Congressman Meehan to Host Event on Foreign Policy for Cyprus
WASHINGTON — Congressman Martin T. Meehan, D-Lowell, will host a community forum this weekend to discuss Cyprus – the tiny, embattled Mediterranean island at the heart of the decades-long conflict between Turkey and Greece.
The event, which begins Sunday at 4 p.m. at the Hellenic Cultural Center in Lowell, is free and open to the public. Konstantin Bikas, the Greek consul general in Boston, and state Sen. Steve Panagiotakos, D-Lowell, will attend the forum as Meehan’s guests.
Meehan said that he, Bikas and Panagiotakos plan to discuss the United States’ recent initiatives on Cyprus, the new United Nations peace plan, the status of negotiations and prospects for a settlement between Turkey and Greece. Meehan said it’s important for local residents to be aware of the situation in Cyprus and to be educated about U.S. foreign policy in that region.
According to the Web site www.cyprustourism.org, Cyprus became an independent republic and joined the United Nations in 1960. Fourteen years later, Turkey invaded and captured about a third of the island. The invasion uprooted nearly half of Cyprus’s Greek population. Despite repeated rounds of talks, there has been no solution.
The Bush administration endorsed the most recent U.N. peace plan to end the conflict and reunite the island, The New York Times reported in December.
“Over the last 20 years, we have seen regional disputes draw in outside nations and escalate into major international crises,” Meehan said. “Since 1974, the unlawful division of Cyprus has been a dangerous powder keg for the United States and NATO [the North Atlantic Treaty Organization]. Greece and Turkey have gone to the edge of war three times in large part over tensions over Cyprus. Even now, Cyprus is one of the most densely militarized places in the world.”
The Bush administration wants Turkey to become part of the European Union and has been encouraging Turkey to settle the Cyprus dispute. It also is seeking Turkey’s backing for a potential war with Iraq.
Meehan said unity on the isle is “very important” to Greek Americans, a group that has a large presence in Massachusetts’s 5th District. Given the relationship between Turkey and Greece – both members of NATO – Meehan said the United States has an “interest in making sure two important allies find a resolution.”
“It’s not in the United States’ interest to have allies at odds with one another,” said Meehan, a member of the Congressional Hellenic Caucus.
Published in The Lawrence Eagle Tribune, in Massachusetts.
