Cyprus a key to peace -- Kennedy interview

Sen. Edward M. Kennedy was quoted Sunday as saying the United States should secure implementation of UN resolutions on Cyprus which call for the withdrawal of foreign troops from the island. In an interview with the Washington correspondent for the Thessaloniki newspaper Makedonia, the Senator was quoted as saying that the only way for the US to improve relations with Greece and Turkey and promote stability in the eastern Mediterranean was to achieve peace on Cyprus.

Senator Kennedy was also quoted as saying that one of his key foreign policy differences with President Carter concerned the Cyprus issue and US relations with Greece and Turkey. The Senator also criticized the administration for lifting an arms embargo on Turkey in 1978 and negotiating a new defense agreement. The pact provides for substantial military aid for Turkey, which occupies the northern part of Cyprus.