John Brademas Congressional PapersCyprus PapersAs the son of a Greek immigrant father and as the first American-born Congressman of Greek descent, Brademas played an important role in American affairs with Greece throughout his tenure. In 1964 he represented Congress in the U.S. delegation at the funeral of King Paul of Greece. A few years later in 1967, he stood fast in his opposition of U.S. military aid to Greece following a coup against the young King Constantine. Events during the summer of 1974 once again brought Brademas to the forefront of Greek-American affairs. Triggered by events surrounding a Greek-led coup against the President of Cyprus, Turkish troops invaded Cyprus, an independent island off the coast of Turkey with a majority-Greek, minority-Turkish population. The Turkish troops employed American weapons and materials in an invasion of the island. Brademas led a coalition calling for an arms embargo against Turkey. He and four other members of the House of Representatives who were of Greek descent (Peter N. Kyros (D-Me.), Gus Yatron (D-Penn.), Paul Sarbanes (D-Md.), and Skip Bafalis (R-Fla.)) rallied for the American government to enforce provisions of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 and Foreign Military Sales Act of 1968, which stipulated that weapons supplied by the U.S. could only be used for defensive purposes. After facing vigorous opposition from Secretary of State Kissinger and President Ford, the coalition succeeded in passing a resolution to cut off military aid to Turkey. In 1978, however, the embargo was lifted and Turkish forces continue to occupy part of Cyprus. Follow the links below to view documents related to the Cyprus
events.
|
