is approximately 
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•HRES 676 IH 
675,000 Greek-Cypriots, 90,000 Turkish-Cypriots, and 
8,000 others; 
Whereas this demographic makeup is being dramatically and 
illegally altered by the influx of non-Cypriot colonists sent 
from Turkey; 
Whereas the number of Turkish colonists who have been 
transplanted to Cyprus is estimated to be at least 
200,000 and could be as high as 500,000 based on state-
ments of Turkish-Cypriot opposition leaders, trade union-
ists, and journalists; 
Whereas the occupation regime rejected the Council of Eu-
rope’s recommendation to have an island-wide census car-
ried out by a competent international organization by 
blocking such a census in the occupied area; 
Whereas Turkey’s colonization plan was publicly exposed 
when Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan told 
Turkish-Cypriots protesting against the transfer of Turk-
ish colonists in the summer of 2011, ‘‘If you don’t want 
us to send people, you need to have more babies.’’; 
Whereas Turkey’s attempt to portray its illegal occupation 
and colonization practices as protecting Turkish-Cypriots 
from Greek-Cypriots has been brought into serious ques-
tion by recent history including the 17,000,000 intercom-
munal visits without violence since 2003; 
Whereas Greek-Cypriots and Turkish-Cypriots have a history 
of peaceful coexistence for nearly all of their 400 years 
together; 
Whereas according to Turkish-Cypriot opposition leaders, 
nearly half of all Turkish-Cypriots have left the country 
for Great Britain, the United States, or Australia since 
Turkey’s colonization of Cyprus began to the point that 
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•HRES 676 IH 
today less than 90,000 Turkish-Cypriots live in the occu-
pied area; 
Whereas according to the leader of the Turkish-Cypriot 
‘‘Communal Democracy Party’’, Turkish-Cypriots are ‘‘in 
danger of extinction both in terms of the population and 
culturally’’; 
Whereas in recent years, the Republic of Cyprus along with 
other countries in the eastern Mediterranean, including 
Israel, have discovered vast reserves of natural gas within 
their territorial waters and Exclusive Economic Zones 
(EEZ); 
Whereas Cyprus and Israel recently signed an agreement de-
fining the boundaries of their respective EEZ’s, and on 
that basis are proceeding with the exploration of the 
area’s natural gas reserves; 
Whereas a United States company is currently developing hy-
drocarbon deposits in the offshore EEZ’s of Cyprus and 
Israel; 
Whereas these developments are potentially significant for the 
energy security of Europe; 
Whereas the United States Government supports the sov-
ereign rights of Cyprus and Israel to explore hydrocarbon 
deposits in their respective EEZ’s; 
Whereas in a classic colonialist attempt to exploit the na-
tional wealth of Cyprus, Turkey is attempting to extend 
its illegal occupation and control of parts of Cyprus to in-
clude Cyprus’ EEZ so it can unjustly seize and exploit 
the energy resources which are rightfully the property of 
the Republic of Cyprus; 
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•HRES 676 IH 
Whereas Turkey’s drive to capture the energy resources of 
the Republic of Cyprus has been accompanied by a vari-
ety of provocative and bellicose actions including— 
(1) sending warships off of Cyprus’ southern coast 
to escort a Turkish research vessel looking for hydro-
carbon deposits; 
(2) Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan 
publicly warning that his country would ‘‘retaliate even 
more strongly’’ to any further mineral exploration by Cy-
prus around the island; 
(3) Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu 
warning of a ‘‘necessary response’’ if Cyprus went ahead 
with its energy development plans; 
(4) Turkey’s European Union Minister Egemen 
Bagis threatening that, ‘‘This is what we have a navy for. 
We have trained our marines for this. We have equipped 
the navy for this. All options are on the table. Anything 
can be done’’; 
(5) conducting air and naval military exercises south 
of Cyprus in the area of exploration; and 
(6) declaring invalid the agreement between Israel 
and Cyprus demarcating their EEZ’s; 
Whereas the highest levels of the United States Government 
privately urged Turkey to not follow through with its 
threats against Cyprus for exercising its sovereign right 
to explore its own natural resources; 
Whereas on April 26, 2012, Turkey began illegally drilling 
for oil and natural gas on the island of Cyprus, clearly 
within the Republic of Cyprus’ sovereign territory, and 
named a well ‘‘Turkish homeland’’, as the first in a 
‘‘drilling package’’ that also includes exploration through-
out Cypriot waters; 
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•HRES 676 IH 
Whereas Turkish efforts to colonize areas of Cyprus and ex-
ploit its natural resources have even led certain leading 
Turkish officials, such as European Union Minister 
Egemen Bagis, to call for ‘‘annexing northern Cyprus to 
Turkey’’, which would be in direct violation of the United 
Nations Charter and United Nations Security Council 
resolutions on Cyprus; and 
Whereas 40,000 Turkish-Cypriots protested against Turkish 
austerity measures during demonstrations last year, with 
hundreds shouting and holding signs reading, ‘‘Ankara, 
get your hand off our shores’’: Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 
(1) respects and accepts the sovereignty of the 
Republic of Cyprus as the only sovereign state on 
the island of Cyprus; 
(2) urges the Government of the Republic of 
Turkey to respect, accept, and formally recognize 
the sovereignty of the Republic of Cyprus over all of 
the territory of the island of Cyprus, end its illegal 
military occupation of Cyprus, and accept and fully 
implement all United Nations Security Council Reso-
lutions on Cyprus; 
(3) supports the Republic of Cyprus in its plans 
to explore and exploit energy reserves within its Ex-
clusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and praises Cyprus 
and Israel for working cooperatively to develop the 
energy holdings in the region; 
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