A very important and well-argued letter by National President of AHEPA Mr. Nicholas A. Karakostas. The letter was forwarded to us by AHEPA Canada member Mr. Demetris J. Yantsulis, Media Advisor to AHEPA Convention 2010.
You can inform Amnesty International about Jennifer Lopez's intentions by directing your e-mails here: info@amnesty.ca; admin-us@aiusa.org; sct@amnesty.org.uk; info@amnesty.fr; info@amnesty.ch . Please be polite and respectful, foul language, insults and anger -no matter how justified they seem to be- are the worst enemies of our noble cause for human rights, freedom and democracy.
Download the original AHEPA letter in pdf: http://rapidshare.com/files/405301350/Ahepa_Supr._Pres._sent_to_JenniferLopezLetter_re_occupied_Cyprus_and_invasion..pdf
Read the leeters by AHEPA and HEC:
AHEPA LETTER:
July 1, 2010
Ms. Jennifer Lopez
c/o Cara Lewis
William Morris Agency, LLC
1325 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY 10019
Dear Ms. Lopez:
On behalf of the American Hellenic Educational Progressive Association (AHEPA), the largest and oldest membership-based association of American citizens of Greek heritage, and countless Philhellenes, I am
outreaching to you as a fellow New Yorker and as a person who takes great pride and has tremendous
passion in one’s cultural heritage to respectfully request that you cancel your visit to Turkish-occupied
northern Cyprus to attend the opening of the Cratos Hotel & Casino on July 20, 2010— a day that is
ironically the 36th “black anniversary” of Turkey’s illegal invasion and subsequent occupation of 37
percent of the Republic of Cyprus.
The Cratos Hotel & Casino is located in the city of my birth, Kyrenia, which is now located illegally-
occupied Cyprus. As one family of the nearly 200,000 refugees of Cyprus, we cannot return to our
homes in Kyrenia. It is sad and disheartening to see a celebration of this grandeur taking place in a city
where countless human rights violations including, murder, rape, and the forced movement of
population, occurred 36 years ago.
Ms. Lopez, because of many similarities between the illegal invasion of Cyprus and Fidel Castro’s
dictatorship of Cuba, including the struggle of the refugees, you may find it of interest that many
members of Congress who are of Latino heritage have been ardent champions of securing justice for the
Republic of Cyprus. They join with many of their congressional colleagues to call for:
a just and viable solution to the division of Cyprus under high-level UN agreements and
Security Council resolutions, the removal of Turkey’s 40,000 illegally stationed troops,
the return to Turkey of 180,000 illegal settlers in occupied Cyprus, and
the restoration of property illegally taken from their rightful owners.
These members include: U.S. Senator Robert Menendez, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations
Committee; U.S. Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, ranking member, House Foreign Affairs
Committee; U.S. Congressman Albio Sires, member, House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Europe;
and U.S. Congressmen Mario and Lincoln Diaz-Balart.
Finally, the destruction of the cultural and religious heritage of Cyprus due to Turkey’s illegal invasion
and occupation is well-documented by leading authorities, including the United States Helsinki
Commission (CSCE)1. Moreover, I am enclosing for your review a feature article published in The Weekly Standard titled “Bare Ruined Choirs: Turkey’s War on the Cultural Heritage of Cyprus” by Katherine
Eastland2. Eastland’s article clearly reports on the vandalized and dilapidated state of Cyprus’s cultural
and religious heritage due to Turkey’s illegal invasion and occupation. In it, she references the Helsinki
Commission’s briefing:
This past summer in Washington the U.S. Helsinki Commission (CSCE), which monitors
compliance between and among member states on the Helsinki accords, issued a 50-
page report for Congress on the state of Cyprus’s cultural and religious heritage,
saying that it was “in peril” and that “under conventional and customary law, Turkey,
as an occupying power, bears responsibility for acts against cultural property.” It also
numbers the various ways Turkey has violated international humanitarian law, as set
forth in post-World War II treaties that Ankara has signed.
I implore you to read the transcript of the Helsinki Commission’s briefing (that can be found on the CSCE
Web site) and to read the Law Library of Congress’s report to Congress as well.
Ms. Lopez, I sincerely appreciate your professional accomplishments. Furthermore, I understand the
business commitments that a person of your immense talent must undertake as part of your dedication
to the profession. However, I strongly request that this specific business commitment to the illegally-
occupied area of Cyprus be canceled.
Respectfully submitted,
Nicholas A. Karacostas
National President
---------------------------------------
HEC LETTER:
Mrs. Cara Lewis
William Morris Agency , LLC.
1325 Avenue of the Americas
New York , NY
Fax: 212-903-1531
E-Mail: cpl@wmeentertainment.com
ATTENTION OF: Mrs. Jennifer Lynn Lopez
Ms. Jennifer Lopez,
On behalf of the Hellenic Electronic Center, we would like to express to you our most profound dissapointment and displeasure to have learned of your impending visit to the Turkish occupied territories of Cyprus. Your visit would do nothing less than give endorsement to the Turkish policies of ethnic cleansing, cultural genocide, and racial purity that has been the hallmark of the Turkish occupation since Ankara illegally invaded Cyprus in 1974, and brought about the ethnic cleansing of over 200,000 Greek Cypriots.
We are certain that your motives may be pure and that you are unaware of what has been transpiring, and we are equally certain that you will respond positively when receiving the following petition and signatures by distinguished and prominent intellectuals, Professors, and others from throughout the world. Many of the signatories are American citizens as are well over 2,000,000 Greek Americans who love the Cinema and whom are in all likelihood fans of your films.
Your presence in the occupied territories of Cyprus would be most painful to the Greek Cypriots who have been ethnically cleansed and driven from their homes and property. The Turkish occupation of Cyprus has been universally condemned by United Nations Resolutions, as well as by legal rulings of the European Court on Human Rights. It would be a tremendous blow to the dignity of the Greek Cypriots if you were to visit the land that legally and morally belongs to them, while they are denied access to said land based on their Greek ethnicity which is the basis for the Turkish military's enforced racial polices which is intent on bringing about the forced Turkification of the area at the expense of Greek Cypriot men, women, and children most of whom not only have lost their homes and property, but lost loved ones who were slaughtered by the Turkish military in 1974.
The Turkish government responsible for the invasions and occupation of Cyprus has had a murderous history and is responsible for the genocide and mass killings of Greek, Armenian, and Assyrians in Asia Minor one century ago. In 1955, the Turks launched a terror campaign against the Greek Orthodox minority in Turkey and has been waging a campaign of terror against all Christian minorities. As such, we respectfully seek to inform you about the genocidal nature of the Turkish regime and the insidious policies of ethnic cleansing well under way in the occupied territories of Cyprus which you may be visiting. In the name of human decency, and for your own reputation we ask you not to visit occupied Cyprus.
Hellenic Electronic Center www.greece.org
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