The Municipality of Kyrenia, through its Mayor, Iosif Violaris, condemns the vandalism at the cave of Agios Fanourios in the Turkish occupied Agios Georgios village in the Kyrenia district and calls on the Government of Cyprus to apply pressure to investigate the matter.
Invited by the Cyprus News Agency (CNA) to comment on reports about the vandalism at the cave located beneath the church, Violaris said, “we certainly condemn these actions; we want them to be investigated.”
Greek Cypriots who recently visited the Church of Agios Fanourios in occupied Kyrenia reported to CNA that they were shocked to see the state of the cave which they described as a tremendous insult to the Orthodox faith and especially to the memory of Agios Fanourios.
According to the same reports, inside the small cave beneath the church of Agios Fanourios — where, according to tradition, the saint’s horse was buried —the area has been turned into a “den of vandalism, sacrilegious acts, and possibly illegality.”
Relevant photographic material indicated sacred icons were thrown on the ground, some were broken, the floor was littered with used condoms while the walls were marked with scribbles and graffiti, and signs of drug use were detected inside the cave.
The Mayor of Kyrenia said that the government in the free areas of the Republic should exert pressure on the occupying “authorities” to investigate the matter.
Regarding the situation in Kyrenia, he said that the once picturesque city has now been built up.
Referring to the Church of Archangel Michael, he said it has been turned into a museum and that the “authorities” of the illegal regime do not allow anyone to proceed with its restoration.
“Kyrenia, apart from the port area which has remained roughly the same, is now unrecognisable. Buildings have been demolished and high-rise apartments have filled the area; everyone builds wherever they want. It is no longer the picturesque, beautiful Kyrenia we remember”, he said.
The incident at Agios Fanourios could have happened in the free areas as well, he said, but at the same time, “it could also be organised, just as I perceive the ‘capture’ of the five Greek Cypriots to be organised, as retaliation for Simon Aykut,” he told CNA.
He also said that on August 27, which is Agios Fanourios’ feast day, refugees from Agios Georgios usually visit their occupied village and attend church services. “Most likely, this could also be a pretext to prevent them from going this year,” he concluded.
Five Greek Cypriots, all over the age of 60, were illegally “arrested” on July 19, near Turkish-occupied Trikomo. The Cyprus Government speaks of abduction of citizens of the Republic of Cyprus by the “authorities” in the island’s Turkish-occupied areas and has raised the issue with the UN Secretary-General, the Presidents of the European Union Institutions, the EU High Representative, the Commissioner for Enlargement, and Foreign Ministers, inter alia.
Israeli property developer Simon Aykut, accused of developing and selling property on Greek Cypriot land in the Turkish occupied north, is in custody since last year.