Cyprus-Forum.com

[joe]

http://rawstory.com/news/2006/Cyprus_pr ... 02006.html


Cyprus president slams church desecration in papal talks

dpa German Press Agency
Published: Friday November 10, 2006

Vatican City- Cyprus President Tassos Papadopoulos met Pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican on Friday and later said the desecration of Christian churches in the Turkish sector of the Mediterranean island showed Turkey was not complying with its European Union application membership obligations. "If Turkey genuinely wants to become an EU member, it must show that the rights on which the EU was founded, which include religious freedom and the respect of religious traditions, are being observed in practice," Papadopoulos told a press conference after his audience at the Vatican.

During his meeting with the pope, Papadopoulos gifted the head of the Roman Catholic Church with a book of photographs showing churches in the Turkish-occupied northern sector that had been destroyed or converted into hotels and bars.

"Of the 350 churches found in the occupied area, all except a handful have been desecrated," Papadopoulos told reporters.

The president said the pope had been "upset" and "deeply concerned" by the photographs.

Italy's Ansa news agency quoted the pontiff as saying: "So much destruction, it is incredible."

Benedict is scheduled to pay a four-day visit to Turkey at the end of November. But Papadopolous said the pope's forthcoming trip had not been discussed during their meeting.

On Wednesday, the EU gave Turkey a mid-December deadline to open its ports to Greek Cypriot vessels, saying this was a key condition for keeping Ankara's EU entry bid on track.

Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso also said Turkey's failure to fulfil its obligations towards Cyprus would "affect the overall progress" in Ankara's 12-month-old EU membership negotiations.

The Republic of Cyprus joined the EU in 2004 but remains a divided country and reunification talks are at a stalemate.

Papadopolous said Cyprus did not oppose Turkish entry in the EU on principle, but stressed that Ankara should be committed to honouring its obligations, including normalizing bilateral relations with the Republic of Cyprus."

"As an EU member we would have a right to say negotiations should not continue," Papadopolous warned.

According to an official statement from the Vatican, the 20-minute meeting with the pope centred on the current political situation facing Cyprus and the conditions facing the island's Christian communities. Cyprus is 78 per cent Greek Orthodox and also has a sizable Muslim community.

Papadopolous also used the meeting to formally invite the pope to the island, but said the pontiff had not committed himself.

[souroul]

noooooooooo the turks are innocent. they would NEVER do that

[humanist]

Gawd ...... that is all that Cyprus needs her President meeting with the Pope. That is so not right. Church and politics do not mix and there was no need for him to meet the Pope.

I think Cypriots who believe in Christianity need to let go of the descecration of Churches. If those who destryed and looted the churches return artifacts that would be noble otherwise let it go. Concentrate on getting the nation Unified Do Not look for new things to blame each other.

God knows the truth and since we all believe in the same God ... lets just leave that one to the Universe.