U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee adopted the Turkey Christian Churches Accountability Act with amendment by voice vote on Thursday.

The resolution requires the Secretary of State to provide an annual report to Congress regarding United States Government efforts to survey and secure the return, protection, and restoration of stolen, confiscated, or otherwise unreturned Christian properties in the Republic of Turkey and in those areas currently occupied by the Turkish military in northern Cyprus.

During the hearings at the committee, committee chairman Ed Royce noted that situation with Christian sites in Turkey is deteriorating, and the churches are disappearing despite optimistic statements by the Turkish leadership. He stressed that two Byzantine churches have been converted into mosques.

For his part, Congressman Eliot Engel said many churches, including those in Cyprus, were confiscated.