BEFORE LEAVING Cyprus dodging a volley of criticism, parliamentary president of the Council of Europe Mevlut Cavusoglu managed to bring the religious leaders of the two main faiths on the island together.
On the last day of his official visit to Cyprus, the President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) held a roundtable discussion with Archbishop Chrysostomos II and Turkish Cypriot religious leader Mehmet Emin Yeltekin at the UN-controlled Ledra Palace hotel.
His visit ended with an interfaith discussion on the buffer zone where Chrysostomos requested the restoration of Apostolos Andreas in the occupied areas and the return of the abbot and three monks to the Monastery of Apostle Varnavas.
The archbishop was also held to account for his previous day’s comments that he would rather see Apostolos Andreas collapse than let the Muslim religious endowment Evkaf take over its restoration.
A representative of Evkaf expressed his disappointment over the remarks, saying: “I would like to reassure you that we do all we can to repair and restore the cultural heritage monuments and sites in the north in their original form.”
He also said Evkaf has approved the Apostolos Andreas restoration project prepared by the University of Patra in Greece, which it would like to implement. “We have applied to secure the necessary finance to carry out this project and as soon as we secure the finance we will carry out the restoration,” he added.
Cavusoglu said one of his priorities as PACE president was to enhance intercultural and interfaith dialogue within Europe. “I believe that we need this intercultural and interreligious dialogue in Europe more than ever,” he said.
“We see a rise of extremism, racism, Islamophobia, anti-Semitism and such other phobias which are creating dividing lines among European societies and which are a real threat to our common values like democracy, human rights and rule of law,” he said.
More confidence-building measures, intercommunal dialogue and activities and positive statements were needed in Cyprus, he added.
The religious leaders of both communities could play an active role in this regard, he said. Chrysostomos thanked Cavusoglu for inviting them to the meeting noting that “religious leaders must unite the people and not divide them.”
Yeltekin said religion has a very important place in people’s hearts, minds and souls. “As the two religious leaders present here we believe in constructive behaviour and as the disciples of the prophets we must love one another,” he said.
He noted that people on the island have experienced hardships and difficulties in the past. “As the religious leaders in order for these hardships and difficulties not to be relived again we must ensure that religion does not have a place in politics,” he added.
