A draft agreement on the restoration of the Monastery of Apostle Andreas in the Turkish occupied area of Karpasia, was presented by the UNDP to the Management Committee of the Monastery, under Bishop of Karpasia Christoforos, during a meeting held here Thursday at the Holy Archibishopric.
In statements to the Press, after the meeting, Bishop of Karpasia said that signing an agreement to restore the Monastery is the Church’s ultimate goal, but it would not rush into it. He noted that there will be an in-depth study and evaluation of the draft by the consultants of the Church, followed by a meeting with the UNDP to submit the Church’s comments on the draft.
“We are not pressed for time in the sense that we do not want to rush and take steps that will not allow us to achieve a proper agreement. The matter does not concern only us. We must be very careful to make an agreement that will ensure proper restoration of the Monastery, without creating new problems, deriving from the general situation in the occupied part of Cyprus” he noted.
No timeframes have been set for the conclusion of the evaluation of the draft and the arrangement of a new meeting with the UNDP, but the Church wishes for this to happen as soon as possible, he added.
Cyprus which joined the EU in 2004 has been divided since 1974, when Turkey invaded and occupied its northern third.