WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Ben Cardin (D-MD), Senate chairman of the U.S. Helsinki Commission in the 112^th Congress, will receive the “Justice for Cyprus Award” from the Cyprus Federation of America on September 23 for his support for the liberation and reunification of Cyprus and his work to restore the human rights of the Cypriot people.  

“Since coming to Congress in 1987, I have had a long-standing interest in human-rights issues and I have strongly championed the fight for equality and justice for the Greek-Cypriot peoples” said Senator Cardin, who also is a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.  “I am honored by this award, and I believe strongly that the right to religious freedom of the Greek-Cypriot people is essential and cannot be denied, dictated or disrupted by the Turkish government, or any other group. I will continue to work to ensure the religious freedom of all Greek-Cypriots.”

During his chairmanship of the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe (the U.S. Helsinki Commission) in the 111^th Congress, Senator Cardin undertook an investigation of the destruction by the Turkish occupation forces of the religious and cultural heritage in the occupied northern part of Cyprus and issued a report to the U.S. Congress

The Cyprus Federation was founded in 1951 in New York City and currently consists of 25 chapter members located throughout the United States including the Tri-State area, Virginia, Ohio, Chicago, Washington, Florida and California. The Cyprus Federation of America networks closely with the Council of Hellenes Abroad (SAE), the International Coordinating Committee “Justice for Cyprus” (PSEKA), the American Hellenic Institute (AHI), the United Hellenic American Congress (UHAC), and the Federation of Hellenic Societies of Greater New York.

–##–