The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) reports that the U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs, under the leadership of Chairman Ed Royce (R-CA), is set to consider H.R. 4347, the Turkey Christian Churches Accountability Act, on Wednesday, June 18th at 10 am Eastern Time.

Introduced this March of this year by Chairman Royce along with the panel’s Ranking Democrat Eliot Engel (D-NY), H.R. 4347 would require that the U.S. Department of State formally report to Congress on an annual basis about the status of Turkey’s return of stolen Christian churches and properties in Turkey and occupied Cyprus.

ANCA Chairman thanked Chairman Royce and Ranking Member Engel for advancing this religious freedom legislation and said the ANCA was pleased to join with all believers in religious freedom, including our Cypriot, Greek, Pontian and Syriac brothers and sisters in supporting this measure.

Prior to consideration of H.R. 4347, the Committee will be holding a hearing on “Protecting Christian Heritage in Turkey,” which will include testimony from Dr. Elizabeth H. Prodromou, Visiting Associate Professor of Conflict Resolution at the Tufts University Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy; and Mr. Khatchig Mouradian, Coordinator of Armenian Genocide Program at the Rutgers University Center for Genocide and Human Rights.

Both the hearing and consideration of H.R. 4347 will be webcast LIVE on the House Foreign Affairs Committee website at  http://foreignaffairs.house.gov/hearing/hearing-protecting-christian-heritage-turkey.

In a statement he issued upon the introduction of this religious freedom measure, Chairman Royce outlined the need for passage of H.R.4347:  “This legislation holds Turkey accountable for its international obligations to protect and promote human rights, and it calls attention to Turkish leaders’ broken promises to return church properties to their rightful owners. Over decades, Christian church properties, particularly those belonging to the Armenian, Syriac, and Greek Orthodox communities have been either violently overtaken or illegally confiscated by Turkish authorities under various excuses.

The eradication of Armenian cultural heritage in Western Armenia continues in Turkey and is one of the loopholes of the policy of sultans, the Young Turks and the Kemal-Republican regimes to “solve” the Armenian Question. In spite of the pompous statements made by Turkish authorities to “care” for the Armenian monuments, Ankara hasn’t stopped eradicating or Turkifying the Armenian monuments.

There is also Christian heritage in northern Cyprus occupied by the Turks with planes, missiles, tanks and armored carriers,” said Royce, adding that many weapons have also been transferred to Nakhichevan in the past years.

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