International Coordinating Committee Justice for Cyprus (PSEKA) President Philip Christopher has called on the Biden administration to put an end to the 50-year occupation of Cyprus.
In a message marking 50 years since the invasion, Christopher said that “injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere and 50 years of occupation is enough.”
Turkey, “NATO’s rogue state must be held accountable,” he added.
“Fifty years ago on July 20, 1974, the Greek-American community watched in disbelief as American made arms paid for by our taxes, were utilised by Turkey to invade, kill and rape thousands of Greek Cypriots and conduct ethnic cleansing by expelling 200,000 people from their ancestral homes and to create a puppet state in the occupied 37 per cent of the island,” Christopher said.
He added that during these past 50 years, the Greek-American community has spared neither time, effort or money in mounting collective action in the United States Congress and achieving an embargo on Turkey that was subsequently lifted with the promise that Turkey will abide by UN Resolutions and withdraw its 40,000 occupation troops from Cyprus.
According to Christopher, the Greek-American community of two million, first in education and second in income, has contributed in immeasurable ways to America.
“Unfortunately, we failed to convince any administration to bring pressure to bear on Turkey. We are often told by the State Department and our elected officials that in foreign policy, there are no allies or enemies, but simply protection of national interests. For 50 years, our country, the United States of America, the greatest democracy in the world, has compromised its democratic values for the sake of interests and expediency,” he said.
