The restoration of the Apostolos Andreas monastery on the eastern tip of the occupied Karpasia Peninsula will begin in September, Archbishop of Cyprus Chrysostomos announced this week.
“Our goal is the restoration of all of our churches as we also wish for the restoration of all the mosques in Cyprus,” Chrysostomos said. He was speaking after meeting Turkish Cypriot Mufti Talip Atalay in the house of the Swedish Ambassador Klas Gierow.
The Archbishop also thanked the mufti for facilitating visits to churches and monasteries in the north and assured that Turkish Cypriots could come and visit their mosques in the south.
Atalay said it is their goal to give all of their power for the improvement of religious freedoms.
“As the religious leaders of Cyprus and by using the pure language of religion we do our best and we will do our best to support the Cyprus peace process,” Atalay said.
The meeting took place within the framework of the interreligious dialogue facilitated by the government of Sweden and the next meeting is expected to be in September.
Restoration works will take place according to a study by the University of Patras and the project will be implemented by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), which signed two contribution agreements in September worth € 2.5 million each, with the Church of Cyprus and the Turkish Cypriot religious foundation Evkaf.
The Greek Orthodox monastery is in urgent need of repair and it had taken years to reach consensus on its restoration.
Source: cyprus-mail