ATHENS – It’s called a dark anniversary – but the annual commemorations of the illegal Turkish invasion of Cyprus and continuing occupation that followed are also filled with the light of hope. For years, decades even, it was believed, by many if not most Greek-Cypriots on Cyprus and in the U.S., as well as Greek-Americans that the fight for justice for Cyprus was both worthy and winnable.

Now 50 years will be marked, and the remarkable thing is that while Turkey shouts that the issue of the island’s re-unification is dead, the Greek-American community shouts back ‘never forget’ as loudly as ever at Greek parades this year – and the organizations that were established after 1974 are still going strong – perhaps as strongly as ever. In this article, we will spotlight the leaders of three of them, in the order they were founded: The American Hellenic Institute (AHI), headquartered a few blocks from the White House and founded by Eugene T. Rossides in 1974, The National Coordinated Effort of Hellenes (NCEH), led by the Washington lobbying firm of Manatos & Manatos, which also helps other groups, and the Hellenic American Leadership Council (HALC).

Before reading what they have to say, some other organizations that have fought both at the grass roots level all over the country and with important events in Washington, DC, must be noted, like the Order of AHEPA, which has hosted many Congressional banquets and Capitol Hill Day events, and The International Coordinating Committee – Justice for Cyprus (PSEKA) which under President Philip Christopher held its 39^th annual conference in Washington, DC. There is also the Federation of Cypriot American Organizations (FCAO) – but many Community organizations rooted in Greece have also supported the cause. Along with the three major advocacy groups, they inform elected and appointed officials of the injustice the U.S. helped perpetrate, the untrustworthiness of Turkey as an ally, and the value to the U.S. interests of Greece and Cyprus.

Nicholas Larigakis, President and CEO of AHI

“I first become aware of the Cyrus invasion, like everyone else, during the summer of 1974,” Larigakis told TNH. “However, at that time as a 14 year old, it did not completely resonate with me as to what it really meant as it related to the impact on the people of Cyprus.”

Only after “my parents went to DC to march in protest for the cause of Cyprus, to which organizers brought Greek- and Cypriot-Americans from throughout the country, did I slowly begin to understand what a major event it was.”

“I became more fully engaged in the issue during my years as an undergraduate when I incorporated the Cyprus issue in a number of research papers that I wrote for some of my political science courses, which included U.S. Foreign Policy.  I obviously became immersed in this issue once I started working for the AHI in August of 1987.”

Asked to share his most poignant or illuminating moment during a visit to Cyprus, Larigakis told TNH, “without second thought, what brought it all in complete focus for me is when I visited the occupied northern part of Cyprus, including the old Nicosia airport, which lays inside the UN buffer zone. I first visited there in 2003. I have always said that you can read about the Cyprus issue, you can hear presentations and have discussions with interlocutors, but there is no substitute for seeing with your own eyes the results of the invasion and ongoing occupation. When I became witness to scenes of desecrated churches, desecrated Christian Orthodox cemeteries, and the fenced off ghost town of Varosha/Famagusta, it shook me up and made me more determined than ever to continue to advocate for the just cause of Cyprus.”

In addition to spotlighting the brutality of the invasion and the cruelty of the continued occupation – 200,000 Greek Cypriots are exiled in their own country – AHI also focuses on what Turkey is doing to permanently undermine the possibility of reunification. In addition to the 40,000 illegal occupying troops, who come and go, Larigakis said, “they are dramatically trying to change the demographic character of the occupied area by pouring in illegal Anatolian settlers, and by building mosques at a prolific pace.”

AHI has presented the Turkish occupation as both a desecration of the Rule of Law and as contrary to American interests in the east Mediterranean and beyond from the start, but where AHI’s leaders and staff, along with the people of the other organizations, have made the most progress is explaining the importance of Cyprus to the U.S. today. Larigakis said: “Cooperation between the U.S. and the Republic of Cyprus is at a historic high… Our bilateral partnership also continues to grow in other areas of common interest, such as promoting peace and security in the Eastern Mediterranean, diversifying European energy sources, fostering opportunities for greater trade and investment, and protecting cultural heritage.

Official U.S. statements acknowledge “Cyprus’ geostrategic position and its participation in multilateral diplomatic initiatives such as the ‘3+1’ with Greece and Israel plus the U.S. on energy and economic issue, also make it an important partner in encouraging development and dialogue throughout the Eastern Mediterranean.”

Larigakis notes that through the years “there have been a number strategic agreements that have been signed… And just a few weeks ago the U.S. and the Republic of Cyprus agreed to engage in a Strategic Dialogue.”

However, Cyprus, an EU country, continues to be divided. What we have in 2024, he said, “is a NATO army occupying a member of the EU, and how absurd does this sound, but this is the reality. The international community led by the U.S. and the EU, must continue to press Turkey for the removal of troops and make sure that aggression will not be rewarded. They must push strongly for negotiations to begin that serve the interests of all the people of Cyprus and not the interests of Turkey and its bogus call for a ‘two state solution.’ As we call on the condemnation of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, invoking the Rules Based International Order, we must not be selective in how we apply the Rule of Law. It needs to be applied for foe and friend, alike, especially a NATO ally. Otherwise, it makes a mockery of the ‘Rules Based International Order!’

Larigakis concluded by declaring that “50 years of appeasement regarding Turkey must end, and the Greek-American community must more fully be engaged with U.S. policy makers across the entire country to call for the Rule of Law to be applied, so Cyprus, in the interests of the U.S., can finally be ‘whole, Free, and at Peace!’”

Andy Manatos, Founder, NCEH

Andrew Emanuel ‘Andy’ Manatos told TNH that Cyprus is sunk deep in his consciousness. “When I was in college in 1964 and my father was in the Johnson White House, he was involved in the famous ‘Johnson Letter’ wherein he threatened” Turkey, which was preparing an invasion, “and they turned around.”

“In 1974,” he said, “I tried from the U.S. Senate to do what I could when Turkey again tried to invade Cyprus. My Senator, Thomas F. Eagleton, introduced the first legislation to terminate U.S. arms to Turkey because they used them illegally to invade Cyprus. With thousands of Hellenes across the country, urged on by Cypriot Hellenes, strongly lobbied the Senators and Members and through over time in 12 different votes in the House and Senate full and subcommittees, Appropriations and Foreign Authorization Committees, we imposed the Arms Embargo on Cyprus. That was the only time in modern history that the Congress overruled the White House and State Department on a major foreign policy issue.”

Manatos is most impressed and inspired by “the Cypriot dedication to refusing to collapse and accept the terrible situation of Turkey’s overwhelming force while the western world looked the other way. As their civilization on Cyprus and the success of Cypriots in America has shown they are bright courageous people.”

The long family history of engagement with this Cyprus issue continues today. Andy co-founded Manatos & Manatos with his father Mike in 1983, and the tradition continues with son/grandson Mike Manatos as President of the firm.

Manatos concluded by saying: “Having been a non-Cypriot deeply involved in each U.S. action regarding Cyprus for all the decades since the invasion I can verify that while Cyprus has been a good U.S. ally, the American bureaucracy is largely responsible for contributing to the situation Cyprus finds itself in today, with more than one third of their country occupied by the Turkish military. We (America) owes Cyprus big time.”

Endy Zemenides, Executive Director, HALC

For Zemenides, the Cyprus tragedy has a personal dimension. “My family was living in Nicosia in 1974. I was only one-and-a-half-years old, but the fact that we had to escape our home, that my father sent my pregnant mother and me back to the U.S. while he stayed and fought Turkey’s invading army, that we were living in the U.S. only because we had escaped war has been ever present in my life.”

He said that, “since my father’s birthplace (Komi Kebir) is in occupied Cyprus, I have a deep feeling of ‘χαμένη πατρίδα’ – a lost homeland – and the inability of being able to fully return to my roots fills me with a sense of loss.”
So for Zemenides, when he advocates for Justice for Cyprus with HALC and other contexts, the personal pain is never far away. “When I talk about Turkey’s crimes in Cyprus, I do so from the vantage point of an advocate but also as a victim of those crimes.”

“I have been engaged in the Cyprus issue ever since. When I was five, my father took me door to door to get signatures on a petition to President Carter asking him to not lift the arms embargo on Turkey. In high school I confronted Turkish President Turgut Ozal on his trip to Chicago. I have written (and been published) on Cyprus throughout my academic and professional life. And now as Executive Director of HALC, I work on Cyprus every single day.”

Asked about his most powerful moments during visits to Cyprus, Zemenides told TNH: “I have two particular moments. The first was when I was staffing then Illinois State Treasurer and U.S. Senate candidate (and now Secretary of State of Illinois) Alexi Giannoulias on a fact-finding mission to Cyprus with U.S. Senator Dick Durbin. We visited the Committee on Missing Persons. Seeing human skulls with bullet holes and witnessing the work of identifying remains really magnified the sense of tragedy I had always felt over Cyprus and brought the human toll home. I realized how close my father came to being one of these victims.”

He said that “the second moment is when I took my children to the Ledra Palace checkpoint and buffer zone for the first time. The intensity of their feelings pleasantly surprised me. I knew at that point that Cyprus was in their hearts and souls and that the ‘αγώνα’ – the struggle – had at least one more generation of activists/fighters ahead.”

He believes that the most important thing for Greek-Americans and American appointed and elected officials to know about the Cyprus cause today is that “there is a historic opportunity to reverse U.S. foreign policy failures with regards to Cyprus. One of the many reasons for this tragedy can be explained in Henry Kissinger’s infamous observation that ‘there is no American reason why the Turks should not have one-third of Cyprus.’”

“Today – in large part thanks to changes in foreign policy orientation in Cyprus and leadership from the U.S. Congress – there are several American reasons to make sure that a lasting and workable solution is found on Cyprus and that Turkey’s 50-year-old crime neither continues nor is rewarded.”

He cites as recent developments the Amalthea humanitarian initiative and through Cyprus’ ability to evacuate American citizens from the Middle East. Zemenides also noted that American companies operating in Cyprus’ Exclusive Economic Zone – Exxon and Chevron – “will help lessen Europe’s dependence on Russian gas.” And closing on a frightening note, he said “Russian and Iranian Revolutionary Guard activity in occupied Cyprus shows the risks of allowing Turkey to continue maintaining the northern part of Cyprus as this largely ungoverned, unlawful wild west.”