Chris Pappas

Members of the Congressional Hellenic Caucus sent a letter to US President John Biden on Thursday, urging him to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Turkey's invasion and ongoing occupation of Cyprus by inviting Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulidis to the White House.

The authorities in the Turkish-occupied part of Cyprus must "immediately withdraw all personnel and equipment from the UN buffer zone," three members of the US Congress have said, after Turkish Cypriots assaulted a number of international peacekeepers for obstructing construction teams building a road that would encroach on the buffer zone.

Six members of the United States House of Representatives have written a letter to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, urging him to ensure that the forthcoming F-16 jets Turkey is set to receive from America will not be employed in actions against Greece.

The United States Congress has adopted a brief legislation to make the prospected sale of 40 F-16 warplanes and modernization kits to Türkiye more difficult following the intervention of a number of congressmen close to the Greek lobby.

There is outrage in Ankara after the House of Representatives ratified Chris Pappas' amendment to block the sale of American F-16s to Turkey.

Under the Pappas amendment, not only the sale of new F-16 fighters, but also any modernization kit or equipment upgrade to Turkey is expressly prohibited.

The initiative belongs to Representatives Chris Pappas, Gus Bilirakis, and Carolyn Maloney

Greek-American congressmen and Hellenic Caucus members Chris Pappas, John Sarbanes and Gus Bilirakis (FL-12), introduced a resolution earlier this week calling for October 28 to be recognized as "Ochi" Day in the United States, in commemoration of Greece's entry into World War II in 1940 after refusing to surrender to the Axis forces.

Five American politicians of Greek descent were elected to the US House of Representatives in the midterm elections on Tuesday, while a veteran with knowledge of Greek and Cypriot affairs, was reelected in New Jersey.

Democratic Senator Bob Menendez of New Jersey, widely seen as a staunch ally of Greece and Cyprus for over two decades, was reelected to a third term in US midterm elections Tuesday, defeating Republican Bob Hugin, an ex-pharmaceutical executive.