Pope introduced to an old Ottoman custom on eve of trip to Turkey
On November 28 Pope Benedict XVI will begin his much-discussed trip to Turkey. In anticipation of that event, the pontif recently received an important visit from President Papadopoulos of the [Greek] Republic of Cyprus.
[Translated from the original french:]
Papadopoulos hands Pope photos of churches destroyed by turks
President of Cyprus Tassos Papadopoulos was received by Pope Benedict XVI friday, to whom he offered a photo album of destroyed and disused churches from the turkish section of the island, stated journalists accredited to the Vatican.
... M. Papadopoulos, who had come to Rome specifically for this trip to the Vatican, talked about the situation of "the diverse christian communities of the island", according to the Vatican.
...
During the traditional exchange of gifts, the cypriot president handed the pope a 19th century icon from a destroyed church in the turkish zone, as well as a photo album of 300 churches that were either destroyed or turned to other use within that part of the island.
"Incredible", muttered the pope, quite moved.
...
This visit comes just over two weeks away from Benedict XVI's upcoming trip to Turkey, and at atime when the EU, to Cyprus' satisfaction, is pressing Turkey to open her ports to greek Cypriot shipping.
The treatment of Cypriot Christian churches at the hands of the turks since their invasion is shocking. From March of 2006, an eye-witness account of the respect the island's turks hold for Europe's Christian heritage:
The Islamization of the north of the island has been concretized in the destruction of all that was Christian. Yannis Eliades, director of the Byzantine Museum of Nicosia, calculates that 25,000 icons have disappeared from the churches in the zone occupied by the Turks.
...
At the village of Peristerona, on the road to Famagosta, the medieval monastery of Saint Anastasia ... is being used as a stable, with the cows chewing their cud amid what remains of the ancient cells.
... [Along the coast] many of the churches have been turned into restaurants, bars, and nightclubs, for the enjoyment of the tourists. ... Almost the entire artistic patrimony of the Orthodox Church in the territory occupied by the Turks – 520 buildings between churches, chapels, and monasteries – has been sacked, demolished, or disfigured. Only three churches and one monastery, the monastery of Saint Barnabas, which has been turned into a museum, are in a more or less dignified state.
... I insist: what do you have to say about the churches that, still today, are being turned into mosques? [Huseyn Ozel, a government spokesman for the so-called Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus] spreads his arms wide:“It is an Ottoman custom...”
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