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On October 25, 2006, congratulating the Cyprus Brotherhood of Philadelphia for its 50th Anniversary, Senator Biden commended the Brotherhood for its “commitment to solidarity with the Cyprus people…and his admiration for the island…as again this summer Cypriots opened their arms to assist thousands of Americans fleeing from Lebanon. This exceptional display of Hellenic hospitality reaffirmed Cyprus’ importance as a key partner for the United States and a safe harbor amid the unsettled waters of the Eastern Mediterranean. Especially in the context of these events, I remain deeply committed to forging a just political settlement to end the island’s partition.” Turkey did not provide refuge for the Americans.
Senator Biden was a signatory on the November 23 letter by 73 senators to President George Bush, expressing deep concern on Turkish Government detrimental policy toward the Ecumenical Orthodox Patriarchate in Constantinople.
The March 30, 2007, Congressional Record carried Senator Biden’s support of Cyprus’ legitimate international rights to explore potential sources of oil and gas deposits off its southern shores, a plan obstructed by Turkish threats of dangerous activity because the Turkish Government felt that it had the right to those potential sources.
The Hellenic Voice of October 24, 2007, published a letter from Senator Biden expressing his “thanks” for the support of the Greek American Community, restating his support for justice to Cyprus and security for Greece.
After Senator Richard Lugar and five co-sponsors introduced Senate Resolution 459 in March 2008, positioning the United States officially urging NATO to accept “Albania, Croatia, and ‘Macedonia’ (FYROM)” as full members at the then-forthcoming April Bucharest Summit, Senator Biden joined Senator Robert Menendez in the efforts that stopped the problematic resolution on the grounds that given the state of negotiations between Greece and FYROM, consideration of that resolution would not have been helpful.
In an interview with the Greek daily Kathimerini, on September 1, 2008 Senator Biden again called for the “full withdrawal” of Turkish troops from Northern Cyprus, referring to the Cyprus occupation as an “anomaly” in which Washington’s relations with Ankara “will be influenced by how the Cyprus problem is solved, namely the full withdrawal of Turkey, and from how Greek and Turkish differences in the Aegean are settled.”
In the November 2008 national elections, Joe Biden was on the winning team with then-Senator Barack Obama. In January 2009, he became Vice President Joe Biden, and his stand of justice for Cyprus and security for Greece remained intact.
On November 3, 2009, after the Ecumenical Patriarch of the Greek Orthodox Church in Constantinople, His All-Holiness Bartholomew, met with President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden held a Welcome Reception at the Vice Presidential Residence in Washington. Invited among a large number of dignitaries and other attendees was also the Turkish Ambassador to the United States. In welcoming His Holiness, Vice President Biden reiterated his support for the Patriarchate, and expressed his stout support of Hellenic matters.
On his official trip to Turkey, Vice President Biden visited the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate at the Phanar on December 3, 2011, being the first U.S. Vice President ever to do so, and after a lengthy meeting with the Ecumenical Patriarch, he visited the Church of St. George where he lit a candle.
In May 2014, Vice President Biden visited Cyprus, becoming “the most senior U.S. official to visit Cyprus in more than 50 years.” Upon arrival, he expressed that “I wanted to come to Cyprus to primarily underscore the value the United States attaches to our growing cooperation with the Republic of Cyprus. This relationship is a genuine strategic partnership which holds great promise.”
Two months later, at the Greek Orthodox Church Biennial Clergy-Laity Conference, on July 10 Vice President Biden spoke on three very serious issues: the relationship between the United States and Greece, the Defense of Religious Freedom and its impact upon the Ecumenical Patriarchate and the Halki issue, and the continued internationally-illegal Turkish occupation on Cyprus.
During his quick two-day official trip to Turkey four months later, Vice President Biden took the time on November 23 to visit the Greek Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarch. The two had a one-and-half hour private meeting, after which they visited the Church of St. George, where the Vice President lit a candle, as he had done on his previous visit three years before.
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