The Monastery of Antifonitis (12th Century A.D.), Churches Under Turkish Occupation, Republic of Cyprus

The Monastery of Antifonitis (12th Century A.D.), Churches Under Turkish Occupation, Republic of Cyprus

Postage stamps--Cyprus--History

Γραμματόσημα--Κύπρος--Ιστορία

The British journalist John Fielding of Thames TV together with his colleague Martin Smith were in the Turkish occupied part of Cyprus to shoot a film for the TV program " This week tonight". As they were being officially escorted ever y where, they decided to venture out secretly very early in the mornings to draw their own conclusions and return before breakfast time to meet with their escorts. Some of the things they saw they published in the English newspaper " The Guardian" on 6th May 1976 under the title " The Rape of Northern Cyprus". The 100 page report prepared for UNESCO by Jacques Dalibard, a world authority on religious art, concerning the looting and vandalism of Greek churches and too well documented to be ignored was suppressed for fear of upsetting both Greeks and Turks. The vandalism and desecration were so methodical and widespread that they amounted to institutionalized obliteration of everything sacred to the Greeks. They visited 26 former Greek villages from where only four churches from that number could be described as being in decent condition. They found not a single undesecrated cemetery. In some instances an entire graveyard of 50 to 100 graves had been reduced to pieces of rubble not larger than a matchbox. (Extract from: The plundering of 9000 year old civilization, Academy of Athens) It is known that more than 130 churches have been desecrated and more than 80 converted into mosques, hospitals and hostels.

Cyprus Post, Republic of Cyprus

Κυπριακά Ταχυδρομεία, Κυπριακή Δημοκρατία

Cyprus Post, Republic of Cyprus

Κυπριακά Ταχυδρομεία, Κυπριακή Δημοκρατία

Library of Cyprus University of Technology

Digital Heritage Research Lab of Cyprus University of Technology

29th June 2000

Designer: A. Coutas

Απαγορεύεται η δημοσίευση ή αναπαραγωγή, ηλεκτρονική ή άλλη χωρίς τη γραπτή συγκατάθεση του δημιουργού.

www.cypruspost.gov.cy

TIFF

EL, EN

Image

2000-CHURCHES-10

35.160417, 33.346556

Oriental Press, Bahrain