CHRIS VAN HOLLEN (D-MD)

JULY 22, 2008

• Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Madam Speaker, today we commemorate the 34th anniversary of the Turkish invasion of Cyprus. Today we also honor the memory and sacrifice of the nearly 200,000 Greek Cypriots who were forcibly removed from their homes, the 5,000 Cypriots who were killed during the invasion and the nearly 1,500 Greek Cypriots who remain missing to this day.

• Cyprus and the U.S. share a deep and abiding commitment to upholding the ideals of freedom, human rights, and the international rule of law. As that commitment is tested, we must draw on our common values and mutual democratic vision to promote stability, prosperity and peace.

• The United States has a moral and ethical obligation to stand with Cypriots to reunify their island and end the military occupation. We will continue to work together with the people of Cyprus toward their goal to reunify the island as a bicommunal and bi-zonal federation with a single sovereignty, single international personality and single citizenship with respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms for all Cypriots.

• By working together and building on our common values and interests, the people of Cyprus and the United States can achieve a united island that fulfills the promise of peace and democracy for which a generation of Cypriots have paid so dearly.