Members Of U.S. Congress Enter at Ercan Airport Northern Cyprus

Three members of the US Congress have visited the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus on May 30, 2005, landing at Ercan Airport on board a KTHY flight. This marked the first time in which elected US representatives have met with Turkish elected representatives on the island. The US delegate was headed by Republican rep. Edward Whitfield which consisted of Democratic Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson from Texas and Republican Cogressman Nathan Deal from Georgia. They were joined by former Republican rep. Jack Buechner from Missouri and former democratic rep. Larry LaRocco from Idaho.

The planned visit of the US representatives to visit Greek Cypriot representatives on the southern part of the island was thwarted by the Greek Cypriot officials .

The US Congress Turkish Study Group that began work at the US Congress on November, 2004 was established by The Economic Policy Research Institute / Turkey (EPRI) and the German Marshall Fund with the support of the USAFMC.

This first visit to Northern Cyprus by a US delegation since the 1980's signifies support for the long-standing Turkish Cypriot call to establish a unified Cyprus.