The 39th PSEKA Conference, taking place in Washington on June 11-13, has gathered top US lawmakers with the aim of keeping the Cyprus issue high on the US foreign policy agenda and to outline that the fight for a free Cyprus will never stop. Among the US legislators who attended the Conference were Congressmen Gus Bilirakis, Chris Papas, Nicole Malliotakis, John Sarbanes, Dina Titus, Brad Schneider, Senator Ben Cardin, Nancy Pelosi, Michael McCaul, and the ranking member of the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee Congressman Gregory Meeks. During his speech, Congressman Meeks stressed that Greece and Cyprus enjoy bipartisan support at the Congress. Symbolic candlelight vigil ----------------------------- A symbolic candlelight vigil was held in front of the US Capitol building to mark the 50th anniversary of the illegal Turkish invasion and occupation of Cyprus. Greek-American MPs Gus Bilirakis, Nicole Malliotakis, Chris Papas and John Sarbanes stood by the Minister of Foreign Affairs Cons tantinos Kombos' side and delivered speeches focusing on the need for justice in Cyprus. Kombos said that five decades of occupation of 1/3 of the country have passed by. "Aggression cannot be rewarded. Enough. We are here to make it clear that our struggle will continue until we have justice for Cyprus, until we achieve the reunification of our island," he noted. During his stay in Washington, Kombos had contacts in the Congress with democratic and Republican Congressmen. After his meeting with the Chairman of the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee, Ben Cardin, and the Chair of the Democrats in both Senate and House of Representatives, Kombos said that the conclusion drawn is "the confirmation of the excellent relationship that has been established between the US and Cyprus and the joint effort for a further upgrade of this relationship". Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkey invaded and occupied its northern third. Repeated rounds of UN-led peace talks have so far failed to yield results. The lat est round of negotiations, in July 2017 at the Swiss resort of Crans-Montana ended inconclusively. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres appointed María Ángela Holguín Cuéllar of Columbia as his personal envoy for Cyprus, to assume a Good Offices role on his behalf and search for common ground on the way forward in the Cyprus issue. Source: Cyprus News Agency
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