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Cyprus News Agency - March 11, 1998

Greek-American leaders discuss their role

Washington, Mar 11 (CNA) -- Greek-American leaders met here yesterday, for the first time in years, under the auspices of Archbishop of America Spyridon, to discuss a common policy in national and church issues.

In his opening statement, Archbishop Spyridon called on the 30 leaders of Greek-American community to cooperate for the common good and pledged to back their efforts.

However, he clarified he will only deal with church issues and told them they should handle national issues such as the Cyprus problem and Greco-Turkish relations.

A statement released after the meeting says they "believe that the unity of purpose for our Hellenic American community is of particular importance this year due to America's role in leading the world effort to address the physical and political dangers facing Hellenes and Orthodox Christians throughout the world, including Cyprus, the Balkans and Turkey."

The representatives emphasised that they are "dedicated to the task of keeping that world effort focused on bringing all nations into adherence with the basic rules of a civilised world order."

They pointed to respect for international law, sovereignty, human rights, religious freedom and the non-use of force or threats of force as such rules.

"We further believe that adherence of such rules of civilisation will benefit all citizens of America, Cyprus, Greece, the Middle East and Turkey," they added.

President of the Council of Hellenes Abroad, Andrew Athens, said they discussed the formation of a committee to promote this initiative, which will meet sometime in the next six weeks.

[ Cyprus News Agency - www.cyna.org.cy/ - March 11, 1998 ]