Eikoves apo ta katexomeva, stnv Iapwvia: Evnmerwsn kai 'Petition'

[Stratos S. Safioleas]

Sas stelvw to keimevo me to petition pou eivai stnv 0esn
http://weber.u.washington.edu/%7Erhea/Diaspora/kypros/kanza.html

MHN upograyete apo to e-mail giati dev mas pairvei o xrovos pleov,
va kavoume tnv metatropn se omoiomorfo keimevo!

Episkef0eite tnv selida kai upograyte apo ekei kateu0eiav.

Sto telos tns uparxei polu bolikn forma.

Stelvw to keimevo me tnv evnmerwsn kai to petition kai tnv evnmerwsn gia
va 0umnsw gia ti pragma milame!

Bring Them Home!
http://weber.u.washington.edu/%7Erhea/Diaspora/kypros/kanza.html
The stolen Icons of Cyprus, smuggled by the Turkish Occupation Forces to
Europe, then sold to Japan. Sign the petition to bring them home.

KANAZAWA COLLEGE OF ARTS REFUSES TO RETURN LOOTED CHURCH TREASURE

_________________________________________________________________

ACTION ALERT:
Join the Petition to Have Kanazawa College Return the Stolen Holy
Icons back to the Church and the people of Cyprus.

Please take a few moments to read the article from Japan's Asahi
Shimbum newspaper regarding the religious icons stolen from Cyprus
which are now being displayed at the Kanazawa College of Arts in
Japan. The "Royal Doors", completed by Monk Philaretos in 1775, were
looted from a church in Famagusta nearly 200 years later following
the Turkish invasion of Cyprus in 1974.

Then submit your name and address to a worldwide petition addressed
to the Kanazawa College of Arts and to the Japanese government, to
return the holy icons to the Church and the people of Cyprus.

Asahi Shimbun Newspaper Article

Sample Letter.
Submit your name and address in the end.

More information about the continuous destruction of the Cultural
Heritage of Cyprus

_________________________________________________________________

Kanazawa College of Arts Clings to Looted Church Treasure

Asahi Shimbun 19/5/96

The Cypriot government is demanding the return of a looted icon of a
Greek Orthodox Church, which had been missing since the Turkish
seizure of northern Cyprus in 1974, but resurfa ced last year at the
Kanazawa College of Arts, Ishikawa Prefecture. The publicly funded
college is resisting giving back the religious icon, however, since
it was purchased in good faith with Kanazawa taxpayers' money. The
college says it paid a Dutch art dealer [several] millions for the
icon in January 1995. At the time, the dealer supplied a brochure
with the 176 cm x 84 cm in which it is described as the 'Royal Doors
by the hand of the Monk Philaretos,' completed in 1775. "The Royal
Doors" are of pine wood adorned with richly illuminated religious
panels, and according to the brochure, 'form the center of the
Iconostasis,' the icon-decorated screen that separates the sanctuary
from the rest of Greek Orthodox church interiors.
The icon was later displayed in the Kanazawa College of Arts.

Last December it was recognized by another Dutch art dealer who was
visiting the college on business. The dealer pointed out that it was
looted property that had disappeared during the civil war in Cyprus
between its Greek and Turkish communities. A spokesman said Kanazawa
College of Arts "never knew that it had been looted." The icon was
chosen by one of its professors who is considered an expert on
European art history, the college spokesman said, and the college
had never doubted the authenticity, origin, or ownership of the icon
it acquired, "since the name of the artist the year and place in
which he created the icon, were all clear." The Dutch dealer
subsequently informed the consul-general of the Republic of Cyprus
to the Netherlands who came to Japan and visited Kanazawa College of
Arts to observe the icon in late April. The diplomat, who is also an
expert in religious art, determined that the icon was identical to
the one looted from a church in Famagusta in easter n Cyprus, and
insisted that it be repatriated.

Proclaiming that they were acting to protect the Turkish Cypriot
minority against the Greek Cypriot majority, Turkish troops swept
through Northern Cyprus in 1974, and occupied 36% of the island
territory. Famagusta has since been just inside Turkish-controlled
Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.'

The professor responsible for the college's purchase of the icon
said that he was completely unaware that there had been any war in
Cyprus, or of the Island's division between the Greek-dominated
Republic of Cyprus in the south, and the Turkish held sector in the
north, for more than two decades.

Kanazawa College of Art insists that it cannot now unconditionally
return to Cyprus the icon, despite now having learned that it was
looted, because the college is administered by the city of Kanazawa
and the icon was purchased with the money of local taxpayers. The
college claims that if an object is bought without knowledge of it
being stolen property, Japanese law recognizes the right of
possession by the purchaser, as long as the purchase is made without
malicious intent. The spokesman says that the college will be guided
by the law in its treatment of the icon. Kanazawa College of Art to
currently trying to investigate how the icon came into the
possession of the Dutch art dealer in The Hague who later sold it to
the college. The college admits that its attempts to track the route
of the icon since 1974 have so far met with little success. The
Cypriot diplomat says that he will visit the college again next
month to press for the icon's return.

The government of the Republic of Cyprus and church organizations on
the island are currently requesting the return of all church art
works after the 1974 Turkish occupation. In 1989, a Cypriot mosaic
art work, looted alter 1974, was found in Indiana in the United
States. The Cypriot claimants successfully sued in court for the
mosaic's return to its homeland.

_________________________________________________________________

Letter to the Kanazawa College of Arts and to the Japanese Government

Dear Friends:

We were extremely surprised to learn that the Kanazawa College of
Arts has recently acquired a stolen religious icon from the Turkish
occupied territory of Cyprus.
Although we understand that the Kanazawa Colllege of Arts was
mislead about the true origins of the religious icons, we do not
understand why they have not been returned to their rightful owner.
Since the 1974 Turkish invasion, the Cypriot people have witnessed
the ongoing destruction of their cultural heritage. We know that the
Japanese people have a great sense of honor, a respect for
tradition, and would never knowingly become accomplices in the theft
of an icon of great religious value to the people of Cyprus.
We respectfully ask that you return the religious icons to their
legitimate owner, the Church of Cyprus.

Respectfully

_________________________________________________________________

Sign the petition at:

http://weber.u.washington.edu/%7Erhea/Diaspora/kypros/kanza.html