Frank Pallone: “tonight I join my other colleague, the gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Maloney), on the House floor to remember a…”

“tonight I join my other colleague, the gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Maloney), on the House floor to remember a horrific act taken by Turkey against the citizens of Cyprus 27 years ago. On July 20, 1974, the Nation of Turkey violated international law when it brutally invaded the sovereign Republic of Cyprus. Following the Turkish invasion, 200,000 people were forcibly displaced from their homes and a large number of Cypriot people, who were captured during the invasion, including five American citizens, are still missing today. Earlier this year, the Turkish government was rebuked by the European Court of Human Rights when the court overwhelmingly found Turkey guilty of massive human rights violations over the last 27 years in a scathing 146-page decision. In the case of Cyprus versus Turkey, the court concluded Turkey had not done enough to investigate the whereabouts of Greek-Cypriot missing persons who disappeared during life-threatening situations after the occupation. The court also found Turkey guilty of refusing to allow the return of any Greek-Cypriot displaced persons to their homes in Northern Cyprus. Families continue to be separated by the 113-mile barbed wire fence that runs across the island. The court found this to be unacceptable.”