Apostolos Andreas petition handed to president

DIKO deputy and legal adviser of the Administrative Committee for Apostolos Andreas Zacharias Koulias yesterday delivered a letter to President Tassos Papadopoulos objecting to the Cabinet’s decision last week to allow controversial work to go ahead on the chapel building.

Koulias said the letter had attached a list of thousands of signatures as well as those of villagers from occupied Rizokarpasso and Ayia Triada requesting that the chapel’s current appearance be maintained.

The Cabinet last week approved the plan for the controversial renovation of the church one the eve of a deadline for the withdrawal of American funding for the project.

Part of the plan for renovation of the monastery involved the demolition of a number of upper rooms attached to the chapel, which were not originally part of the structure, and which had been deemed unsafe by the project managers.

While a majority on the Holy Synod supported the plan, a faction within the Church and among residents was opposed. They argued the monastery was a monument to the occupation of northern Cyprus and to the enclaved Greek Cypriots living there, and should not be altered.

In a move to appease the dissenters, the Cabinet said the upper rooms could possibly be rebuilt at a later stage. However, Koulias said the dissenters did not accept the Cabinet’s decision.

“They do not accept the reason for the rooms to be demolished or any part of the building to be removed from the historical monastery of Apostlos Andreas,” he told reporters.

Government Spokesman Kypros Chrysostomides confirmed the letter had been received.

“The decision on Apostolos Andreas has been taken on a political level in the framework of co-operation with UNOPS and was announced by the UN Secretary-general himself in New York. In view of this and of the deadline for the expiration of the deal, the Cabinet approved Plan B,” he said.

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