To restrict United States assistance of any kind to Turkey until Turkey uses its influence with the Turkish Cypriot leadership to achieve a settlement on Cyprus based on United Nations Security Council resolutions.

August 1, 2001

Mr. PAYNE introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on International Relations

To restrict United States assistance of any kind to Turkey until Turkey uses its influence with the Turkish Cypriot leadership to achieve a settlement on Cyprus based on United Nations Security Council resolutions.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. FINDINGS.

Congress finds the following:

(1) In 1974 Turkey illegally invaded Cyprus and subsequently occupied over a third of the island.

(2) 2001 marks twenty-seven years of continued illegal Turkish military occupation of Cyprus despite universal international condemnation.

(3) The Turkish military has obstructed efforts to reach a just and lasting resolution of the division of the island and the massive uprooting and ethnic cleansing of Greek Cypriots caused by the 1974 Turkish invasion.

(4) Turkey, in a May 10, 2001 judgment of the European Court of Human Rights, was found responsible for massive violations of human rights as a result of the continuing occupation by Turkey of the northern part of Cyprus.

(5) Turkey's illegal invasion in 1974 violated the United Nations Charter, the NATO Treaty, and customary international law.

(6) Talks have been held under United Nations auspices to reach a settlement based on `a state of Cyprus with a single sovereignty and international personality and a single citizenship in a bizonal, bicommunal federation' and that such a settlement has been unanimously adopted by the international community but is rejected by Turkey and the Turkish Cypriot leader, Mr. Rauf Denktash.

(7) Successive rounds of proximity talks supported by the G-8, the United Nations Security Council and the European Union under United Nations auspices have made little progress, and efforts to hold substantive discussions in 2001 are being thwarted by new unproductive and unacceptable `recognition' demands by Mr. Denktash, supported by Turkey.

(8) The Cyprus Government has actively engaged in the search for a settlement, as evidenced by the constructive participation by Cyprus in United Nations-sponsored proximity talks.

(9) Turkey has had several financial crises over the past decades, including two within the past six months.

(10) At present, Turkey contributes approximately $350,000,000 annually in direct economic support to the illegal regime in the occupied area of Cyprus and several hundred million dollars for support of its occupation troops and settlers.

(11) The continuing unresolved Cyprus issue prevents normal relations between NATO allies, Greece and Turkey.

(12) Tension between Greece and Turkey contributes to instability in Southeast Europe and the Eastern Mediterranean.

(13) The United States has an important stake in fostering good relations between two NATO allies, Greece and Turkey.

SEC. 2. RESTRICTION ON ASSISTANCE.

United States assistance of any kind shall not be provided to Turkey until Turkey uses its influence with the Turkish Cypriot leadership to achieve a settlement on Cyprus that calls for the following:

(1) A resumption of the proximity talks within the agreed procedure and framework and based on good faith negotiations.

(2) A solution set forth in United Nations resolutions, based on `a state of Cyprus with a single sovereignty and international personality and a single citizenship in a bizonal, bicommunal federation' embodying the fundamental constitutional and democratic principles common in Western democracies, compatible with the Human Rights Convention and Protocols, the European Acquis Communautaire and international law.

(3) The immediate demilitarization of Cyprus.

END