[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 100 (Monday, July 22, 2002)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1307]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  IN COMMEMORATION OF THE 28TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE TRAGIC INVASION AND 
              OCCUPATION OF CYPRUS BY TURKISH ARMED FORCES

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. ROBERT MENENDEZ

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, July 22, 2002

  Mr. MENENDEZ. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to join the Cyprus Federation 
of America, Inc., in remembering the 28th anniversary of the tragic 
invasion and occupation of Cyprus by Turkish armed forces. To 
commemorate this anniversary, a concert was held at the Summer Stage in 
Central Park on Saturday, July 20, 2002, featuring two exemplary 
artists from Greece, Dionyssios Savopoulos and Alkinoos Ionnides. On 
Sunday, July 21, 2002, memorial services were held for the victims of 
the Turkish invasion and occupation of Cyprus at the Cathedral of Holy 
Trinity in New York City.
  On July 20, 1974, Turkey invaded the sovereign Republic of Cyprus and 
placed 37 percent of its territory under military occupation. Over the 
past 28 years, hundreds of thousands of Greek Cypriots have been 
expelled from their homes and forced to live as refugees in a homeland 
ravaged by ethnic strife and human rights abuses. This illegal 
occupation persists today, infringing upon principles of national 
sovereignty and violating the Cypriots' natural right of self-
determination.
  Today, I ask my colleagues to join me in solemnly commemorating the 
28th anniversary of the invasion of Cyprus. I further ask you to stand 
firmly with the people of Cyprus in their quest to cast aside the 
chains of oppression and restore their fundamental rights of self-
determination and self-government. To our friends engaged in the 
struggle for freedom in Cyprus, I offer the words of the American 
patriot Thomas Paine: ``Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; 
yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the 
more glorious the triumph.'' Let us hope that this anniversary will 
herald the coming of a glorious triumph for the Cypriot people after 
decades of injustice and for the cause of freedom throughout the world.

                          ____________________