Political Quotes

“today I, along with my distinguished colleague from Maryland, Senator Mikulski, am submitting this concurrent resolution which calls for a United States effort to end the restrictions on the freedoms and violations of the human rights of the enclaved people in the occupied portion of Cyprus. A little over 2 years ago, Senator Mikulski and I had introduced a bill to address these very same concerns which, unfortunately, are still with us. Mr. President, I am aware that developments on Cyprus are not known to most Americans. Yet if I were to tell them that a small nation has had part of its land illegally occupied by a neighboring state for over 23 years, I know they would be both shocked and outraged. The 23 years since the 1974 Turkish invasion of Cyprus have seen the end of the cold war, the collapse of the USSR, free elections in South Africa and a reunited Germany, yet while the line through the heart of Berlin is gone, the line through the heart of Cyprus remains. Over two decades ago, Turkey's brutal invasion drove more than 200,000 Cypriots from their homes. Turkey still controls about one-third of the island of Cyprus and maintains about 30,000 troops there. However, there remains, in northern Cyprus, a small remnant of 497 enclaved Greek-Cypriots.”