text: SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
  
      This Act may be cited as the ``Turkish Human Rights Act''.
  
  SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
  
      The Congress makes the following findings:
              (1)(A) The Department of State, in its 1996 ``Country 
          Reports on Human Rights Practices'', documented a systematic 
          and widespread pattern of human rights abuses by the Government 
          of Turkey.
              (B) According to the portion of the report relating to 
          Turkey, ``torture, excessive use of force, and other serious 
          human rights abuses by the security forces persisted throughout 
          1996.''.
              (2) Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, the United 
          Nations Committee Against Torture, the European Parliament, the 
          International Human Rights Law Group, the Lawyers Committee for 
          Human Rights, Physicians Without Frontiers, Freedom House, the 
          Humanitarian Law Project, the Association of the Bar of the 
          City of New York, the Turkish Human Rights Foundation, and 
          other human rights monitoring organizations have documented 
          extensive and continuing human rights abuses by the Government 
          of Turkey, including the widespread use of torture and 
          extrajudicial killings.
              (3) The actions of the Government of Turkey are in 
          violation of several international human rights agreements to 
          which Turkey is a party, including the United Nations Universal 
          Declaration of Human Rights, the Final Act of the Conference on 
          Security and Cooperation in Europe, the European Convention on 
          Human Rights, and the United Nations and European Conventions 
          Against Torture.
              (4) The Government of Turkey continues to deny the 
          legitimate civil and human rights of its 15,000,000 citizens of 
          Kurdish origin and has used military force to deny them an 
          identity, destroying more than 2,000 Kurdish villages and 
          uprooting more than 2,000,000 Kurds.
              (5) Turkey continues its illegal military occupation of 
          Cyprus and has obstructed efforts to reach a just and lasting 
          resolution to the division of Cyprus and the massive uprooting 
          of Greek Cypriots caused by the 1974 invasion by Turkey.
              (6) The Government of Turkey continues to blockade Armenia, 
          obstructing the delivery of United States and international 
          humanitarian relief supplies.
              (7) Turkey continues to place prohibitive restrictions on 
          the religious leadership of Christian communities within Turkey 
          and has failed to protect these communities adequately from 
          acts of violence and vandalism.
              (8)(A) The Congress, in the fiscal year 1997 appropriation 
          for foreign assistance, reduced assistance under chapter 4 of 
          part II of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2346 
          et seq.; relating to the economic support fund) to Turkey to 
          $22,000,000 because of Turkey's human rights record and its 
          hostile and antagonistic policies toward its neighbors.
              (B) The Government of Turkey has stated that it would 
          reject any United States assistance tied to its human rights 
          record.
  
  SEC. 3. RESTRICTIONS ON ASSISTANCE FOR THE GOVERNMENT OF TURKEY.
  
      (a) In General.--Assistance under chapter 4 of part II of the 
  Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2346 et seq.; relating to the 
  economic support fund) may not be provided for the Government of Turkey 
  for fiscal year 1998 unless the Secretary of State determines that 
  there has been significant progress in the following areas:
              (1) The Government of Turkey permits domestic and 
          international human rights monitoring organizations, including, 
          but not limited to, the Turkish Human Rights Foundation, the 
          Organization on Security and Cooperation in Europe, Amnesty 
          International, and Human Rights Watch, to monitor and report on 
          the human rights situation within its territory without fear of 
          reprisal or prosecution.
              (2) The Government of Turkey--
                      (A) has ceased all efforts to deny the recognition 
                  of the civil, cultural, and human rights of its Kurdish 
                  citizens;
                      (B) has ceased its military operations against 
                  Kurdish civilians; and
                      (C) has taken demonstrable steps toward a peaceful 
                  resolution of the Kurdish issue.
              (3) The Government of Turkey--
                      (A) has taken actions and instituted policies to 
                  demilitarize Cyprus and provide for the total 
                  withdrawal of Turkish military forces from Cyprus; and
                      (B) provides support for a settlement for the 
                  Republic of Cyprus based on a constitutional democracy 
                  with key United States principles of majority rule, the 
                  rule of law, the protection of minority and human 
                  rights, and the provision for and implementation of the 
                  3 basic freedoms, namely, freedom of movement, of 
                  property, and of settlement.
              (4) The Government of Turkey has ceased its blockade of 
          United States and international assistance to Armenia.
              (5) The Government of Turkey--
                      (A) has ceased its official restrictions on 
                  Christian churches and schools; and
                      (B) provides sufficient protection against--
                              (i) acts of violence and harassment 
                          directed at members of the clergy and religious 
                          minorities; and
                              (ii) acts of vandalism directed at church 
                          and school property.
      (b) Report.--The Secretary of State shall prepare and submit to the 
  Congress a report containing a documentation of the determinations made 
  by the Secretary under subsection (a).
target: Turkish Human Rights Act - Prohibits economic support fund (ESF) assistance to the Government of Turkey unless the Secretary of State determines that there has been significant progress by such Government in:  (1) permitting international human rights monitoring organizations to report on the human rights situation in Turkey; (2) ceasing to deny human rights to the Kurdish people; (3) taking action to demilitarize Cyprus and provide support for democracy there; (4) ceasing to blockade U.S. and international assistance to Armenia; and (5) ceasing its restrictions on religious freedom.
feat_title: Turkish Human Rights Act