Turks reject plans to restore Monastery
Agamemnon-Skopianosfaktis
Nicosia, Nov 5 (CNA) -- The illegal Turkish Cypriot regime has turned down a
government proposal for the restoration of Apostolos Andreas Monastery in
the Turkish occupied areas, a House of Representatives Committee heard
today.
The occupation regime has also denied access to the Monastery, in the
eastern tip of the island, by a team of Greek Cypriot exerts to study the
damage the building has sustained.
A Foreign Ministry official told the House Refugee Committee that the
illegal regime gave its reply to the government request yesterday through
the UN Peace Keeping Force in Cyprus.
He said the occupation regime has no objection to the Cyprus government
paying for the restoration and even proposed ways by which money can be
transferred to the regime.
The Cyprus government proposed that a group of professionals, including
architects, archaeologists, topographers, civil engineers and technicians
visit the Monastery and examine the damage.
They would then prepare a study and Greek Cypriots living the Karpass
peninsula since the 1974 Turkish invasion would begin restoration work. The
destruction of Cyprus' cultural heritage in the Turkish occupied areas was
discussed at the Committee meeting.
Church of Cyprus expert and former Antiquities Department head, Athanasios
Papageorgiou, told MPs there is no single church in the occupied areas which
has not been pillaged.
He also said priceless icons and frescoes have been stolen from churches,
and that churches have been turned into stables, warehouses and even
toilets.
The Foreign Ministry official put forward a proposal for the establishment
of a body that would deal with the destruction of Cyprus' heritage in the
occupied areas.
er...@eahmet.freeserve.co.uk
tell you what I'll do:- If I see anything resembling a Greek icon on a
market stall in Istanbul this year, I'll buy it for you. Deal?
Agamemnon-Skopianosfaktis wrote in message
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