S. Con. Res 47, introduced by Senator Olympia Snowe, promotes Hellenic nationalism on the island of Cyprus. It denies the native Turkish Cypriots equality, cultural rights, and economic rights. It denies the existence of Turkish Cypriots and Muslims whose right it is to live in peace and to prosper individually and as a community on the island of Cyprus.
S. Con. Res 47 echoes the racist rallies of Greek Cypriot Minister Yorgadjis, who in 1962 called for the extermination of the Turkish Cypriots: "There is no place on this island for anyone who is not Greek, who does not think Greek, and who does not constantly feel Greek!"
Please click the link to join the Pax Turcica Capwiz Action to contact your Senator and arrest S. Con. Res. 47. Please click here to read the ATAA Northern Cyprus Fact Finding Mission Report.
The joint letter of Turkish American grasroot organizations is as follows;
Dear Senator:
As Presidents of America’s leading Turkish and Turkic-American grassroots organizations, including the Assembly of Turkish American Associations (ATAA), Federation of Turkish American Associations (FTAA), Turkish American Community Centers (TACC). Azerbaijani-American Council (AAC) and Azerbaijan Society of America (ASA), which represent over 500,000 Turkish Americans and 300,000 Turkic Americans nationwide, we urge you not to support Senate Concurrent Resolution 47.
S. Con. Res. 47 was introduced by Greek American Senator Olympia Snowe and is the Senate’s counterpart to House Resolution 676 that was introduced by Greek American Congressman Gus Bilirakis. S. Con. Res. 47, like its House counterpart, is inspired and motivated solely by anti-Turkish ethnic politics.
S. Con. Res. 47 seeks to deny the existence of Turkish Cypriots and Muslims whose right it is to live in peace and to prosper individually and as a community on the island of Cyprus. This includes the Turkish Cypriots’ right to exploit natural resources in their own homeland. This includes the Turkish Cypriots’ right to be recognized as Cypriots of Turkish heritage, and not to be stigmatized as foreign colonists from over five centuries ago or to be clinically classified as “Turcophone Hellenic Muslims”. This includes the Turkish Cypriot community’s right to be equal with the Greek Cypriot community. This includes the Turkish Cypriot community’s right to govern itself, and not be governed by the Greek Cypriot community.
1 - S. Con. Res. 47 Ignores the London-Zurich Accords that Established Cyprus
Established by the 1959-1960 London-Zurich Accords, Cyprus was a federation based on equal partnership between the Turkish Cypriot and Greek Cypriot communities. The two peoples signed these treaties, along with three other contracting parties, Turkey, Greece and the United Kingdom. The two peoples agreed to share power on an equal basis and to exercise their own self-determination. The sovereignty of Cyprus was based on the equal participation of its peoples in all branches of government. The three contracting state parties agreed to guarantee this arrangement.
2 - S. Con. Res. 47 Ignores the UN Reunification Plan that Greek Cypriots Rejected
In 2004, the Turkish Cypriots overwhelming supported a UN-backed plan to unify the island under a bi-communal, bi-zonal federal system, while the Greek Cypriots overwhelmingly rejected the UN Plan. Indeed, S.Con.Res.47 is malicious in its attack against the Republic of Turkey and Turkish Cypriots given that UN Plan that the Greek Cypriots rejected, included the withdrawal of Turkish peacekeeping forces.
3 - S. Con. Res. 47 Ignores the Struggle of the Turkish Cypriots
Unfortunately, in 1963 the Hellenic nationalists on the island of Cyprus commenced an ethnic cleansing campaign against the Turkish Cypriots. Greece supported this effort, sending over 22,000 troops. The Greek Cypriot Ministry of the Interior rallied Greek Cypriots to kill Turks and Muslims: "There is no place on Cyprus for anyone who does not speak, think and constantly feel Greek.”
Eventually, even Greek Cypriot Archbishop Makarios declared that the island had been "invaded, not by Turkey, but by Greece." Thousands of Turkish Cypriots were massacred and over 100,000 Turkish Cypriots were forcefully displaced, while their schools, mosques, and homes were destroyed or expropriated by the Greek and Greek Cypriot authorities. The UN Mission who had been posted on the island since the late 1964, simply watched as the massacres, rapes, destruction of villages, and expropriations of properties occurred. In August 1974, Greek Cypriots assassinated US Ambassador Rodger Davies who had urged effective humanitarian intervention.
Massacred and persecuted by the Hellenic community and the victim of indifference in the West, in 1983 the Turkish Cypriots proclaimed the northern third of the island as the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC).
Energy exploration off the coast of Northern Cyprus is a right of its citizens. Such developments open economic opportunities and create needed jobs for Turkish Cypriots, who were denied the right to exist from 1963-1974, and the right to integrate with the global community in 2004. Today, Northern Cyprus supplies electricity to Southern Cyprus. Today, Northern Cyprus' impressive higher education, medical and tourism industries are demonstrating that Turkish Cypriots utilize their rights responsibly, despite the type of ethnic hatred that S.Con.Res.47 forges.
4 - S. Con. Res. 47 Mischaracterizes the 1974 Turkish Cyprus Peace Intervention
On July 20, 1974, after consultation with the United Kingdom, Turkey launched the Cyprus Peace Operation that restored order and ended the humanitarian crisis. The British House of Lords declared that under similar circumstances Britain had the right to intervene as well on the island under the London-Zurich Accords -- that whatever right Britain had, naturally Turkey did as well.
American law schools teach the Turkish Cyprus Peace Operation as one of two modern military interventions that resulted in greater human rights and which brought democracy, the other being the British intervention against the Argentine dictatorship in the Falkland War.
5 - S. Con. Res. 47 Demonstrates Double Standards against Turkic People
Congress allocates direct aid to Armenians in the Karabakh province of Azerbaijan, despite the fact that the Armenian military presence since 1991 in western Azerbaijan is not based on treaty or law, and despite the ethnic cleansing of thousands and one million refugees the Armenian occupation has caused, and despite the fact that the United States does not recognize Karabakh. In contrast, Turkish Cypriots, who between 1963-1974 were the victims of massacres, and who in 2004 voted for the reunification of the island, and who since 1983 have built a free, democratic society, are unjustly the target of this ill-advised resolution which is nothing more than the same Hellenic nationalism that caused this problem between 1963-1974.
We urge you to oppose S. Con. Res. 47 and support U.S. policy to end the isolation of Turkish Cypriots.
The Presidents of America's leading Turkish and Turkic-American grassroots organizations, including the Assembly of Turkish American Associations (ATAA), Federation of Turkish American Associations (FTAA), Turkish American Community Centers and Mosques (TACC), Azerbaijani-American Council (AAC), and Azerbaijan Society of America (ASA), which represent over 500,000 Turkish Americans and 300,000 Turkic-Americans nationwide, submitted to each Senator a 
