WASHINGTON, D.C., May 18, 2005 -- οΏ½The Congressional delegation planning to visit the occupied area of Cyprus has shrunk substantially.  This follows the engagement of grass roots pressures, the influence of their colleagues and a series of meetings this week in Washington, D.C. with American government leaders and with various parts of the trip delegation.  Many committed to us that they definitely will not make the trip,οΏ½ said leaders of the Coordinated Effort of Hellenes (CEH) who participated in these meetings, Philip Christopher, Panicos Papanicolaou and Andy Manatos.

οΏ½We would particularly like to thank those Members of Congress who played a crucial role in these efforts.  They are Representatives Michael Bilirakis (R-FL), Lincoln Diaz-Balart (R-FL), Bob Menendez (D-NJ) and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL).

οΏ½The trip organizer and other Members still planning to go, who had previously refused to meet with Greek-Cypriots about the trip, agreed to hear our arguments in person in a series of meetings yesterday and today.  We hope that they will heed our advice.  Such a trip violating international law would be viewed very negatively by the national Hellenic community,οΏ½ said CEH leaders.

οΏ½We are concerned that this trip may be the tip of the iceberg of American plans to undo dozens of Cypriot protections and Turkish occupation disincentives that CEH worked hard for decades to help put into place.  It is now becoming obvious that such policies, like the tremendous U.S. push for CyprusοΏ½ early EU membership, were not spontaneous.  The recent escalation toward legitimizing international air travel to the occupied area, which followed the departure of Undersecretary of State Marc Grossman, is a comment on his ability to prevent such actions.οΏ½