H/T: OBL News
On the heels of an historic announcement of properties returning to religious minorities by the Turkish government, it is worth remembering the continued persecution and destruction ongoing in Cyprus.
(tert.am) - Since the occupation of North Cyprus (1974), 500 churches on the territory were desecrated plundered and converted to mosques, according to the OSCE report on the Destruction of Cultural Property in the Northern Part of Cyprus and Violations of International Law.
The document based on the studies and warnings of historians and Christian clergymen highlights the fact that the Christian Heritage in the Turkish part of Cyprus is on the edge of destruction.
The historical values of Christian culture are also reported to have suffered damage. Some 15,000 icons from those churches were either destroyed or sold almost for next to nothing.
Seventy-seven churches were converted into mosques and some 28 became military hospital, says the report.
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Just as the Turkish government agreed this week to return or pay for hundreds of buildings it illegally seized from Greeks in Turkey, so too must the Turkish government agree to return or pay for the hundreds of buildings that Turkey illegally seized in Cyprus since 1974.
ReplyDeleteOtherwise, the government in Cyprus must take this matter to the European Union Court of Human Rights, which can order Turkey to compensate the Greeks of Cyprus for these illegal Turkish seizures.