(AFP) – 1 day ago
WASHINGTON(AFP) — A key US lawmaker called on Turkey Wednesday to facilitate the reunification of Cyprus by removing all of its troops from the divided island.
Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, the top Republican on the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee, made the appeal after a meeting with the US ambassador to Cyprus, Frank Urbancic.
"It is my hope that Turkish officials in Ankara, as well as leaders of the Turkish community in Cyprus, will fully embrace efforts for reunification, including by removing all Turkish troops to allow the leaders in Cyprus to negotiate freely and without undue foreign influence," she said.
"Any solution to the division of Cyprus must be developed by the Cypriot leaders and supported by the Cypriot people themselves," said Ros-Lehtinen, whose home state is Florida.
In 2004, a UN-backed reunification plan was scrapped after being rejected in a referendum by Greek Cypriots but backed by Turkish Cypriots.
Cyprus has been divided since 1974 when Turkish troops invaded the northern third in response to an Athens-engineered Greek Cypriot coup aimed at union with Greece.
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Ileana Ros-Lehtinen
