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PSEKA CYPRUS CONFERENCE GENERATES IMMEDIATE ACTION IN U.S. SENATE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE -- JUNE 9, 1997

Following his meeting with over 120 Greek-American leaders and Cypriots from around the world at the 8th Annual PSEKA Cyprus Conference, Senator Ted Kennedy (D-MA), circulated in the U.S. Senate and sent a letter to newly-appointed Presidential Emissary Richard Holbrooke. The letter, sent the day after the conclusion of the conference, was signed by 11 key foreign policy senators who were involved with conference participants.

This letter welcoming Holbrooke's appointment noted that, "this decision indicates the high priority the Administration is giving to the resolution of the Cyprus problem." These Democratic and Republican senators serving on the key foreign aid authorization and appropriations committees as well as the Armed Services Committee, told Holbrooke that, "Many of us in the Congress have long supported a peaceful and just resolution of the Cyprus issue. Your appointment, the imminence of the accession negotiations, and recent positive developments in the relationship between Greece and Turkey give us all hope that we stand on the threshold of genuine progress."

Those senators signing this letter included, from the Senate Foreign Relations Committee: ranking minority member Joe Biden (D-DE), and committee members Paul Sarbanes (D-MD) and Chuck Robb (D-VA); from the Senate Foreign Operations Appropriations Subcommittee: Senators Barbara Mikulski (D-MD), who has been working with Secretary of State Madeleine Albright on this issue, Arlen Specter (R-PA) and Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ); from the Senate Armed Services Committee: Kennedy (D-MA), Greek-American Olympia Snowe (R-ME), and Joseph Lieberman (D-CT); as well as senators Robert Torricelli (D-NJ) and Jack Reed (D-RI).

Conference participants also honored Senate Foreign Relations Committee ranking minority member Senator Biden (D-DE) with a plaque containing an actual piece of the barbed wire that divides the island. This plaque was presented to Senator Biden on behalf of the people of Cyprus for his efforts to help remove this barbed wire that has divided the island for 23 years.

For more information, please contact Mike Manatos at (202) 393-7790.