Archbishop Chrysostomos yesterday came across as a champion of reconciliation and inter-religious amity, wooing his Turkish Cypriot hosts with rhetoric that sounded out of tune with his usual repertoire.
Calling Turkey a “democratic country” and expressing his willingness to meet with Turkish Cypriot hardliner Dervis Eroglu were some of the highlights of Chrysostomos’ tour of ecclesiastical monuments in the north.
During the historic visit to the occupied areas yesterday – a first for a Cyprus Archbishop – Chrysostomos claimed he had been in favor of restoring the neglected monastery of Apostolos Andreas all along.
Far from blaming the Turkish Cypriot side, the Prelate said certain quarters in the south were responsible for the delays that have brought the monument to the verge of collapse.
“It is through our own fault that Apostolos Andreas has not been maintained to this today. I used to tell them, ‘Look, the monastery must be maintained because in the end it will cave in’. So my conscience is easy, as I have done my duty to the fullest,” Chrysostomos said.
“God willing, very soon we shall see the start of restoration works, something that is in the interests both of Turkey, as being a democratic country, and of the Turkish Cypriots in that they will show they have great love for these monuments.”
Elaborating, the Prelate said Cyprus “is a small state that is on friendly terms with Turkey, the EU and the Middle East because our region desires peace and we must all work toward this goal.”
Chrystostomos thanked the north’s ‘Tourism Minister’ Ersan Saner for being a gracious host. He moreover asked Saner to convey to Turkish Cypriot ‘Prime Minister’ Dervis Eroglu an invitation to visit the Archbishopric.
“I am confident that, starting today, our meetings to discuss the monuments will become more frequent, and I am certain that our collaboration with Mr. Eroglu shall be a positive one.”
Both sides said they were committed to the restoration project, and that all that was left to decide was the how and when.
Given Chrysostomos’ track record on the Cyprus issue – his opposition to the UN peace plan of 2004 and more recently the pamphlets distributed by the Archbishopric, analysts were at a loss yesterday to explain the Prelate’s friendship assault on the Turkish Cypriots. All the more so as Chrysostomos in the past had censured clerics who had performed services in occupied churches.
“One thing’s for sure, he’s unpredictable. It turns out he’s not dogmatic about anything after all,” said Nicos Trimikliniotis, Professor of Law and Sociology at the University of Nicosia.
Charis Psaltis, Assistant Professor of Social and Developmental Psychology at the University of Cyprus’ Department of Psychology, said Chrysostomos is seeking to project a more conciliatory image, but also could not explain the motive.
Stavros Tombazos, Assistant Professor of Political Science at the same university, thinks it likely that Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew is pulling the strings.
Metropolitan Bishop Isaias of Tamassos yesterday welcomed the Archbishop’s initiative in visiting the north.
In a telephone interview with the Mail, Isaias gave the following interpretation of Chrysostomos’ behaviour.
“I can speak from my personal experience. I have been to the north several times, and have presided over mass at the monastery of Apostolos Varnavas. Not once did the Archbishop berate or criticize me.
“In my opinion, he was against church services that got a great deal of publicity, like the Ayios Mamas pilgrimage. He did not want to give the Turkish side an undeserved alibi of promoting freedom of worship in the occupied areas.”
Situated at the tip of the Karpas peninsula, Apostolos Andreas monastery was built on the spot where the Apostle Andrew is said to have come ashore on his way to Greece in the 1st century AD. For the past 36 years under Turkish occupation it has fallen foul of neglect and the elements. The monastery buildings themselves date from the 19th century and the chapel from the 14th century. The last time work was carried out on the monastery was in 1966, and that involved merely adding a series of upper rooms.
The Karpas diocese comes under the jurisdiction of the Archbishopric.
In 2003 opponents of a US-funded UNOPS plan to restore the monastery and chapel snubbed the £1.5 million on offer in a dispute over how the restoration should take place.
The major stumbling block has been the controversial decision to demolish the guesthouses atop the monastery because the building can no longer withstand the burden of such a structure.
Opposition at the time came from the monastery’s restoration committee and from politicians including the Greens’ George Perdikis and DIKO’s Zacharias Koulias.
Although not part of the original site, the guesthouses are imprinted in the minds of refugees and the post-1974 generation of Greek Cypriots.
