Cyprus

Floor Speech

Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I rise today to mark a troubling anniversary--that of the 40th year of the division of the island of Cyprus.

U.N. peacekeepers first came to Cyprus in 1964 due to intercommunal fighting.

Since 1974, Cyprus has been divided into the government-controlled two-thirds of the island and the remaining one-third of the island which is administered by Turkish Cypriots and occupied by Turkish military forces. The Republic of Cyprus, which joined the European Union in 2004, continues to be the only internationally recognized government on the island.

Tragically, Cyprus has been divided now for four decades, with a U.N. buffer zone separating the entire island--the so-called green line. Violence today is rare, but the long-term impacts of the separation are stark--displaced people, memories of family members killed in earlier violence, and lost property rights. Quite simply, a people who share a common island have been unnecessarily divided for far too long.

Over the last decade there have been signs of hope that the island would be reunified and the Turkish occupation brought to an end. In 2009, for example, I visited Cyprus and met with then Cypriot President Demetris Christofias and Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat. Christofias and Talat, at considerable political risk, had undertaken negotiations that showed real promise--talks that I and the international community hoped would succeed. Unfortunately, they did not, and several years have passed without a resolution.

Meanwhile, the situation in Cyprus has left an island and a region divided. People have died. Families have been separated. An entire coastal area, Varosha, remains an occupied ghost town. There has been a great deal of pain inflicted on the people of this island.

While I am saddened by this 40th anniversary, I am also encouraged that a new group of leaders in Cyprus has undertaken talks that show some promise. After Vice President Joe Biden visited Cyprus in May, Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades and Turkish Cypriot leader Dervis Eroglu agreed to meet at least twice a month and undertake confidence building measures aimed at easing the many years of mistrust between the two sides.

I hope the leaders of Turkey will also step forward and bring an end to the military occupation of a third of the island. Such military seizure of territory has no place in today's modern Europe.

While this is a Cypriot-led process and negotiation, I wish to express my strong hope and support for the current negotiations to bring peaceful and enduring settlement to the island.

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