Greens step in to stop demolition of old Armenian cemetery

THE Green Party has intervened in an effort to stop the demolition of graves at the old Armenian Cemetery near the Ledra Palace Hotel.

Party leader, George Perdikes, described the cemetery as “a sacred place that should be preserved and maintained. We call on the government to solve the problem.”

He went on to say that “the Armenian Archbishop has agreed to stop the demolition work until tomorrow, when a meeting will take place between the Armenian Prelature, the Green Party and Bedros Kalaydjian, current parliamentary representative of the Armenian community in Cyprus, to discuss the matter.

The cemetery contains the remains of Armenians who lived and worked in Nicosia from the 18th century until 1931.

It is a tranquil place, with many old trees, a stone well and a little chapel in the Armenian Orthodox style. But years of neglect, has resulted in making the area overgrown and unkempt.
One of the gates has been destroyed and railings have been taken away, so passers-by felt free to toss their rubbish, individually and in bags, onto the consecrated ground. Thick scrub, thorn bushes, hornets’ nests, waist-high grass and bushes have only last week been removed. Vandals had torn down crosses, broken headstones, removed name-shields, damaged tombs and scattered the stones.

The Prelature’s plans are believed to include digging up all the remains and putting the bones together in a communal pit in the new Armenian cemetery on the outskirts of the capital. If the descendants of the people buried there cannot afford the considerable expense of individually removing their ancestors and reburying them, there is the prospect that a bulldozer will move in and do the job.

The land is then likely to be made available for redevelopment.

There are approximately 2,500 Armenians living in Cyprus, in addition to the 500 non-Cypriot Armenians that work on the island.

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