AHI Sends Letter to Pres. Bush Regarding Turkish PM Erdogan's Visit to White House on June 8, 2005




WASHINGTON, DC – On May 26, 2005 AHI President Gene Rossides sent a letter to President George W. Bush regarding Turkish Prime Minister's Recep Tayyip Erdogan visit to the White House, scheduled for June 8, 2005.

The text of AHI's letter to President Bush follows. For the text of the 2005 Greek American Policy Statements see our website or you may access these statements directly by clicking the following link: http://ahiworld.org/policy_statement.html.

May 26, 2005

The Honorable George W. Bush
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20500

Re: June 8, 2005 visit by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan

Dear Mr. President,

I write regarding your forthcoming visit with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on June 8, 2005.

Enclosed is a copy of my letter to you of January 23, 2004 regarding Prime Minister Erdogan's visit on January 28, 2004. That letter was detailed on the issue of Cyprus and is pertinent today. It also discussed Turkey and its role in the region. Since that time Turkey has not been a helpful ally and we are surprised that Prime Minister Erdogan was invited again. We do not believe this is the best way to negotiate.

Also enclosed is a copy of the 2005 Greek American Policy Statements on the various issues of concern to the Greek American community prepared by the American Hellenic Institute and endorsed by the following major Greek American membership organizations: the Order of AHEPA, the Hellenic American National Council, the Cyprus Federation of America, the Panepirotic Federation of America, the Pan-Macedonian Association of America and the Evrytanian Association of America. The section on Cyprus is number 2 and the sections on Turkey are numbers 6 and 7.

Please note that on all of our issues the sole question is what is in the best interests of the United States.

Respectfully,
Gene Rossides

Enclosures
cc: Vice President Richard B. Cheney
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice
Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld
Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick
Under Secretary of State Nicholas Burns
Chief of Staff Andrew Card
Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove
National Security Adviser Steve Hadley
Director of OMB Joshua Bolten
The Congress




For more information about the American Hellenic Institute in Washington, D.C., contact Georgia Economou, Director of Public Relations for AHI, at (202) 785-8430 or at georgia@ahiworld.org, or visit the groups' website at http://www.ahiworld.org. AHI was founded in 1974 following Turkey's illegal invasion and occupation of 37.3% of Cyprus. It is a membership-based organization with members throughout the nation. AHI's core mission is to promote American values and the rule of law in U.S. foreign policy and to strengthen relations between the U.S. and Greece and Cyprus as being in the best interests of the United States. It conducts an active program with Congress in espousing and supporting legislation designed to promote American interests in Southeast Europe and the Eastern Mediterranean and is registered with the Congress under the Lobbying Act. The AHI Foundation is the first think-tank devoted exclusively to the study of the issues confronting the Greek American community. This organization sponsors conferences, seminars and publishes books and other materials on the issues.

HCS maintains an extensive archives for AHI articles and press releases which visitors may browse under the American Hellenic Institute Releases section of the archives at http://www.helleniccomserve.com/contents.html.


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