AHI Lauds Foreign Affairs Chairman’s Commentary Calling for Turkey to Withdraw Its Troops from Cyprus

WASHINGTON, DC — The American Hellenic Institute (AHI) lauds a commentary titled “Time for Turkey to leave Cyprus in peace” by U.S. Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), chairman, House Committee on Foreign Affairs, which was published in The Washington Times on June 15, 2012.

“We believe it is important to share commentaries such as Chairman Ros-Lehtinen’s with the community because they accurately pinpoint how Turkey’s policies violate the rule of law in Cyprus and are a threat to peace in the region,” said AHI President Nick Larigakis. “We applaud her public position on the Cyprus issue, which is one that she has stated repeatedly at AHI events. We encourage the community to share her commentary widely with their legislators, colleagues, friends, and family.”

Chairman Ros-Lehtinen writes: “By its occupation, Turkey is ‘guaranteeing’ nothing but a creeping annexation. It is time for Turkey to withdraw its military troops, end all support for illegal immigration to Cyprus and let the true inhabitants of the island determine their own future. Only then will the long-suffering Cypriot people finally enjoy the peace and security they have been trying so desperately to achieve for decades.”

In her commentary, the congresswoman correctly cites examples of the consequences of Ankara’s detrimental policies toward Cyprus and its people, added Larigakis.

In February, Chairman Ros-Lehtinen was the guest speaker at an AHI “Town Hall Screening” of the one-hour documentary “Cyprus Still Divided: A U.S. Foreign Policy Failure” where she insisted that the United States “…unequivocally state that Turkey must immediately and permanently withdraw its occupation force from Cyprus.”

To read her commentary in The Washington Times, please click here.

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.