Kyrenia Bishop protests Turkish conversion of historic church

Bishop of Kyrenia Pavlos has strongly protested Turkish actions to convert the historic church of St. Luke in the Turkish occupied north of Cyprus, into a ballroom. In a letter sent to the Ambassadors, stationed in Nicosia, of the five Permanent Members of the UN Security Council, the General Secretaries of the Council of Europe and UNESCO and the European Commission’s representative in Nicosia, the Bishop of Kyrenia notes that the Turkish occupying forces have exceeded all boundaries of shamelessness.
“The Turkish occupying forces by their continuing unacceptable treatment of religious and cultural heritage in the occupied part of Cyprus have exceeded all boundaries of shamelessness”, he stresses.
In his letter, the Bishop of Kyrenia calls upon the recipients of the letter to do their utmost so that their governments or institutions take practical steps to safeguard human rights in Cyprus as well as the island’s religious heritage, and to reverse the Turkish actions, which “flagrantly violate the human rights of our people”.
“These actions by the Turkish occupation forces will undoubtedly convince even doubting Thomases of the Turkish systematic practice of obliterating every trace of the rich religious and cultural heritage of our island in flagrant violation of the 1954 Treaty on the Protection of Cultural Heritage, international law and the relevant UN resolutions”, he concludes.
More than 133 churches, chapels and monasteries that are located in the northern part of Cyprus, controlled by the Turkish army since 1974, have been desecrated, 78 churches have been converted into mosques, 28 are used as military depots and hospitals, and 13 are used as stockyards.
Their ecclesiastical items, including more than 15,000 icons, have been illegally removed and their location remains unknown. According to the Cypriot Department of Antiquities, the most significant and priceless of these icons have already been auctioned off and sold by art dealers abroad.