FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

U.S. Embassy
March 26, 2003

Statement by U.S. Ambassador Michael Klosson about the Detentions in Doganci Village on March 25

-- I learned with concern that the police detained last night a number of labor leaders and politicians in Doganci village.

-- I understand they were conducting an unofficial survey of public views on the Annan plan and membership in the European Union.

-- It's hard to understand why a peaceful assembly and peaceful expression of views should be met with such heavy-handed tactics by the authorities.

-- It's also hard to understand why the authorities feel compelled to prevent Turkish Cypriots from freely expressing their views on how to reach for a better future.

-- The U.S. supports strongly the right to freedom of peaceable assembly and association and the right to freedom of opinion and expression; everyone has these rights in northern Cyprus as elsewhere around the world.