ARCHBISHOP Chrysostomos II crossed the island’s divide for the first time since 1974 yesterday on a mission to salvage the ancient Apostolos Andreas monastery in the north.
The controversial cleric also made news by revealing that a meeting with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdo?an was on the cards for next month.
Yesterday’s surprise visit to the north aimed to draw attention to the plight of the crumbling monastery and gain support for restoration work, which the Archbishop wants to begin soon after Easter.
Apostolos Andreas, on the island’s northeastern tip, is one of the most important religious monuments for Greek Cypriot pilgrims.
Chrysostomos had earlier sent a letter to Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdo?an asking for his consent to allow restoration work on the monastery and a number of other dilapidated churches.
Before travelling up the Karpas peninsula, Chrysostomos visited the Apostolos Varnavas monastery, also in the north of Cyprus, where he was welcomed by the Turkish Cypriot ‘Tourism Minister’ Ersan Saner. The Archbishop is reported to have become emotional on entering the monastery, where he worshipped the icons.
After a tour of the Apostolos Varnavas monastery, Chrysostomos and Saner had coffee together at a coffeeshop outside the Apostolos Varnavas monastery. The Archbishop reportedly ordered his beverage in Turkish.
“I wish to return to the days when we were all happy and friends,” Chrysostomos told Saner, according to reporters accompanying him on the trip.
Sharing a story from his childhood, Chrysostomos told Saner how as a youngster he was friends with Turkish Cypriots boys from a nearby village.
Saner in turn said both his own father and grandfather spoke Greek fluently, and lamented the growing distance between younger generations of Greek and Turkish Cypriots.
“We need a peaceful island,” Saner said.
Chrysostomos’ tour included a stop at the village of Ayia Triada, where the few remaining Greek Cypriot enclaved clamoured to kiss his hand and receive his blessing. Church bells rang to greet the first Archbishop to visit the occupied areas.
The Prelate crossed into the north early in the morning via the Ayios Dometios checkpoint, passing through without any ID checks. Throughout his visit in the north, Chrysostomos’ limousine was being escorted by a police patrol car of the ‘TRNC’.
Chrysostomos did not go into details on how the visit was arranged, but said he believed that “Ankara gave the green light” after he sent the letter to Erdogan.
“A proposal was made to me, and I said I would gladly go to the north under these conditions.”
“I had stated that I was willing to visit the Apostolos Andreas monastery and meet with someone from the Turkish Cypriot community…so that maintenance works can be speeded up,” he told newsmen.
He would also submit a list of other monuments in the north in urgent need of repair.
“If these sites are ruined, they can never be rebuilt again,” noted Chrysostomos.
He said the biggest stumbling block to beginning restoration works on the Apostolos Andreas monastery are the vendors outside, who need to dismantle their stands to make way for surveyors.
“What I shall stress to them [the Turkish Cypriots] is that we have heard many words before. It is time for action.”
Some 520 churches, chapels, monasteries and places of pilgrimage are believed to have been pillaged and desecrated, and many are in urgent need of repair.
Chrysostomos revealed also that during his upcoming trip to Istanbul he was ready to meet with the Turkish premier. The Archbishop will be in Istanbul from 16 to 20 April at the invitation of the Ecumenical Patriarchate.
He said he had asked Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew to intercede in arranging the meeting.
