Mr. Speaker. following our weeklong trip to Israel and Lebanon during the PassoverEaster congressional recess. we visited the Republic of Cyprus April 3 to 6 as guests of the Cypriot House of Representatives. As part of the humanitarian focus of our Middle East trip. we were interested in the human dimension of the ongoing conflict on Cyprus. We met with refugees who fled to the southern part of the island following the 1974 Turkish invasion and talked with Greek and Turkish Cypriot leaders about their efforts to determine the status of the several thousand missing persons who disappeared during that period. In addition. we were interested in obtaining a progress report on GreekTurkish Cypriot efforts to end the islands political. social. economic. and geographic divisions. efforts which revolve around on- and offagain meetings between Greek and Turkish Cypriot negotiators who conduct intercommunal talks under United Nations auspices.
Keywords matched
refugees