Gus Bilirakis: “I rise today to remember a young man, an American citizen, who was murdered during a brutal Turkish invasion of Cyprus…”

“I rise today to remember a young man, an American citizen, who was murdered during a brutal Turkish invasion of Cyprus during the summer of 1974. Since the 1974 Cyprus invasion, 1,619 people have been missing, including five American citizens. The administration recently submitted the ``President's Report to Congress on the Investigation of the Whereabouts of the U.S. Citizens Missing from Cyprus Since 1974.'' It concludes that four of the missing Americans were probably killed during the violent events of 1974. It also confirms the belief that one American, Andrew Kassapis, was killed by Turkish-Cypriot militiamen and was buried in a field in Northern Cyprus. The report states that Andrew ``died from physical hardship stemming from captivity.'' His remains are being laid to rest tomorrow, Wednesday, June 24, in Detroit, Michigan. Twenty-four years after Andrew's death, Cyprus still remains illegally occupied and tensions continue to escalate in a region that is more often marked by strife than accord.”