American Hellenic Institute

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AHI Welcomes European Parliament’s Written Declaration on the Return of the Sealed-off Section of Famagusta to its Lawful Inhabitants
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Demetra Atsaloglou
February 27, 2012—No. 13 (202) 785-8430

AHI Welcomes European Parliament’s Written Declaration on the Return of the Sealed-off Section of Famagusta to its Lawful Inhabitants

WASHINGTON, DC — The American Hellenic Institute (AHI) welcomes a written declaration issued by the European Parliament calling on the government of Turkey to act according to UN Security Council Resolutions and previous European Parliament Legislative Committee reports and return the Famagusta sealed-off section to its lawful inhabitants.

“We welcome the written declaration issued by the European Parliament,” said AHI President Nick Larigakis. “It is unacceptable that Famagusta remains a ghost town. It’s time for it to be returned to its lawful inhabitants by Turkey.”

The written declaration begins with “whereas the city of Famagusta in the Republic of Cyprus was captured by the invading Turkish forces in August 1974,” which is language strongly supported by AHI. “Oftentimes, the word ‘invasion’ tends to get dropped from the lexicon of those who discuss the Cyprus issue,” said Larigakis. “We cannot forget we are talking about an invasion and occupation of a current member of the European Union in the Republic of Cyprus.”

It also contains language noting UN Security Council resolutions 550 (1984) and 789 (1992), which speak to the transfer of this area to the United Nations and the 1979 High Level Agreement between the Greek Cypriot and the Turkish Cypriot communities, which stated that priority should be given to the resettlement of Famagusta under the UN auspices.

The declaration ''calls on the Government of Turkey to act according to the aforementioned UNSC Resolutions and Report Recommendations and return the Famagusta sealed-off section to its lawful inhabitants, who must resettle under conditions of security and peace'' urging the EU institutions to coordinate their efforts with Parliament to promote Turkey’s cooperation.

The European Parliament intends to send the declaration to the European Commission, the European Council, the governments of the European Union's member-states, the UN Secretary General and the government of Turkey. In all, 390 members of the European Parliament signed it on February 2, 2012.

Please click here to view the written declaration.

 

The American Hellenic Institute is a non-profit Greek American public policy center that works to strengthen relations between the United States and Greece and Cyprus, and within the Greek American community.

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For additional information, please contact Demetra Atsaloglou at (202) 785-8430 or at pr@ahiworld.org. For general information about the activities of AHI, please see our website at https://www.ahiworld.org.