The European Parliament today adopted a resolution calling for accountability and survivor support for the victims of sexual violence during the 1974 Turkish invasion of Cyprus.
In total, 575 MEP’s voted in favour 33 against and 43 abstained.
The European Parliament’s Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality had adopted the resolution last month, calling for accountability, meaningful support for survivors, and the full participation of women in peace processes.
The resolution condemns the continued Turkish occupation of Cyprus and the crimes committed by Turkish forces, highlighting the long-lasting consequences for Cypriot women and girls, including conflict-related sexual violence, forced displacement, family separation, psychological trauma, social stigma, and long-term social and economic harm. It also condemns the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war, describing it as a serious violation of the Geneva Conventions, and calls for recognition of these crimes, accountability, redress for victims, and comprehensive support for survivors and their families.
“The Republic of Cyprus and the European Union have a duty to safeguard the rights, dignity and historical memory of all the women of Cyprus,” said GUE/NGL MEP Giorgos Georgiou.
In a recent statement, EPP MEP Loucas Fourlas also said: “This is a victory for the women themselves, who found the strength to speak out. At the same time, it sends a powerful message that war crimes and sexual violence are not subject to a statute of limitations, are not forgotten, and cannot be covered up.”
In the same statement, Fourlas added that “the resolution constitutes a historic recognition of the crimes committed against the women of Cyprus, while at the same time setting an important precedent for addressing other cases of gender-based and conflict-related sexual violence in armed conflicts around the world.”
According to EPP MEP Eleonora Meleti, the Parliament’s rapporteur on the resolution, the number of victims of sexual violence during the 1974 Turkish invasion is estimated at 1,500 people, including men, women and children.
One of the few public testimonies by a woman who was raped during the 1974 Turkish invasion was published by the Cyprus News Agency (CNA) in 2016, breaking decades of silence surrounding the issue. According to CNA and Deutsche Welle (DW), testimonies describe systematic rapes of women by Turkish soldiers in the occupied village of Vouni, as well as in detention camps established in the villages of Vitsada, Marathovounos and Gypsou.
According to Chrysanthos Chrysanthou’s book The Other War of the Doctors in 1974, hundreds of women who became pregnant as a result of rape underwent abortions following the adoption of special legislation. The procedures were carried out in public and private hospitals, as well as in hospitals within the British Sovereign Base Areas. The book also notes that, due to the exceptional circumstances, even the Church of Cyprus accepted an amendment to the legislation that made these abortions lawful.
In July 1976, the European Commission of Human Rights the former investigative body of the European Court of Human Rights adopted its official report on the matter. It concluded that the rapes and other acts of violence committed by Turkish soldiers were not isolated incidents but constituted inhuman treatment and a violation of the European Convention on Human Rights.
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