Greece and Cyprus sign first Cultural Cooperation Agreement
The destruction of the cultural heritage in the north of the island was under discussion on Friday during the visit to the island of the Greek Minister of Culture Ms. Lina Mendoni to sign an inter-state cultural cooperation agreement with her Cypriot counterpart Ms. Vasiliki Kassianidou.
Minister Mendoni, as part of her contacts in Cyprus met His Beatitude Archbishop Georgios of New Justiniana and All Cyprus in Nicosia. The Church of Cyprus has been actively involved for decades in recovering religious artefacts stolen from the north of the island in the wake of the 1974 Turkish invasion.
The Archbishop also expressed his concern about how the maintenance of churches and buildings in the north could be accomplished.
Minister Mendoni, when asked by journalists how the Greek state could contribute said Cyprus itself was making great efforts for the repatriation of cultural items and this was fully supported by the Greek government.
“Obviously we are grateful to the Church of Cyprus for all the support and for everything it has offered to preserve the Christian heritage in the occupied areas,” she said, adding that an essential part of the cultural agreement signed on Friday related to stolen cultural items and illegal trafficking in antiquities.
“This indicates the strong political will of both governments to work together in all international forums. In this way we further strengthen our demand that forcibly exported cultural goods be returned as soon as possible.”
Ms. Mendoni said both Cyprus and Greece have faced the looting of cultural heritage but a climate was now brewing globally where “public opinion, world public opinion, is in favour of the return of cultural items to the countries in which they were created and in which they were born”, she added. She was referring to the need for Britain to return the Elgin Marbles.
In his comments, the His Beatitude Archbishop Georgios said the problem was not only the repatriation of the stolen items but also the protection of what remains. He said “the Turks leave them either to the mercy of time or to other uses in order to eliminate every trace of Hellenism and Christianity”. His Beatitude then thanked the Greek government for its support.
Earlier on Friday, Minister Mendoni visited the Makedonitissa Tomb where she laid a wreath to the fallen. In the guest book she wrote: “Fifty years have passed since the invasion. It is the moral duty of all of us to work for a free and united Cyprus. Gratitude to all those who keep their memory, the nation’s memory, alive.”
Source: cyprus-mail.com
