AHI Submits Letter to the Washington Times to Set the Record Straight on CyprusWASHINGTON, DC — The American Hellenic Institute (AHI) released a letter to the editor it submitted to the Washington Times in response to an April 8, 2014 article titled “Negotiator says U.S. was wrong to back U.N. plan for Cyprus in 2004,” by Ashish Kumar Sen. In his letter, AHI President Nick Larigakis expresses dismay that the journalist inaccurately reported Mr. Ozdil Nami as the “the foreign minister of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.” “Such inaccuracies only embolden the “TRNC’s” separatist policy and hamper negotiations,” Larigakis wrote. Larigakis also sets the record straight about Turkey’s two-phase invasion of the Republic of Cyprus and the Turkish Cypriot leadership’s declared establishment of the “Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus” as an illegal and invalid act by the international community. “This declaration, which the international community viewed as an attempt to dismember Cyprus, was condemned as illegal and invalid by several UN Security Council resolutions that called upon all states to refrain from recognizing the ‘TRNC’ and from assisting or facilitating it in any way,” he wrote. “Today, only Turkey recognizes the secessionist entity.” To read the Washington Times article, please click here. President Larigakis’ letter to the editor is found below. The American Hellenic Institute is a non-profit Greek American public policy center and think tank that works to strengthen relations between the United States and Greece and Cyprus, and within the Greek American community. ### For additional information, please contact Georgea Polizos 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 and follow us on Twitter @TheAHIinDC
April 11, 2014 Letters to the Editor I appreciated your coverage of the resumption of settlement talks to reunify the island of Cyprus (“Negotiator says U.S. was wrong to back U.N. plan for Cyprus in 2004,” Apr. 8). However, I was dismayed by the journalist’s inaccurate reporting that referenced Mr. Nami as the “the foreign minister of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.” Such inaccuracies only embolden the “TRNC’s” separatist policy and hamper negotiations. Turkey’s 1974 invasion of the Republic of Cyprus occurred in two phases. The first, July 20, was in violation of the U.S. Foreign Assistance Act, the UN Charter, the NATO Treaty, and customary international law. On August 14, three weeks after the legitimate government of Cyprus was restored, Turkey launched its second phase, grabbing another 33 percent of the island to expand its occupation to nearly 40 percent of Cyprus’s sovereign territory, which it continues to illegally occupy today. In 1983, the Turkish Cypriot leadership unilaterally declared the establishment of the “Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.” This declaration, which the international community viewed as an attempt to dismember Cyprus, was condemned as illegal and invalid by several UN Security Council resolutions that called upon all states to refrain from recognizing the “TRNC” and from assisting or facilitating it in any way. Today, only Turkey recognizes the secessionist entity.
Sincerely, Nick Larigakis |
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AHI Submits Letter to the Washington Times to Set the Record Straight on Cyprus
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