Restoration of Turkish occupied monastery lays the foundations for bicommunal cooperation

The restoration of the monastery of Apostolos Andreas, in Turkish occupied Cyprus, lays the foundations for cooperation between Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots, the Greek Cypriot Head of the Technical Committee on Cultural Heritage Takis Hadjidemetriou has told CNA, on the eve of a media visit to the site.

“These foundations will help us walk together along the path of a shared future, in addition to being an expression of mutual respect,” he added, ahead of tomorrow`s visit by representatives of the press to the monastery in Karpasia peninsula, in the northern Turkish occupied areas of Cyprus, to see how the restoration work is progressing.

In his statements to CNA, Hadjidemetriou said this phase of the restoration program is expected to be completed during the summer. He underlined the admirable cooperation among everybody involved, such as the church of Cyprus, and the Bishop of Karpasia, Christoforos, EVKAF, and the Technical Committee.

According to an UNDP announcement, the media site visit is envisaged for Wednesday, 4th of May as part of a routine monitoring programme carried out by the Technical Committee on Cultural Heritage to on going cultural heritage project sides. The visit will take place in the morning. “Visible progress has been made since the last site visit and updates on the ongoing remaining works will be provided”.

On September 2013 UNDP-PFF signed two contribution agreements worth € 2.5 million EURO each, respectively with the Church of Cyprus and the Evkaf Administration for the Restoration of the Apostolos Andreas Monastery. UNDP-PFF has been called by the Technical Committee on Cultural Heritage to implement the project. All four phases will be carried out in accordance with the designs of the University of Patras of Greece.

CNA

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