Apostolos Andreas applications top 6,000

OVER 6,000 applications to visit Apostolos Andreas have been submitted to the office of the Humanitarian Affairs Commissioner.

Yesterday, staff were still sifting through the thousands of applications for the pilgrimage to the Apostolos Andreas Monastery in occupied Karpasia.

Commissioner Takis Christopoulos said they hoped to draw up a final list by the end of the week.

Only a thousand people will be able to make the trip to the Turkish- occupied areas for the pilgrimage to the remote monastery on September 13.

It will be the third visit by Greek Cypriots to the Orthodox shrine since 1974.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.