Church Restoration. . .a Bold Leader Subject
looks like this is a project that some BL's could participate in as there is always conversation at every program about this. make some requests! Note that the mosque in Limmasol is included. Most of the time you only hear of the breakdown of GO churches in the north of Cyprus.
Contributing to the cultural heritage
By Daniel Thomas
THE EMPLOYERS’ and Industrialists Federation of Cyprus (OEB) displayed their philanthropic and culture-conscious credentials yesterday by making a symbolic donation towards a project aimed at preserving and restoring religious landmarks of Cyprus’ two main ethnic groups.
The symbolic donation was formally handed by OEB president Andreas Pittas to UN Special Representative to Cyprus Alexander Downer, during a lunch at a Nicosia restaurant also attended by Presidential Commissioner George Iacovou and the advisor to the Turkish Cypriot leader Ozdil Nami.
The project in question involves the restoration of the Archangel Michael church in occupied Lefkoniko and Arnavut mosque in Limassol. The unimpeded degradation and desecration of religious sites in both the occupied and free territories has proven to be a constant source of anger and apprehension between the island’s two communities.
Speaking at the lunch, Pittas reiterated his organisation’s unwavering support for any kind of initiative to foster cooperation and reconciliation across the dividing line, saying that the OEB hopes “that many businessmen will follow our symbolic gesture and will contribute towards restoring these two cultural sites”.
Expressing his gratitude and congratulations to the organisation, Alexander Downer said that this was “an occasion where we can draw attention to the support from the Employers Federation for bicommunal activities to restore a mosque and a church and I think it would be nice if Cypriots right around the island did what they can to support this initiative”.
The total cost of the repairs is expected to be around €1.4 million
Iacovou said that the contribution “is of great significance and is an example to follow,” while explaining how as part of the ongoing negotiations, a technical committee has been established whose goal is to record and preserve the combined cultural history of Cyprus.
Iacovou explained how it was on the sideline of this project that the pilot scheme to restore the two religious sites had been developed, while the symbolism of the cooperative plan constituted proof that positive developments are being made through the talks.
Nami also expressed his gratitude at the interest displayed by OEB, recognising that the organisation has been active in pursuing bicommuncal initiatives for close to a decade. Nami also explained that while the immediate aim of the project was to restore these two important edifices of Cyprus’ cultural heritage, it was also borne out of a need to “engender more communication and trust between the two communities.”
Meanwhile Downer met Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat in the north for around an hour yesterday. According to press reports, Downer said that the meeting had gone very well and that he remained confident that the two leaders were making progress in the negotiations. He added that the current, first phase of the talks would be concluded after the summer recess and that he “hopes that we can make some steps in the second phase”, which he described as especially important.
Copyright © Cyprus Mail 2009
Contributing to the cultural heritage
By Daniel Thomas
THE EMPLOYERS’ and Industrialists Federation of Cyprus (OEB) displayed their philanthropic and culture-conscious credentials yesterday by making a symbolic donation towards a project aimed at preserving and restoring religious landmarks of Cyprus’ two main ethnic groups.
The symbolic donation was formally handed by OEB president Andreas Pittas to UN Special Representative to Cyprus Alexander Downer, during a lunch at a Nicosia restaurant also attended by Presidential Commissioner George Iacovou and the advisor to the Turkish Cypriot leader Ozdil Nami.
The project in question involves the restoration of the Archangel Michael church in occupied Lefkoniko and Arnavut mosque in Limassol. The unimpeded degradation and desecration of religious sites in both the occupied and free territories has proven to be a constant source of anger and apprehension between the island’s two communities.
Speaking at the lunch, Pittas reiterated his organisation’s unwavering support for any kind of initiative to foster cooperation and reconciliation across the dividing line, saying that the OEB hopes “that many businessmen will follow our symbolic gesture and will contribute towards restoring these two cultural sites”.
Expressing his gratitude and congratulations to the organisation, Alexander Downer said that this was “an occasion where we can draw attention to the support from the Employers Federation for bicommunal activities to restore a mosque and a church and I think it would be nice if Cypriots right around the island did what they can to support this initiative”.
The total cost of the repairs is expected to be around €1.4 million
Iacovou said that the contribution “is of great significance and is an example to follow,” while explaining how as part of the ongoing negotiations, a technical committee has been established whose goal is to record and preserve the combined cultural history of Cyprus.
Iacovou explained how it was on the sideline of this project that the pilot scheme to restore the two religious sites had been developed, while the symbolism of the cooperative plan constituted proof that positive developments are being made through the talks.
Nami also expressed his gratitude at the interest displayed by OEB, recognising that the organisation has been active in pursuing bicommuncal initiatives for close to a decade. Nami also explained that while the immediate aim of the project was to restore these two important edifices of Cyprus’ cultural heritage, it was also borne out of a need to “engender more communication and trust between the two communities.”
Meanwhile Downer met Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat in the north for around an hour yesterday. According to press reports, Downer said that the meeting had gone very well and that he remained confident that the two leaders were making progress in the negotiations. He added that the current, first phase of the talks would be concluded after the summer recess and that he “hopes that we can make some steps in the second phase”, which he described as especially important.
Copyright © Cyprus Mail 2009
About
Translate!
Highlight the text you want to translate and then click your language below...
You can also drag these links to your browser's links bar and use them on any site.
more...
Albanian Arabic Bulgarian Catalan Chinese (Simplified) Chinese (Traditional) Croatian Czech Danish Dutch English Estonian Filipino Finnish French Galician German Greek Hebrew Hindi Hungarian Indonesian Italian Japanese Korean Latvian Lithuanian Maltese Norwegian Polish Portuguese Romanian Russian Serbian Slovak Slovenian Spanish Swedish Thai Turkish Ukrainian Vietnamese
You can also drag these links to your browser's links bar and use them on any site.
more...
Albanian Arabic Bulgarian Catalan Chinese (Simplified) Chinese (Traditional) Croatian Czech Danish Dutch English Estonian Filipino Finnish French Galician German Greek Hebrew Hindi Hungarian Indonesian Italian Japanese Korean Latvian Lithuanian Maltese Norwegian Polish Portuguese Romanian Russian Serbian Slovak Slovenian Spanish Swedish Thai Turkish Ukrainian Vietnamese
Share!
Hey guys, this button exists on every page now... which means you can share discussions, photos, blogs, etc. on facebook, myspace, hi5, etc.
Music
© 2010 Created by chad steele on Ning. Create a Ning Network!
