CCTV to be installed outside vandalised mosque

Security cameras and improved lighting will be installed outside the Koprulu mosque in Limassol after it was vandalised with racist graffiti against Islam and immigrants on Sunday.

The decision was announced by Limassol mayor Nikos Nicolaides on Thursday after a meeting with Limassol CID chief Ioannis Sotiriades and with the property manager.

According to Sotiriades, it was also agreed that an increased number of police officers will patrol the area to avoid any further incidents.

He added that the police are monitoring other sensitive areas in Limassol which he believes might be potential targets for racist incidents.

Both Nicolaides and Sotiriades confirmed their intention of working together to effectively deal with all forms of violence, xenophobia and intolerance in town.

The incident gained plenty of traction in Turkey, with Turkish Foreign Minister claiming on Tuesday that “Islamophobic rhetoric and actions will not contribute to the efforts towards reaching a settlement of the Cyprus issue.”

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.