The ambassador of the Republic of Cyprus to the U.S., Andreas Kakouris, received a welcoming to the NIU campus Monday afternoon from the NIU Orthodox Christian Fellowship.

Ambassador Kakouris was invited to NIU to speak at a seminar for graduate students on the current situation in Cyprus and give a lecture to high-school teachers on genocide and human rights.

“It went well and it was a good turnout,” Kakouris said. “It’s important for me that people actually hear about what’s going on on the island of Cyprus and that there has been a foreign occupation for over 34 years which is quite clearly a violation of fundamental human rights of all Cypriots.”

The OCF was chosen to host a reception for the ambassador since a majority of the Cypriot nation consists of Greek Orthodox Christians.

The new OCF center, which was completed in August, provided a warm and casual setting, complete with wine, cheese and crackers, as the ambassador mingled and spoke with students and faculty about politics, their futures, and even joked about his title of “excellency.”

Kakouris has been trying to make known to the international community the situation that has been occurring on the island of Cyprus which has been the occupation of Turkish troops. Turkish Cypriots occupy nearly 37 percent of Cyprus in the northern region and together with Greek Cypriots they have been negotiating peace talks for the reunification of the Cyprus nation.

J.D. Bowers, an NIU history professor who directs the Genocide and Human Rights Institute on campus, has been in touch with Kakouris and organized his visit to NIU feeling that the Cyprus problem is relevant to the U.S.

“The Cyprus problem is a problem that impacts the U.S., Europe and the Middle East,” Bowers said. “These are the kinds of conflicts that are going on in the world and we need to understand our role at the U.S. and the implications for our role in these events.”

Katherine Wright, the faculty advisor for OCF, felt honored to host Kakouris.

“We were very honored to have him here,” Wright said. “I think the main message I got out of his speaking today was that there will be times when the process derails, but you don’t give up, don’t turn to violence, and you don’t give in, even if it requires almost superhuman patience and vision, which makes him a very incredible ambassador for Cyprus.”