Cyprus Archbishop intends to restore Turkish-occupied churches

The autocephalous Greek Orthodox Church of Cyprus intends to undertake an initiative to clean and restore all churches in the northern Turkish-occupied part of the island.
The Primate of the Church Archbishop Chrysostomos B’ will send a circular to representatives of all the churches in the occupied areas inviting them to elect their committees, which with the financial support of the Archbishopric, intend to visit the occupied areas to restore and clean all the churches there.
“If the Turks want to have contact and cooperation with us, they will allow committee members to restore all the churches,” the Archbishop said.
Responding to questions, he said at his last meeting with the Turkish Cypriot religious leader he had made clear that these churches belong to the Church of Cyprus and that the Greek Cypriots are spiritually attached to these sites, where religious rituals, such as marriage and baptism ceremonies, take place.
The Archbishop also said the Turkish Cypriot religious leader wants the restoration to take place gradually, so that every year one or two churches are restored.
Chrysostomos said he disagrees with this position because “when we have 500 churches in the occupied areas, it will take 250 years to repair them,” as he pointed out.