Memory preservation a counterweight to Turkish actions, president says

The preservation of our memory, our national character and our tradition, as well as any worthwhile effort to preserve monuments and sacred relics, constitute a strong counterweight to any Turkish actions, Cyprus President Nikos Christodoulides said on Sunday, noting that Orthodoxy has always acted as a protective shield against foreign conquests and preserved the cultural and national identity of the Cypriot people.

In an address at the presentation of the three-volume project entitled “Religious Icons of Karpasia”, which was held at University of Central Lancashire in Pyla and delivered on his behalf by deputy government spokesperson Doxa Komodromou,  Christodoulides said “this is a valuable work of historical, religious and national importance, which presents treasures of the Church of Cyprus and the world’s cultural heritage, rescued in the occupied villages of Karpasia by refugees and enclaved people of the region.”

Almost half a century after the tragic events, “we are witnessing a systematic effort to alter the demographic character of our island and a methodical tactic by the conqueror to cut us off from the roots of our existence. The Cyprus problem of invasion and occupation remains a bleeding wound for every legitimate citizen of our country and for European culture in general.”

He also said that “the preservation of memory, our national character and our tradition, as well as any worthwhile effort to preserve monuments and sacred relics, constitute a strong counterweight to any Turkish actions. The Church of Cyprus, both in times of prosperity and in times of adversity, having the prestige of the Autocephaly due to its Apostolicity, has always provided beneficial services to the society and the nation.”

By extension, he noted, “Orthodoxy acted as a shield of protection against foreign conquests and safeguarded the cultural and national identity of the Cypriot people.”

In her address, President of the House of Representatives Annita Demetriou said that “Karpasia is waiting for us and I wish we could be there.”

She added that the three-volume project “is a written statement of our resistance to any attempt to overwrite or falsify the long history of our island. The sacred icons of the publication encapsulate all the theology of the Christian doctrine, reflect the confluence of the history and faith of Hellenism in Cyprus and carry with them the horror of despoliation, the irreverence of antiquity smuggling, the pain of refugees, but also the patience, perseverance and desire for freedom and return.”

We need, the House President concluded, “to preserve our cultural and our religious heritage and to use every step and opportunity to inform what is still going on here in Cyprus after 49 years and to move one step further from where the talks stopped and were interrupted, but above all to return to where we belong, where we should belong”.

Archbishop Georgios of Cyprus, in his own address, said that “in the Orthodox Church, the role of icons has always been and remains important, both in its worship and in its theology.”

Referring to the three-volume work, His Beatitude thanked and congratulated “those who laboured for this publication and those who contributed money for this purpose. Most of all, however, we thank and are grateful to those who have preserved these treasures for us, which in the circumstances we live in are not only religious but also national treasures,” he said, noting that “these people, both named and anonymous, deserve to have our gratitude and admiration.”

The uncontrolled situation in the Turkish-occupied area of Cyprus after the Turkish invasion in 1974 has fostered the development of a network of dealers in illicit antiquities whose aim was to sell out the cultural heritage of Cyprus. With the encouragement and help of the Turkish army, the trade in illicit antiquities has brought great profit to those involved, and Cypriot treasures already adorn private collections in a number of countries including Turkey, Russia, Switzerland, Holland and the UK, and even as far as the US, Australia and Japan.

More than 500 churches situated in the areas under Turkish occupation since 1974 have been destroyed, plundered and looted or turned into stables, warehouses, restaurants and hotels. The Cyprus government and the church have repeatedly protested to the UN, the World Council of Churches and many other international and religious organisations.