CANA CALLS FOR UNITY ON JULY 20th GRASSROOTS CYPRUS DEMONSTRATION

For Immediate Release: June 23, 2008



Contact: Nikolaos Taneris, New York, Tel. 1-917-699-9935




NEW YORK--On Sunday, July 20 2008, the Cyprus Action Network of America (CANA)–
launches the grass roots “Hands Off Cyprus 2008” Washington DC demonstration in
support of a coordinated national effort to urge Congressional representatives
to bring legislation calling for an end to the Turkish military occupation to a
floor vote. Members of all Hellenic and philhellenic societies and federations,
human rights activists and all people of conscience are invited to participate.



The “Hands Off Cyprus 2008” protest campaign will include the distribution of
hundreds of postcards and t-shirts, and life-sized replica posters for
distribution to passers-bys, pedestrians and members of Congress with slogans
from the demonstration stating “End Turkish Military Occupation in Cyprus”,
“Cypriots Want Their Land Back”, “End Turkish Fascism” and “Turkish troops out
of Cyprus”. Various media correspondents and celebrities will be either covering
or attending, including Hellenic Hip hop artist BZ JAM, and popular Turkish
television documentarian, Barbaras Serdar. Writers, authors and activists
familiar with forced displacement are scheduled to present teach-ins and
lectures in the coming weeks .At least two local progressive news outlets will
be on hand at our demonstration, and we expect coverage from network affiliates.
This year, it is expected that hundreds of activists will attend.



In order to promote awareness of the continuing human rights crisis in Cyprus,
we will need to build the coalitions necessary to tell our story to a wide range
of different people, the “Hands Off Cyprus 2008” campaign also aims to broaden
our community outreach by actively pursuing the participation of non-Hellenic
people who believe in fairness and justice. Diversity is strength, and that is
why CANA strives to include the participation of people from diverse ethnic and
national origins.



We are proud of the experienced Cyprus supporters who led the efforts to bring
justice for Cyprus in the immediate aftermath of the criminal military invasions
of Cyprus initiated by the Turkish government on July 20th 1974, and for many
years since then, for inspiring so many Hellenic-Americans in America to
participate in our political process, many for the first time. This “Hands Off
Cyprus 2008” grass-roots demonstration compliments the extraordinary effort of
those experienced Cyprus supporters who introduce legislations and follow up in
coordination with a vast grass-roots network of concerned Americans, marked by
an annual meeting with key Congressional representatives set close to the date
of July 20th. We must strengthen the grassroots campaign, we must make it more
diverse, and our demonstration is meant to advance our community’s position with
Congress and the White House.



In order to do that, we are going to spend the next days and weeks leading up to
the “Hands Off Cyprus 2008” demonstration working toward one goal: UNITY ON JULY
20th.



HANDS OFF CYPRUS 2008



WHERE: Turkish Embassy 2525 Massachusetts Ave., NW, Washington, DC



WHEN: July 20, 2008, Sunday, 2PM-5PM



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Cyprus Action Network of America (CANA)
2578 Broadway #132
New York, NY 10025
New York: Tel. 917-699-9935
Email: cana@cyprusactionnetwork.org
www.cyprusactionnetwork.org