The leading membership-based association for the nation’s three million American citizens of Greek heritage, and countless Philhellenes, the American Hellenic Educational Progressive Association (AHEPA), has requested Entertainer Jennifer Lopez to cancel her planned July 24, 2010 performance at a new hotel and casino in Turkish-occupied northern Cyprus in a July 1, 2010 letter sent to her publicist, announced National President Nicholas A. Karacostas. “It is sad and disheartening that a grandiose celebration is planned where countless human rights violations and the forced movement of population occurred almost 36 years ago to the day of Turkey’s brutal illegal invasion; an invasion and subsequent occupation that remain a grave injustice to this day,” said Karacostas, a refugee who was born in the now occupied city of Kyrenia where the performance is planned.
He cautioned, “Ms. Lopez’s celebrity presence will be used to lend credence to an illegal entity recognized only by Turkey internationally, and that is unfortunate.”
In addition, AHEPA provided Ms. Lopez’s publicist with supporting documentation by experts about the destruction of Cyprus’ cultural and religious heritage by Turkey and the latter’s violations of international law, including an April 2009 Law Library of Congress report to Congress, background information about a July 21, 2009 U.S. Helsinki Commission briefing titled “Cyprus' Religious Cultural Heritage in Peril,” and a Feb. 1, 2010 feature article in The Weekly Standard titled “Bare Ruined Choirs: Turkey’s war on the cultural heritage of Cyprus.”
Turkey occupies 37 percent of the Republic of Cyprus with an estimated 40,000 Turkish troops.
Source: American Hellenic Educational Progressive Association
