111th CONGRESS Printed for the use of the 

1st Session Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe

CYPRUS’ RELIGIOUS CULTURAL 

HERITAGE IN PERIL

JULY 21, 2009

Briefing of the 

Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe

Washington: 2012


big-LOGO.EPS
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Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe 

234 Ford House Office Building 

Washington, DC 20515

202–225–1901

csce@mail.house.gov 

http://www.csce.gov

Legislative Branch Commissioners

HOUSE 

ALCEE L. HASTINGS, FLORIDA,

Co-Chairman 

EDWARD J. MARKEY, MASSACHUSETTS

LOUISE MCINTOSH SLAUGHTER,

NEW YORK

MIKE MCINTYRE, NORTH CAROLINA

G.K. BUTTERFIELD, NORTH CAROLINA

CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, NEW JERSEY

ROBERT B. ADERHOLT, ALABAMA

JOSEPH R. PITTS, PENNSYLVANIA

DARRELL E. ISSA, CALIFORNIA

SENATE 

BENJAMIN L. CARDIN, MARYLAND,

Chairman 

CHRISTOPHER J. DODD, CONNECTICUT

SHELDON WHITEHOUSE, RHODE ISLAND

TOM UDALL, NEW MEXICO

JEANNE SHAHEEN, NEW HAMPSHIRE

SAM BROWNBACK, KANSAS

SAXBY CHAMBLISS, GEORGIA

RICHARD BURR, NORTH CAROLINA

ROBERT F. WICKER, MISSISSIPPI

Executive Branch Commissioners

VACANT, DEPARTMENT OF STATE

ALEXANDER VERSHBOW, DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

VACANT, DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

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ABOUT THE ORGANIZATION FOR SECURITY AND COOPERATION IN EUROPE 

The Helsinki process, formally titled the Conference on Security and Cooperation in 

Europe, traces its origin to the signing of the Helsinki Final Act in Finland on August 

1, 1975, by the leaders of 33 European countries, the United States and Canada. As of 

January 1, 1995, the Helsinki process was renamed the Organization for Security and 

Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). The membership of the OSCE has expanded to 56 participating States, reflecting the breakup of the Soviet Union, Czechoslovakia, and Yugoslavia. 

The OSCE Secretariat is in Vienna, Austria, where weekly meetings of the participating States’ permanent representatives are held. In addition, specialized seminars and 

meetings are convened in various locations. Periodic consultations are held among Senior 

Officials, Ministers and Heads of State or Government. 

Although the OSCE continues to engage in standard setting in the fields of military 

security, economic and environmental cooperation, and human rights and humanitarian 

concerns, the Organization is primarily focused on initiatives designed to prevent, manage 

and resolve conflict within and among the participating States. The Organization deploys 

numerous missions and field activities located in Southeastern and Eastern Europe, the 

Caucasus, and Central Asia. The website of the OSCE is: <www.osce.org>. 

ABOUT THE COMMISSION ON SECURITY AND COOPERATION IN EUROPE 

The Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, also known as the Helsinki 

Commission, is a U.S. Government agency created in 1976 to monitor and encourage 

compliance by the participating States with their OSCE commitments, with a particular 

emphasis on human rights. 

The Commission consists of nine members from the United States Senate, nine members from the House of Representatives, and one member each from the Departments of 

State, Defense and Commerce. The positions of Chair and Co-Chair rotate between the 

Senate and House every two years, when a new Congress convenes. A professional staff 

assists the Commissioners in their work. 

In fulfilling its mandate, the Commission gathers and disseminates relevant information to the U.S. Congress and the public by convening hearings, issuing reports that 

reflect the views of Members of the Commission and/or its staff, and providing details 

about the activities of the Helsinki process and developments in OSCE participating 

States. 

The Commission also contributes to the formulation and execution of U.S. policy 

regarding the OSCE, including through Member and staff participation on U.S. Delegations to OSCE meetings. Members of the Commission have regular contact with 

parliamentarians, government officials, representatives of non-governmental organizations, and private individuals from participating States. The website of the Commission 

is: <www.csce.gov>. 

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CYPRUS’ RELIGIOUS CULTURAL HERITAGE IN PERIL

JULY 21, 2009

COMMISSIONERS 

Page 

PARTICIPANTS 

Ronald J. McNamara, Policy Advisor, Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe .. 1

Michael Jansen, Author, ‘‘War and Cultural Heritage: Cyprus After the 1974 Turkish Invasion’’ .............................................................................................................................................. 2

Charalampos Chotzakoglou, Professor of Byzantine Art and Archaeology, Hellenic Open 

University and Museum of Kykkos Monastery ......................................................................... 5

Klaus Gallas, Art Historian and Byzantine Expert ..................................................................... 7

APPENDICES 

Prepared statement of Hon. Benjamin L. Cardin, Chairman, Commission on Security and 

Cooperation in Europe ................................................................................................................ 19

Prepared statement of Christopher H. Smith, Ranking Member, Commission on Security 

and Cooperation in Europe ......................................................................................................... 20

Prepared statement of Hon. Mike McIntyre, Commissioner, Commission on Security and 

Cooperation in Europe ................................................................................................................ 21

Prepared statement of Charalampos Chotzakoglou, Professor of Byzantine Art and Archaeology, Hellenic Open University and Museum of Kykkos Monastery ..................................... 22

Prepared statement of Klaus Gallas, Art Historian and Byzantine Expert .............................. 25

Prepared statement of Michael Jansen, Author, ‘‘War and Cultural Heritage: Cyprus After 

the 1974 Turkish Invasion’’ ........................................................................................................ 28

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CYPRUS’ RELIGIOUS CULTURAL HERITAGE IN PERIL 

JULY 21, 2009

Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe

Washington, DC

The briefing was held at 2:02 p.m. in room B–318, Rayburn House Office Building, 

Washington, DC, Ronald J. McNamara, Policy Advisor, Commission on Security and 

Cooperation in Europe, moderating. 

Panelists present: Ronald J. McNamara, Policy Advisor, Commission on Security and 

Cooperation in Europe; Charalampos Chotzakoglou, Professor of Byzantine Art and 

Archaeology, Hellenic Open University and Museum of Kykkos Monastery; Klaus Gallas, 

Art Historian and Byzantine Expert; and Michael Jansen, Author, ‘‘War and Cultural 

Heritage: Cyprus After the 1974 Turkish Invasion’’. 

Mr. MCNAMARA. If you could take your seats, thank you. Welcome to this briefing 

of the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe. My name is Ron McNamara 

and I’ll be serving as the moderator for this afternoon’s briefing. 

At the outset, let me express apologies because the Senate Foreign Relations Committee is having a business meeting right now which requires our Chairman, Senator 

Cardin’s participation. And then, as things go on Capitol Hill, the House of Representatives has scheduled the official photograph of the Members of the 111th Congress to be 

taken just prior to this afternoon’s briefing. So there may be a number of Members and 

Commissioners coming in and out and we certainly will accommodate them when they 

appear. 

I am pleased to welcome you to this Commission briefing on ‘‘Cyprus’ Religious Cultural Heritage in Peril.’’ Today’s session is part of the Commission’s ongoing efforts to 

assess implementation of OSCE commitments by participating States. In 1991, representatives of those States gathered in Krakow, Poland, for the Symposium on the Cultural 

Heritage. The document agreed to by all countries at that meeting included language 

particularly relevant to the issue before us this afternoon. 

The OSCE countries acknowledged the important contribution of religious faiths, 

institutions and organizations to the cultural heritage and committed themselves ‘‘to 

cooperate closely with such groups regarding the preservation of the cultural heritage, 

paying due attention to monuments and objects of religious origin whose original communities no longer use them or no longer exist in the particular region.’’

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Given its particular applicability to the situation in northern Cyprus, I would repeat 

that last part of the text: ‘‘whose original communities no longer use them or no longer 

exist in the particular region.’’

In stark contrast to the situation in the North, which I recently had an opportunity 

to visit, scores of mosques and other Islamic places of worship are maintained by the Cypriot Government in the southern part of the country. 

Against this backdrop, the Commission requested that the Law Library of Congress 

prepare a report on relevant international law governing protection and preservation of 

religious cultural heritage. We appreciate the assistance that was rendered by the 

Library’s staff and I am pleased to make that report available via the Commission’s Web 

site. You can visit our Web site after the conclusion of the briefing by clicking on 

www.csce.gov and you should be able to access that particular report prepared by the Law 

Library of Congress. As part of the Commission’s investigation into these matters, I also, 

as I mentioned, had an opportunity to recently visit that part of Cyprus. 

Earlier this month, the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly adopted a series of resolutions by one of our Commission members, Senator Roger Wicker, that called upon all 

participating States: to implement their OSCE commitments and international obligations; to ensure the preservation and protection of religious cultural heritage sites 

including churches, chapels and monasteries as well as monuments and objects of religious origin; to prevent the theft, clandestine excavation and illicit export, import or 

transfer of ownership of cultural property; to enhance their cooperation in efforts to prevent the illicit international trafficking in objects of religious origin and other cultural 

property; and to facilitate the restitution of illicitly exported cultural property. 

To help us focus attention on the scope of the damage and destruction to Cyprus’ rich 

religious cultural heritage in the northern part of the country, I’m pleased to introduce 

our panel of experts for this afternoon’s briefing. We will begin with Ms. Michael Jansen, 

an author and veteran journalist who has written extensively on the destruction of cultural heritage in northern Cyprus. She is the author of ‘‘War and Cultural Heritage: 

Cyprus after the 1974 Turkish Invasion.’’

Next we will hear from Dr. Charalampos Chotzakoglou, Professor of Byzantine art 

and Archeology at the Hellenic Open University and the Museum of Kykkos Monastery. 

He is the author of, ‘‘Religious Monuments in Turkish-Occupied Cyprus: Evidence and 

Acts of Continuous Destruction.’’

Finally, we will hear from Dr. Klaus Gallas, an art historian and Byzantine expert 

who has focused international attention on international art smuggling of icons and other 

religious and archeological artifacts plundered from northern Cyprus. 

At the conclusion of the formal presentations and our briefing, I will invite members 

of the audience who are interested and have time to be present for the screening of an 

18-minute video produced by Dr. Gallas entitled, ‘‘Where Heaven Falls Prey to Thieves.’’

Thank you for your presence this afternoon and I turn the floor over to Ms. Jansen. 

Ms. JANSEN. Thank you, Mr. McNamara. I am very pleased to be here and very honored to speak to the Helsinki Commission. The looting of Cyprus’ cultural heritage is not 

only a crime against Cyprus but a crime against humanity. We all are diminished by cultural loss of any kind. As a journalist based in the Eastern Mediterranean, I have seen 

a great deal of war, the scourge of the world’s cultural heritage. 

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Indeed, we are just picking up the pieces of the wanton destruction of Europe’s heritage during World War II. What has happened since Turkey occupied northern Cyprus 35 

years ago has been even more dramatic than what took place in Europe. 

The devastation is comprehensive and has taken place in a small area. Churches, 

chapels, monasteries, libraries, museums, and private collections of religious art and 

antiquities were looted. Religious and historical sites have been damaged, ravaged and 

destroyed. While the focus of this meeting is on the island’s religious heritage, this is 

rooted in 12,000 years of history which came before St. Paul and St. Barnabas brought 

Christianity to Cyprus. 

The cleansing of religious and historical sites began as soon as Turkish troops set 

foot in northern Cyprus on July 20, 1974, and continues until today. Cultural cleansing 

proceeded in parallel with the ethnic cleansing of 162,000 Greek Cypriots living in the 

area occupied by Turkey. When the first phase of the cleansing process ended in 1976, 

158,000 Greek Cypriots had been driven into the government-controlled south. Pillage was 

both random and conducted by professional thieves and smugglers. 

While gathering material for my book, ‘‘War and Cultural Heritage,’’ I interviewed 

Dutch icon dealer Michel Van Rijn, who was in the North during July 1974. As he made 

his way to Nicosia along roads clogged with refugees, he saw Turkish soldiers throwing 

icons from looted churches onto burning pyres. My husband, a correspondent for The 

Economist of London, visited the area in September 1974 and found that churches were 

open to both looters and vandals. Nothing had been done to secure the churches when 

I went there in February 1975. Looters not only ravaged art but also, in the process of 

plundering, destroyed religious buildings and archaeological sites. 

During the second phase of the cultural cleansing of Cyprus, from 1977 through 1979, 

the number of Greek Cypriots residing in the North was reduced from 3,600 to 2,000, 

while specific treasures were targeted by local networks of icons and antiquities smugglers. 

The pillage was directed by Aydin Dikmen, a major Turkish black market dealer in 

Munich. He had developed close connections with Turkish Cypriot looters and smugglers 

well before 1974. The third phase began in 1980 and is ongoing. Today fewer than 500 

Greek Cypriots, most of them elderly, remain in enclaves in the occupied North. 

Theft continues from known and newly discovered archaeological sites and illegal 

excavations are being conducted by Turkish archaeologists. Both church buildings and 

historical sites are falling into rack and ruin due to neglect or being exploited or bulldozed 

by developers. 

Turkey is directly responsible for whatever takes place in northern Cyprus. The cultural cleansing of the area could have been averted or curbed if Ankara had honored its 

signature on the 1954 Hague Convention for the protection of cultural heritage during war 

and occupation. But Turkey did not meet its commitments. 

There were several opportunities for the international community to press Turkey to 

do so. The first came in 1974 and 1975, before looting had become widespread or focused 

on specific treasures. In mid-September 1974, less than a month after the cease-fire, a 

Turkish team of experts visited northern Cyprus and recommended that an inventory be 

made of both archaeological and church treasures and that a senior archaeologist should 

be appointed to protect and preserve cultural property. 

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In early October of that year, two experts from UNESCO toured sites in both north 

and south and found war damage was slight. They called for the appointment of a counselor for cultural heritage to supervise conservation and restoration. UNESCO sent 

Canadian scholar, Jacques Dalibard, to Cyprus in February 1975. He concluded that 

Cyprus should be regarded as ‘‘one huge monument’’ and called for the establishment of 

a permanent presence in the North to supervise the protection and restoration of antiquities and churches. 

UNESCO suppressed the report, his life was threatened and nothing was done. 

Between 1982 and 1989, European initiatives provided fresh opportunities to halt depredation and destruction. These were undertaken by a subcommittee of the Parliamentary 

Assembly of the Council of Europe and Europa Nostra. The former dispatched a mission 

to Cyprus. It reported that most of the damage has occurred in the North and is the result 

of looting evidently linked with a highly professional international market in illegally 

exported art. Nothing was done. 

An opportunity also presented itself in 1989. This was the landmark trial in 

Indianapolis where a judge ordered a local art dealer to return to Cyprus four segments 

of an early 6th-century mosaic composition. These had been stripped by Dikmen’s agents 

from a church in northern Cyprus. 

The judge awarded the mosaics to Cyprus on the grounds that, quote, ‘‘a thief obtains 

no title or right of possession of stolen items,’’ unquote. Therefore, quote, ‘‘a thief cannot 

pass on any right of ownership to subsequent purchasers,’’ unquote. Nothing was done 

about Dikmen or continuing pillage and destruction of the cultural heritage of Cyprus. 

An opportunity to put Dikmen out of business was presented to Germany in 1970—

1997 when the Munich police helped Van Rijn, poacher turned game keeper by this time, 

to mount a sting operation designed to return stolen icons and antiquities to Cyprus. 

Dikmen’s hoard of 8,000 items was seized; hundreds of Cypriot artifacts were identified. 

Dikmen was put in prison. 

He was released after a year and the treasures remain in Munich. Turkey may not 

have set out to pillage and destroy the cultural heritage of northern Cyprus, but Ankara 

did set out to change the area’s identity. Ankara cleansed the Greek Cypriots and erased 

the Hellenic character of the North by replacing Greek place names with Turkish names. 

Turkey also collaborated in the destruction of the North’s dominant Christian culture 

by allowing churches to collapse due to neglect or to be looted and to be used as cinemas, 

restaurants, store houses and goat pens. 

Hundreds of churches and chapels, frescoes and icons had survived in the North until 

the last quarter of the 20th century and provided spiritual uplift to local Christian 

communities. Finally, I would like to suggest that the CSCE has some responsibility for 

the division and ethnic and cultural cleansing of Cyprus. As the Helsinki Accord was 

being negotiated, the Greek military junta made a coup against the legitimate Cyprus 

government. Turkey occupied more than 36 percent of island and Britain did nothing. 

These three countries were guarantors of the island’s independence and sovereignty. 

The OSCE also did nothing. The least the OSCE can do today is to press Ankara to halt 

the destruction of Christian sites and illegal archaeological excavations and stop traffic 

in icons and antiquities. Turkey should also allow for the preservation and restoration of 

religious and cultural sites. The OSCE should ensure that member states do not receive 

stolen Cypriot art and antiquities. Thank you very much. 

5

Mr. MCNAMARA. Thank you very much. Our next speaker will be Dr. Charalampos 

Chotzakoglou. On the monitor to your right will be an ongoing slide presentation of 

images that he has brought for this afternoon’s briefing. 

Dr. CHOTZAKOGLOU. I too would like to thank the Helsinki Commission for inviting 

me to testify on an issue which I believe is of great importance. Your decision to hold this 

briefing clearly indicates the seriousness and concern of the issue under discussion. 

Yesterday, in fact, marked 35 years since the Turkish invasion and occupation of 

Cyprus which forcibly separated Greek and Turkish Cypriots along ethnic lines and 

resulted in the destruction and desecration of Cyprus’ religious cultural heritage in the 

occupied area. 

In April 2003, the Turkish forces partially lifted the restrictions imposed on crossings 

to and from the occupied area. This was the first time since 1974 that it was possible 

for Greek Cypriots to visit there. At that time I was teaching at the University of Cyprus 

as visiting Professor of Medieval Byzantine Art, Archaeology and Architecture. 

In cooperation with the nongovernmental Kykkos Museum, I recruited a team of 

experts and proceeded to the detailed examination and photographic documentation of 

every accessible religious monument in the occupied area. I also sought to describe the 

state of conservation of the buildings, mural/mosaic decoration and movable property. 

Today the project is completed—after I was arrested twice by the Turkish military 

police—and I can report to you that we possess a data base of approximately 20,000 

photographs as well as a collection of photographic and archive material of the monuments before 1974. 

In some of these photographs you are going to see there, you can see the same monument before 1974 and today, the situation today after the invasion. A comparison of the 

monuments before and after the Turkish invasion easily shows the scope of destruction 

and desecration. 

Around 500 churches and religious sites belonging to the Greek-Orthodox 

Autocephalous Church of Cyprus, the Greek-Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem, the Holy 

Monastery of St. Catherine in Sinai, the Roman Catholic Church, the Catholic-Armenian 

Church, the Catholic-Maronite Church, the Jewish community, as well as the Protestant 

Church, along with their cemeteries have been willfully desecrated, pillaged, looted and 

destroyed. 

Furthermore, a considerable number of Christian churches have been converted into 

military camps, mosques, stables, hencoops, ox and sheep stalls. In addition, some are 

being used today as wheat chambers, storerooms and granaries while a number were 

rented or sold to private individuals, who use them as art studios, carpentry workshops, 

parking stations, coffee shops, residences, cultural centers, gym centers, ceramic workshops, hotels, pubs, theaters, nightclubs, museums, ottoman baths—hamam, sport clubs, 

and dancing schools. The Church of the Savior in the Chrysiliou village is used today as 

a mortuary. 

UNESCO Report 25 of December 1984 states that ‘‘The Republic of Cyprus had 

repeatedly applied to UNESCO and asked the mission of observers to report on the condition of the monuments. So far the mission has met with the refusal of the Turkish occupation regime. 

Similarly, the Council of Europe, after a strict inspection of some occupied churches, 

highlighted in a 1989 report the severe condition of the buildings and requested their 

6

immediate conservation. The Church of Cyprus and the government as well as societies, 

institutions, foundations, church committees and individuals have tried unsuccessfully to 

get permission to restore, repair and maintain their churches. 

The Archbishop of Cyprus proposed repeatedly to fund any needed restoration of 

Muslim religious places in the south in addition to the funds provided by the government. 

A mutual reaction regarding the permission of similar restoration of the Christian monuments in the North never came. 

Also, a commission of the Church of Cyprus for the religious heritage in Cyprus was 

founded in 2008 where I am taking also part as an expert. But there was again no 

response from the Turkish side. 

Similarly, the declaration of the European Parliament on September 5, 2006, on the 

obligation of protection and conservation of the religious heritage in the occupied area of 

Cyprus along with funding amounting to half-a-million euros for that purpose met again 

with the Turkish refusal. 

The direct responsibility of Turkey concerning the occupied area is clearly stated in 

the decision of the European Court of Human Rights in the Fourth Interstate Application 

of Cyprus against Turkey of May 10, 2001. In its decision, the ECHR stated inter alia 

that Turkey: ‘‘having effective overall control over northern Cyprus, its responsibility 

cannot be confined to the acts of its own soldiers or officials in northern Cyprus but must 

be also engaged by virtue of the acts of the local administration which survives by virtue 

of Turkey’s military and other support.’’

The movable property of almost every church was looted. Most of the mural or mosaic 

decorations were stripped away and a considerable number were located in international 

art markets abroad. Some well-known legal cases, as the Kanakaria case, Indianapolis 

court; the Antiphonitis case, Rotterdam court; the Dikmen case, Munich court, as well as 

the published study of Ms. Jansen demonstrate and prove the involvement and activity 

of Turkish looters in the occupied areas. 

Furthermore, cases as the stripped away of 13th-century frescos of the Lysi chapel—

now in Houston—and icons of the Koutzoventis monastery demonstrate in the most 

obvious way the cooperation and involvement of the Turkish armed forces in the illicit 

trade. Both the above-mentioned churches were situated in areas under the direct control 

of the Turkish military. And the icons and frescos were located later in the United States, 

Germany and in Holland. 

There is no religious freedom in the Turkish-occupied areas of Cyprus for non-Muslims since all of the communities I referred to earlier are either not free or severely 

restricted in their exercise of religious services, praying and maintaining the graves of 

their ancestors. 

They do not have the right of staying in their monasteries and convents nor the 

rights to have free religious elections, ordination of priests, building or repairing their 

churches or administrating their religious property. Even in the cases of a handful of 

churches operating in the occupied eastern Karpas Peninsula where the remaining Greek 

Cypriots enclaved are, the illegal regime confiscated icons and still collects all donations 

and offerings of the pilgrims who, since 2003, can only visit these churches. 

The clergy and particularly the bishops are not allowed to hold services, a fact proven 

also by the two, three exceptions after the invention mainly of the United States Embassy 

in Nicosia and UNFICYP. 

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Even 4 days ago on July 17th, after repeated intervention of UNFICYP, permission 

was granted only to Greek Cypriot refugees of the occupied village of Kythrea to hold a 

service in their desecrated church—but only for 50 persons and one priest whose names 

had to be sent in advance and approved by the illegal regime and only under the presence 

and surveillance of the Turkish military. 

Bishops, as the Metropolitans of Carpasia, Famagusta, Tamasos, Kykkos, or the 

Armenian Archbishop have been repeatedly prevented by the Turkish army from holding 

religious services in occupied churches although they had previously received permission 

from the illegal regime through UNFICYP. 

Therefore I was surprised to read the 2008 International Religious Freedom Report 

of the U.S. Department of State that, quote, ‘‘However, the politically divisive environment on Cyprus engendered some restrictions on religious freedom, particularly for Greek 

Cypriots, Armenians and Maronites,’’ the report added that ‘‘the Turkish Cypriot authorities generally respected religious freedom in practice.’’

This blatantly ignores the inaccessibility for religious services to both the Greek 

Orthodox churches and to the other faiths that I had mentioned above, including a Jewish 

cemetery and synagogue situated in the Turkish military camp of Margo, near Lapithos. 

The religious culture of the northern part of the island is changing because of the 

importation of over 160,000 mainland Turkish settlers who are overwhelmingly more 

conservative than the Turkish Cypriots. 

This is the reality of the situation in the Turkish-occupied area. In total contrast, the 

Government of the Republic of Cyprus, through the Turkish Cypriot Properties Management Service and the Department of Antiquities repairs and maintains mosques and 

Muslim places of worship in the government-controlled area, 17 of which, have been 

declared as ‘‘ancient monuments,’’ allowing the free exercise of their religious services. 

Though a technical committee composed of members of both communities was established a year ago, in the framework of the current negotiations for a Cyprus solution to 

work jointly on restoration and preservation issues, there have been no tangible results 

to date. 

On the contrary, during this period of the negotiations of this committee, the 18thcentury church of St. Catherine in the occupied village of Gerani was demolished. By 

chance we had this church on the front piece of our book. 

Allow me to thank you again for your invitation to speak on the religious cultural 

heritage of Cyprus in peril and I am at your disposal for any questions on the issue. 

Mr. MCNAMARA. Thank you very much. Dr. Gallas? 

Dr. GALLAS. First, I would like to thank the members of the Commission for allowing 

me to testify before you on the issue of Cyprus’ religious cultural heritage in peril. There 

is still no complete case-by-case documentation of the art thefts that have been growing 

catastrophically in both number and seriousness ever since the start of the Turkish 

occupation of northern Cyprus. But there is no question that since the day of the invasion, 

July 20, 1974, such internationally organized thefts and the accompanying illegal trade 

in works of art plundered from churches in the Turkish-occupied sector—some of which 

form part of the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage—have multiplied to a worrying 

extent. 

One shocking instance that typifies this plundering and illegal trading is the Dikmen 

case, the most spectacular example of international theft recorded by the Bavarian central 

8

department of crime. It culminated in a court case in Indianapolis in 1989 against the 

American art dealer Peggy Goldberg which was successfully pursued by the Church of 

Cyprus and the government of Cyprus. 

It concerned the 6th century mosaics in the apse of the Panagia Kanakari Church 

on the Karpasia Peninsula. Parts of these are now in the Byzantine Museum in Nicosia. 

Probably the first major account of the barbaric desecration and destruction of Christian 

heritage within the Turkish occupied area was the one by myself that appeared in the 

German national newspaper, the Frankfurter Allgemeine on March 30, 1990. 

A striking example of this desecration is the Ajios Euphemianos Church about a mile 

outside the old center of Lysi, to the west of Famagusta. When I first visited the little 

church prior to 1974, I was overwhelmed by the glowing colors and expressive features 

of the Byzantine murals dating from the 14th century. But when I returned to Lysi in 

1989, long after the start of the Turkish occupation in northern Cyprus, I found that 

things in the village were completely changed. Even the altered name of the place, the 

Turkish designation ‘‘Akdogan’’ clearly indicated the intention of the Turkish occupying 

powers: eradication of every cultural reminder of established historical structures on the 

island. 

The little church of Agios Euphemianos was difficult to locate it because it was enveloped now by the Turkish barracks. How was it possible for this jewel of Byzantine creativity to have fallen victim to international art thieves under the very noses of the watchful Turkish soldiers? 

The removal of all the precious frescoes from the walls and ceiling-domes in a professional manner and their transportation abroad in an undamaged state is something that 

would have taken the robbers days, if not weeks. 

Scaffolding would have had to be erected; tools and materials would have had to be 

carried to the church through or around the outside of the barracks. And then there would 

have been the whole business of exporting the works of art. This, too, would have meant 

having the right contacts and connections. Nothing could have been done without the 

permission of the Turkish occupation forces. 

In this context, there is also a mystery concerning the export license by the so-called 

‘‘Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus’’ for the 6th century Golden Mosaics of the Panagia 

Church on the Karpas Peninsula, which was signed at the time by Osman Orek. Until 

1963, he was defense minister in the Makarios government. And from 1974 onwards, the 

right-hand man of Rauf Denktash, the leader of the Turkish Cypriot community. 

Later on, Orek declared the documents to have been a forgery. In 1988, Peggy Goldberg, a U.S. citizen, had acquired these mosaics and attempted to market them illegally 

for US$1.2 million. What followed was the celebrated court case in Indianapolis that 

ended in the autumn of 1989 with the decision by Federal Judge James Noland in favor 

of the Republic of Cyprus and the Church of Cyprus. This was a uniquely important decision by the U.S. court. 

This case is symptomatic of the organized crime of ripping items of cultural heritage 

out of their context and, by doing so, destroying them forever. Only in rare instances has 

the government of Cyprus and the Church of Cyprus succeeded up to now in securing the 

return of stolen artworks to Cyprus, either through court dispensations or by buying them 

back. The route taken by the works of art is usually from the Turkish occupied part of 

Cyprus to either Munich or Amsterdam, then from there to Zurich and on to the USA. 

9

Following a house search of Aydin Dikmen’s premises and subsequent confiscation, 

the police in Munich is certainly holding Byzantine mosaics, frescoes and icons, presumed 

to be from the Turkish occupied part of Cyprus, to the value of more than 30 million 

euros. 

Meanwhile the legal proceedings against Aydin Dikmen have been dragging on for 

more than 10 years without a conclusion. For mosaics and frescoes, identification is less 

of a problem. They are usually quite easy to ascribe to a particular historical monument. 

Icons, on the other hand, are hard to pin down. 

The Republic of Cyprus may have secured the judgment in Indianapolis but it was 

less successful in its efforts to secure the return of the Lysi frescos, notwithstanding the 

fact that they could not now be sold to unscrupulous collectors. 

It was Aydin Dikmen who, in 1985, also sold the Lysi frescoes to America. The De 

Menil Foundation in Houston, Texas, acquired these immensely valuable 13th century 

frescoes for just 850,000 U.S. dollars. The interior of the Lysi chapel was then 

reconstructed true to the original within the halls of the foundation’s museum so as to 

allow the frescoes to be displayed exactly as they had appeared in situ. 

The De Menil Foundation broke new ground in the details of this arrangement. When 

it was offered the frescoes, it side-stepped all the importation rules, negotiated directly 

with the Church of Cyprus, made an agreement for a long-term assignment until 2012, 

bought the frescoes, had them restored and in effect rescued this entire endangered piece 

of cultural heritage. 

All the same, there are also some hidden dangers in this modus operandi. It lends 

strength and encouragement to unprincipled art thieves by signaling to them that they 

will always be able to make a profit, one way or the other, from their stolen goods. Maybe 

what is needed here to nip thieves in the bud is an international certificate for the buying 

and selling of works of art, complete with details of provenance. 

I wish to bring in another example to support the view that art theft in the Turkishoccupied part of the Republic of Cyprus was usually only possible when it was tolerated 

or happened under the watchful eye of the Turkish military. On the north coast of the 

island, only a mile from Kyrenia, stands the Acheiropiitos Monastery, a dignified complex 

dating from the 11th century that was erected on the foundations of an early Christian 

settlement including a basilica. The monastery used to be a treasure house of Byzantine 

icons dating from a variety of centuries—but what has become of these treasures? 

During a visit that I paid recently, gaining access to the monastery looked as if it 

would be impossible. Just as in the autumn of 1989, the Turkish forces were still 

ensconced in its handsome rooms. But after repeated attempts on my part to be allowed 

in, the officers and men suddenly appeared helpful and I was permitted to enter. 

Of the once-magnificent display of icons there was nothing to be seen. Only the richly 

carved pulpit from 1819, with its touches of gold leaf, and the remains of the ikonostase, 

bereft of all icons, gave a faint indication of the former glories of this empty chamber. 

How could this desecration of Christian cultural heritage have come about right in the 

middle of the Turkish military camp? How could all these precious icons have been taken 

down and carried off from a monastery that was actually occupied by Turkish officers and 

men? 

The loss to Cyprus and UNESCO’s World Cultural Heritage is unimaginable. It can 

be assumed that the amount of booty we are aware of is only a fraction of the material 

10

that has actually been stolen from the Orthodox churches of Cyprus, which begs the question: how many treasures altogether have actually been taken between 1974 and 2009 and 

are now lost to us forever through having already been sold to collectors in all corners 

of the world? How many fortunes have the art thieves amassed for themselves in the 

meantime through these outrageous acts? They must amount to hundreds of millions of 

dollars. None of the plundered churches will ever sparkle again as they did in the light 

of days gone by. 

My greatest wish, which ties in with the appeal of the Helsinki Commission, is that 

in the very near future, the many works of art that they have stolen, and in part still 

remain missing, should be restored to Cyprus. Only through solidarity and joint action 

against worldwide art theft, as well as against the barbaric destruction and desecration 

of examples of UNESCO’s World Heritage, can we keep alive our historical roots and our 

cultural identity. 

I thank the Commission for my opportunity to address this aspect. 

Mr. MCNAMARA. Thank you very much, Dr. Gallas. And I would want to acknowledge 

the presence of Senator Paul Sarbanes, who has joined us this afternoon. I thought perhaps another member of the family might be stopping by. 

I do have a number of questions that I would like to pose to the experts. And just 

for your information, the still photographs displayed are ones that I took during my recent 

trip. I had an opportunity to spend 2 days in the northern part of the country and, driving 

around, just asked the driver to pull over to a village quite randomly—that I determined—and these were some of the many photographs that I was able to take during that 

time, including this one of a church near the Karpas region, used obviously as a storage 

facility. Of the 20 or so churches that I stopped into randomly in small towns and villages, 

none of them were intact. Most of them were populated by pigeons, with pigeon droppings 

that would be unimaginable, actually, and probably quite unhealthy. 

But I do have a number of questions for our panelists. Obviously the destruction has 

taken place over a period of time. Dr. Chotzakoglou mentioned the church on the cover 

of his book as a recent example of ongoing destruction. But I wonder if you could cite any 

additional examples just to underscore the fact that this is an activity that is ongoing and 

not one that may have taken place 35 years ago in the immediate aftermath of the military activity, but is, again, something that is a current issue as well. 

Dr. CHOTZAKOGLOU. In the book, there’s a reference of more than 15 churches which 

were pulled down recently. I say ‘‘recently’’—in the last 5 years. And there are the names, 

also, of the churches. And in most cases, we have the possibility to have photographs 

before they were destroyed. And also, we have cases that, after 2003, it was possible to 

enter and to see the icon museum in Kyrenia. The Turks made an icon museum in 

Kyrenia to demonstrate that they respect the monuments and the icons. But I have to 

say that most of the icons there are of the 20th century. 

On the first day, we saw three or four icons of the 16th century. Today, these icons 

are not there. And two of these icons were located in Zurich, in Switzerland——

Mr. MCNAMARA. This recent case, yes? 

Dr. CHOTZAKOGLOU. This recent case. And we tried, now, with Interpol to—they confiscated—the police authorities in Switzerland—they confiscated these icons. And we hope 

to get them back. 

11

Mr. MCNAMARA. There were a number of—a couple of you, excuse me—who referenced military installations and, certainly, a number of the churches and monasteries 

I visited were in close proximity, certainly within easy distance of the Turkish forces. So 

I wondered if you could discuss the question of the inclusion of religious sites within military exclusion zones in the region. Whoever wishes to start——

Ms. JANSEN. I’d just like to say one thing. The point is that a great deal of the territory of the northern part of Cyprus has been taken up with military bases. And it’s very 

difficult to travel around that area without noting that you pass a great many military 

bases. And some major Greek Cypriot Orthodox churches were in these military bases. 

And some were looted by the soldiery soon after the north was taken over. 

And then, Aydin Dikmen, who claimed to have close connections with the Turkish 

military, he was also allowed in to do some of the looting there—in the military areas, 

which shows that there was collusion between Dikmen and the military. 

There was also collusion in the sense that he was allowed to take his large crates 

of icons and other material—archeological material—out of the area without hindrance. 

And at one point, he was actually arrested and held by the Turkish authorities in 

northern Cyprus. But as a friend of mine says, his wife turned up with a big bag of money 

and he was out the next day. 

So this was the problem: There was collusion on one hand and then there was 

exoneration on the other. So Dikmen was able to proceed with his looting of northern 

Cyprus without any kind of obstruction from the authorities which were governing the 

area. 

Dr. GALLAS. I will speak in German and we have a translator. My English is not so 

good. [Through an interpreter] I would like to say that it is important to note that I’m 

not attacking, if I may use that word, the Turkish Government, but that it is important 

to prevent and prosecute the theft. I believe that nothing could take place without the 

supervision and eyes of the Turkish military. 

The problem with the Dikmen case is following the evidence. And I have been 

researching the case for the last 10 years. As I have referred to previously, it’s easy to 

identify a fresco in a certain church. The difficulty is with the icons because the school 

of icon painting exported them to many different countries. And Dikmen says it’s hard 

to say which came from where. And Dikmen claims that all those icons that can definitely 

be identified will be returned, but he gets all the others that are not definitely identified. 

And we’re talking about artifacts that are the value of 30 million euros. 

Dr. CHOTZAKOGLOU. I’d like just to make a statement. I read today, in the Washington Times, an article on our briefing today. And there is a statement that these things 

which were stolen with the help of the Turkish military troops or with the help of other 

authorities in northern Cyprus, have been smuggled out of Cyprus mostly through the 

southern part of the island. 

We have to underline that in that case, we have a lot of cases, we have a lot of icons, 

which were smuggled out of the port of Kyrenia and Ms. Jansen can describe, also, the 

whole thing from eyewitnesses, but that icons which were smuggled out of Cyprus from 

the southern part of the island were not smuggled out in a—in a bigger export—because 

already in 1976, an Austrian diplomat, Alfred zur Lippe, who was representing the UN 

High Commission for refugees in Cyprus. He was also arrested by the police. He was there 

to protect the refugees and he was taking part in illicit trade of antiquities. 

12

So in such cases, we know from other eyewitnesses that with the help of the Finnish 

United Nations peacekeeping force, a lot of icons were smuggled out of the Larnaca port 

and were sent to Germany. So these cases that are known were not, of course, smuggled 

out to these things legally, but illegally, without, of course, the knowledge of the legitimate authorities of the Republic of Cyprus. Thank you. 

Mr. MCNAMARA. There has been some reference to UNESCO, which obviously is a 

body with a unique mission throughout the world for protection of cultural heritage. And 

I wondered if anyone could elaborate a little further the role played by that specialized 

agency. I know that there was a mention regarding an early on assessment or study by 

UNESCO. But I wonder to the extent this issue is actively pursued within the context 

of that organization. 

Ms. JANSEN. UNESCO, as I said earlier, suppressed the report, which was written 

by Jacques Dalibard. This report was 120 pages long and quite detailed. He wasn’t 

allowed to go to all of the monuments, all of the churches or all of the archeological sites. 

He was only allowed to go to a certain number. And his report was actually kept under 

wraps until about 2 years ago. UNESCO really did nothing about this situation at all. 

And this whole business was repeated. In the aftermath of the invasion and occupation of Iraq in 2003, UNESCO sent a mission to Baghdad. And they reported on the same 

sort of activity—dealing with the Iraq Museum and also some of the sites. And I 

attended—I went with the mission to Baghdad. And UNESCO has done nothing about 

getting things back to Iraq, which were stolen during this period. And in fact, Iraq is 

being plundered as we speak. And whole sites are being destroyed by people who are actually doing industrial farming of archeological sites. 

The main problem is that whenever there is war or civil war or some kind of unrest 

or even natural disaster, the cultural heritage of countries which suffer these situations 

gets destroyed and also looted and exported. The United States has done some good 

things. It has signed a memorandum of understanding with Cyprus and with Iraq. And 

material is being returned. 

Also, one must take into account the effect of the case in Indianapolis. That case produced a very important judgment: that the thief doesn’t have any right to what he has 

stolen. And that case has a tremendous impact on museums around the world and on 

countries which are seeking to repatriate their cultural heritage. 

Italy has very aggressively pursued its stolen cultural heritage. It has received back 

some very important items. The Getty Museum in California has had to give back items. 

And Greece is pursuing its stolen heritage. 

So the case in Indianapolis has changed the picture for museums and for collectors 

who are trying to look legitimate. Now it is no longer possible to buy stolen antiquities, 

art, icons, whatever, and claim that we bought this in good faith; we didn’t know it was 

stolen. This good faith clause is now out of the picture. 

So what the illicit dealers do now, of course, is they manufacture provenance, which 

is creating some kind of false document so that they can sell the material to museums 

or to auction houses or to private collectors. And of course, this is a growing industry. 

But people who are really seriously interested in pursuing stolen items can prove that 

these documents are not legal and reclaim the items. 

One of the cases—the important case in this particular example, which I can think 

of, is the case involving a Greek crater for mixing wine, which was given false provenance 

13

by the Metropolitan Museum in New York. It belonged to Greece, and they gave it the 

provenance of another piece, which had been sitting in a bank in Beirut for many years, 

which was not the complete one, whereas the one that the Metropolitan Museum had was 

a beautifully restored, complete, very large wine jug. So as I say, you must never underestimate the importance of that decision in Indianapolis on the Cypriot mosaics. Thank 

you. 

Mr. MCNAMARA. Thank you. There was a passing reference made to the technical 

group that’s supporting the talks between President Christofias and Mr. Talat. And I just 

wondered, because I know that there is some description of sort of the mandate that this 

group is supposed to undertake—identification of sites and so forth—and I wonder, has 

anything happened—obviously, there is a large array of issues that the leaders and their 

colleagues are trying to grapple with, but I just wondered if one of you could give us any 

information on that aspect of the ongoing talks? 

Dr. CHOTZAKOGLOU. I do know the activity of this committee, because before they 

began, they were founded 1 year ago. Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots are taking 

part, and they visited also the Kykkos Museum in order to get information on the work 

we have done and also other institutions. And after 1 year of cooperation and meetings, 

unfortunately, there was no result, because every time, they had to postpone and postpone 

all the activities they had. They decided to begin a pilot project to restore one church—

Saint Michael in the occupied village of Leonarisso and on the other hand, a Muslim 

mosque in Limassol. 

Of course, you can imagine that on the one side, you have more than 500 churches, 

and on the other hand, you have just some of the mosques, so it’s not the same—oneto-one. Anyway, until now, there was no progress on that. They said that the problem 

would be the financial one. And in that case, we came and we asked the committee to 

do something which they don’t need money to do—to allow the church communities of the 

Greeks to go and restore the cemeteries with their own moneys—just to put the crosses 

there, to have the possibility to visit the graves of their ancestors and to light a candle 

there. 

They refused it, which means that it’s not that they don’t have the money to go on 

with the restoration; they are not willing to do that. And they say, when it comes to such 

a decision, we have to wait for the political decision of the matter. So we hoped a lot on 

this committee that we could have, after 1 year, a result. But we didn’t. On the contrary, 

during the negotiations and the meetings of this committee, the church that I showed you 

was willfully destroyed and pulled down. It was a church—this one [from the slide presentation]. This was the church before, and now. So there’s nothing of the church and this 

is how it was in 2008—just some months before this committee was grounded. And now, 

there is nothing there. Thank you. 

Mr. MCNAMARA. Thank you. The U.S. Agency for International Development has supported a number of restoration projects in the North, including work at the Agios Mamas 

Church in Morphu, mainly operated as an icon museum. I wonder what your assessment 

is regarding these projects, and then I guess another thing that strikes me is that there 

are a limited number—I think there is another in Kyrenia as well that I saw this very 

prominent steeple of a church that actually serves as an icon museum and attracts, apparently, a lot of foreign tourists. 

And I wondered if there’s been some investigation—I think Dr. Chotzakoglou alluded 

to it a little bit—regarding the contents of these museums. Are the materials on display 

14

original to these churches, or are they collections from various of the destroyed churches, 

or has anybody been able to trace that aspect? 

Dr. CHOTZAKOGLOU. Because of the accusations of the destruction of the churches and 

the illicit trade, they made two icon museums—the one you have visited in Kyrenia or, 

I suppose you didn’t visit—excuse me. 

Mr. MCNAMARA. I didn’t visit, but I saw it from a distance. It was very prominent. 

I was paying attention to the information office that’s located in a little chapel right on 

the harbor center in Kyrenia. 

Dr. CHOTZAKOGLOU. And also another one is the Holy Virgin Church in Trikomo. It’s 

also in the Famagusta region. If not all the icons that are inside, they do not belong to 

the church, but they were brought there. And all of them are dated into the 20th and 

19th centuries. You have to imagine that we have, in Cyprus, icons from the 11th, 12th, 

and 13th century which are missing, and not one of them are there. So they’re just new 

icons, which were painted some decades ago or even 100 years—so for Cyprus, 100 years 

ago is not a great matter. [Laughter.] 

The second thing: We have—with the help of the United States, we had the restoration of some monuments, as, for example, we had the Hala Sultan Tekke—this is—a tekke 

is a kind of monastery for the Muslims—in Larnaca. And on the other hand, we could 

restore a church in the occupied areas. This would be the Monastery of Saint Andrew in 

the Karpas Peninsula. What happened was the tactic which we now know happens all 

the time. Unfortunately, when the Turkish committee begins with the restoration of the 

mosque in the South, they could proceed. There was no problem. They had their archeologists, architects and the workers and they went on, and if you go now to Cyprus, if you 

land in the Larnaca airport, the first thing you can see is this mosque. It’s very, very 

beautiful and it’s good that it was restored. 

On the other hand, when we tried to go on with the restoration of the Monastery 

of Saint Andrew, which is a very important pilgrimage site for the Cypriots because most 

of them have been baptized there, every time that we were trying to go on, there were 

problems. We wanted to have material for the restoration. We could not bring the material from the Republic of Cyprus, but we had to import it from Turkey. Then we had to 

wait for months. These materials could not be found in Turkey; we had to import it, for 

example, from Germany. No, we had to wait. 

And after—during this time, the tekke in Larnaca was already restored, and after 

it was restored, they said, so the time is out; you don’t have any more possibility to 

restore the church. So it remains like that. So you can still see the Saint Andrew Monastery, which is falling down. The other case you mentioned—Saint Mamas in Morphu—

it’s a recent case. And it was allowed to restore the icon screen—actually the wooden parts 

of the church—not the building. And this is—you have to imagine, this was a very good 

thing that was made and we’re happy for that, but that’s one case in 500. 

And I’d like to stress here that it’s not only the Greek Orthodox churches which were 

looted or destroyed. We have Catholic churches; we have Armenian churches; Maronite 

churches; we have Jewish cemeteries; we have so many, which are not only the Greek 

Orthodox monuments. So we have also to pay attention for them. 

Ms. JANSEN. Could I make one——

Mr. MCNAMARA. Please. 

15

Ms. JANSEN. I just wanted to mention that there is a Web site which one can consult. 

It was put up jointly by Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot engineers and architects. It’s 

called www.cyprustemples.com and it has on it 505 churches and 111 mosques and 

Muslim sites. It gives the state of each one and what is recommended to repair it or 

replace it or whatever. And it is a very valuable site. It shows a lot. 

These people spent quite a lot of time; they have plenty of photographs. And 

buildings which have been completely destroyed or are in very bad states, there are, of 

course, no photographs of them. But it is, as I say, a very valuable source on what exactly 

has gone on. It needs to be updated, but otherwise, it is a very good effort. 

Mr. MCNAMARA. Thank you very much. I have one additional question and then a 

number of questions very quickly pertaining to—one of you referred to the 2008 State 

Department report on international religious freedom. The question I had is, besides the 

storage facility in this particular church near the Karpas region [photo displayed], I did 

pass by another church that was part—clearly, of a monastery that was part of a sort 

of hilltop resort in the Kyrenia area. 

And I wondered if there’s been any attempt to identify the commercial backers of 

those religious sites that have been converted into commercial purposes, particularly those 

being used as hotels and the like? Are they investors from the North, from Turkey, from 

the United States, from other EU countries? Or has that been looked into at all? 

Ms. JANSEN. Not that I know of. 

Dr. CHOTZAKOGLOU. The case you mentioned is a hotel now. It was a convent and 

it was converted into a hotel. You can go there. I have met the owner. He is from Turkey. 

And what has happened is that, against the constitution of Cyprus, they confiscated all 

the religious property, which, according to the constitution of Cyprus, the religious property of every religious community is indisputable. And they gave it to the Muslim 

Administration Commission, Evkaf osmanic charitable endowments. And these are the 

persons who are selling or renting churches. 

It was very interesting—I don’t have the photograph there, but it’s an Englishspeaking newspaper from [inaudible] Smith Real Estate agents where you can see here, 

there is a church for sale. ‘‘Lease for church, fully restored and used as a picture gallery/

craft center. Lovely position below Adramit village. £32,500.’’ So we have a lot of such 

cases. We have, also, American citizens. We have mainly English. We have also Germans—persons who bought or rented such churches in order to use them for restaurants, 

for pubs, for nightclubs and so on. Or they rented to Turks to use them as I told you. 

Even a gym—you can go to a gym and you have the apse and the church inside and it’s 

unbelievable for us. 

The most impressive case was a church which was converted into a mortuary. So I 

went inside and I found the coffins of the dead. And you can—they put them on the altar, 

they wash them and then they bury them in the cemetery that’s near to the church. So 

we have a lot of such cases, recently also. It happens every day. So the last time I was 

in Famagusta, there was a photograph—you can see there—it was the medieval Gothic 

church of the 13th century in Famagusta of the Templars, and now it’s a nightclub. You 

can have your drink there, and it’s unbelievable for us, for such a desecration of a holy 

place, whatever the beliefs of your own are. Thank you. 

Mr. MCNAMARA. Just to wrap up this portion of the briefing, the international religious freedom report of 2008 says that Orthodox and Maronites are, quote, ‘‘allowed to 

16

conduct mass on a regular basis without prior permission at seven sites in the occupied 

area.’’

Does this conform with your observations regarding the situation with believers, 

because I had an opportunity to meet with the bishop of the Karpas region, for example, 

and it seemed like he has many restraints placed upon him in terms of his ability to go 

to his region of the country, and then certainly in terms of the question of conducting religious services there. 

And that, I guess, I must say I found tremendously ironic, having visited the region 

and gone by many villages and stopped in about 20 or so. The State Department report 

goes on to say that ‘‘prior permission was required to conduct mass at the other estimated 

500 religious sites in the area administered by Turkish Cypriots.’’ I mean, these are the 

images [photos on display] of some of those 500 sites. 

So to someone who may not have followed the developments as closely, in a first 

reading, some might say, OK, there must be 500 churches, chapels and monasteries that 

can still be used for the conducting of religious services in the region. So I just—again, 

I scratched my head after I read that portion of the report because it seemed, certainly, 

highly misleading. 

Ms. JANSEN. I would just like to say one thing on this. I checked exactly this question 

out before I left Cyprus. There are three churches which are designated as possible sites 

for services [in the North]. And services are not held regularly. The church has to apply 

for permission to hold a service and it may or may not be granted. It is rarely granted. 

It is sometimes granted on saints’ days. And last week, one service was held at Ayia 

Marina and only 50 people were allowed to attend. 

And at some of these services, even though permission was given, the police which 

operate in the northern part of Cyprus came and told the congregations to disband and 

to leave. Now, this particular situation must be compared to what is going on in the 

government-controlled areas, where there is complete freedom of religion for everyone. 

And I consulted someone who is connected with the mosque in Nicosia and I said, what 

is the situation there? 

He said there are three congregations in Cyprus in established mosques, which have 

been restored and repaired, and there is a fourth congregation in Paphos. The three established mosques are in Nicosia, Larnaca and Limassol. There is a fourth congregation in 

a hall in Paphos. They haven’t yet managed to work out some sort of arrangement for 

being placed in the mosque there. Anyway, they meet every week. They have congregations of, sometimes, two or three thousand on Muslim feast days in all three of these 

areas—in Limassol, Nicosia, and Larnaca. 

And most of the people who are in the congregations are people who came to Cyprus 

in the past decade, two decades. They are of Arab origin or Bangladeshi origin or Pakistani origin. Apparently, Turkish Cypriots don’t attend the mosques. So the mosques are 

maintained. The Government of Cyprus provides a salary for the imam and the congregations take up collections to pay the water bill, the electricity bill and for small repairs. 

And that is the situation on the two sides; it’s quite different. Thank you. 

Dr. CHOTZAKOGLOU. I’d just like to add something, that according to the constitution 

in Cyprus, all religious institutions—they do not have to pay taxes. And that’s what happens also with the Muslim institutions in the Republic of Cyprus or with the Jewish ones 

or with others. And I was very surprised, actually, to read the international religious 

17

freedom report of the U.S. Department of State because they write here that ‘‘there are 

some restrictions religious freedom’’—some restrictions, which means that the rule is that 

you can go there without any problem, you can have your religious service and leave. 

But that’s not the case; that’s not the rule; that’s not how it happens. It’s the opposite. Every time that a priest or a bishop wants to have a religious service [in the North], 

we have to fight, actually, for months together with the U.S. Embassy, with the British 

Embassy, with the country who is maybe the President of the European Union, with 

friends or personal contacts of every person in order to get the permission to go there and 

to have, under the surveillance of the police with our names written and given before, 

to have a religious service. 

So under this situation, I don’t think that what is written here represents today’s 

situation of the region, especially when they write that the Turkish Cypriot authorities 

generally respected the religious freedom in practice. I think that everyone can go there 

and see it also for himself, what we’re seeing. We have a lot of cases where, as Ms. Jansen 

said, we were granted such permission from the Turkish Cypriot authorities, and when 

the bishops, recently, some months ago, during the Holy Communion service with the 

Holy Communion in his hands, the police came in—the police which is controlled by the 

Turkish military—came in and they throw them away. 

He presented the papers he had. He had to go to Famagusta where the military 

officer was there. He said, I do not accept these papers. If you want, you can go to the 

United Nations to have your religious service or in the southern part, but not here. So 

they had to leave. That’s what happens all day. It’s very, very difficult to have—there are 

only some cases on the Karpas Peninsula where some Greeks there—and only from a local 

priest—that they can have a religious service there. And also the case for some Maronite 

churches on the western part of the occupied areas. These are the only examples. 

No Armenian, no Maronite, no Jews—no one can go on with their religious service 

and have religious freedom in practice. And religious freedom is not only to have a religious service in the church. It is to have the ordination of the priests. It is to have the 

possibility to administer the religious property. There is a lot of things. If you don’t have 

a single cemetery which still can be seen—you can go there to see the situation of the 

cemeteries—there is not a single cemetery which still stands there; how is there religious 

freedom? That was my surprise when I read the report. 

Mr. MCNAMARA. Thank you very much. Just because you were mentioning cemeteries, one of the ironies I found was, this is a little shed in the corner of one of the little 

churches in a village in the North. And then I actually did, of course, visit this cemetery 

here [photo displayed]. And actually on the other side of the wall, I found ironic that there 

was a Muslim burial place that was meticulously maintained. I’m not sure when it dated 

from and so forth, but I just felt like there was sort of a bit of irony there, given the 

nature of these cemeteries and the other ones that I went to during my time in the North. 

Our time is up for this portion of the briefing. We’ll take probably about a 5-minute 

break and then, for those who have time and are interested, we’ll have the showing a 

short film—18 minutes long—by Dr. Gallas. Let me just make sure I get the correct title: 

‘‘Where Heaven Falls Prey—P-R-E-Y—to Thieves.’’ For those who are not able to stay for 

the presentation, it is available—I hope this isn’t a bootleg or something like that, but 

my erstwhile intern that was working with me did find it in two parts on YouTube, so 

you can view it via that means. 

18

We will have a complete transcription of today’s briefing available on the Commission’s Web site tomorrow—within 24 hours. We do very much appreciate your presence 

here this afternoon on an issue that, we at the Commission—when we look at a situation, 

we go back and try to see if there’s a relevant commitment that the OSCE participating 

States have undertaken that applies. 

And when we looked at the situation in terms of religious cultural heritage in this 

part of Cyprus, it just struck me as so tailor-made, if you will, where the language from 

the Krakow Symposium on the Cultural Heritage talks about the importance of preservation and protection of sites even if the original community does not use them, or is even 

located. I did get a chance during my recent visit to travel to the Karpas region to the 

very tip of northeastern Cyprus and to be able to sit down and to talk to some elderly 

Greek Cypriots and to learn about their situation. There are 228 Greek Cypriots in that 

particular village, the largest single concentration remaining in the North. 

And unfortunately, the main service that they seem to be conducting in the sole functioning church there is funerals. But that’s part of the reality as well. Thank you again 

for coming and we appreciate your attention. We will resume at about 3:25. 

[Whereupon, at 3:02 p.m., the briefing ended.]

19

APPENDICES

PREPARED STATEMENT OF HON. BENJAMIN L. CARDIN, CHAIRMAN, COMMISSION ON SECURITY AND COOPERATION IN 

EUROPE 

Today’s Helsinki Commission briefing on ‘‘Cyprus’ Religious Cultural Heritage in 

Peril’’ is part of the Commission’s ongoing work to assess implementation of OSCE 

commitments by the participating States. Indeed, the legacy of the July 20, 1974 invasion 

of Cyprus by Turkey and its ongoing occupation of that island nation is evident in many 

areas. This afternoon we focus on one aspect, the destruction of religious cultural heritage 

in the northern part of the country. 

In the aftermath of Turkey’s 1974 military invasion and ongoing occupation of the 

northern part of Cyprus, a precious piece of the country’s cultural heritage is at risk of 

collapse—Orthodox churches, chapels and monasteries as well as those of other Christian 

communities. According to Archbishop Chrysostomos II, over 500 religious sites in the 

area have been seriously damaged or destroyed. Some have been converted into mosques, 

while others are being used as stables, shops, hotels or night clubs. Many have been left 

to the ravages of time and the elements. The Church of Cyprus recently announced plans 

to file a formal case with the European Court of Human Rights regarding its religious 

sites and other property in the occupied area. 

In addition to relevant OSCE commitments, there are a number of other international instruments that deserve mention, including the 1954 Hague Convention for the 

Protection of Cultural Property During Armed Conflict and its Protocols; the 1970 

UNESCO Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, 

Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property; and the 1995 Convention on 

Stolen or Illegally Exported Cultural Objects. 

Thousands of icons, sacred vessels, vestments, manuscripts, frescos, and mosaics have 

been looted from sites in northern Cyprus. Many stolen icons and other antiquities are 

placed on the auction block for sale on the international market, some making their way 

into U.S. collections. An exhibit currently on display at the Byzantine Museum, in Nicosia, 

is entitled ‘‘Hostages in Germany: The Plundered Ecclesiastical Treasures of the Turkishoccupied Cyprus.’’ In a recent case, two icons from the early 1600s taken from a church 

in the northern village of Trikomo, were seized in Zurich by Swiss police. 

As chairman of the Helsinki Commission, I call upon Turkey to adhere to its OSCE 

commitments and international obligations with respect to religious and other aspects of 

the cultural heritage in northern Cyprus, an area under its effective control. I urge the 

authorities in Ankara to enhance their cooperation in efforts to prevent the illicit international trafficking in objects of religious origin and other cultural property and to facilitate the restitution of illicitly exported cultural property.

20

PREPARED STATEMENT OF HON. CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, 

RANKING MEMBER, COMMISSION ON SECURITY AND COOPERATION IN EUROPE 

Thank you, and welcome to our briefers today. 

I appreciate this timely briefing on the threats to the rich religious and cultural 

heritage of the Turkish-occupied area of northern Cyprus. In the early 1970s, before the 

Turkish invasion, there were over 500 churches, chapels and monasteries in this area. 

Only a handful remain intact, with the others in various stages of deterioration. Virtually 

all of these sacred sites, including cemeteries, have been desecrated. Icons have been 

ripped from sanctuaries, frescoes have been effaced, and bells, altars, manuscripts, and 

other sacred objects carted off. 

For most of the past thirty-five years, this area was cut off from the rest of the 

island, and this pillaging and destruction has occurred in an area tightly controlled and 

monitored by tens of thousands of Turkish troops. In fact, the effacement of the Greek 

Cypriot religious and cultural heritage in the occupied area is tolerated and at times even 

encouraged by the Turkish government in order erase vestiges of Greek Cypriot presence 

in that part of Cyprus—it is nothing less than a cultural form of ethnic cleansing. 

In our secular society, some might shrug their shoulders at the damage to this or 

that monument of religious architecture. But the damage goes much deeper than mortar 

and stone; it touches the identity and life of the Greek Cypriot people. In Cypriot towns 

and villages life’s milestones—birth, marriage, and death—were all celebrated and 

marked in churches, chapels, and monasteries. The history and memory of the Greek Cypriot people is bound up with these sacred sites. But under the Turkish occupation, not 

even the dead have been allowed to rest in peace—in many church yards and nearby 

cemeteries crosses have been smashed off gravestones. 

Mr. Chairman, the Turkish government, notwithstanding its OSCE commitments to 

protect and preserve religious and cultural heritage sites, has tolerated and connived at 

the destruction and pillaging of sacred sites in the area it has occupied. I look forward 

to the testimony of the experts appearing today on what can be done to save what 

remains of northern Cyprus’ rich cultural heritage—before it is too late.

21

PREPARED STATEMENT OF HON. MIKE McINTYRE, COMMISSIONER, COMMISSION ON SECURITY AND COOPERATION IN 

EUROPE 

I commend the Chairman and Co-Chair for organizing this briefing today on a long 

overdue topic. 

Known as the ‘‘island of the saints,’’ Cyprus has played an important role in the evolution and spread of Christianity in the West. Since the 1974 invasion of Cyprus, the rich 

religious and cultural heritage of Cyprus found in the Turkish-occupied northern part of 

the island has suffered irreparable damage. Hundreds of Orthodox, Armenian, and 

Maronite churches and monasteries have been converted in mosques, hotels, stables, military warehouses, restaurants, or simply demolished. Priceless art and sites from antiquity 

and the Byzantine and modern Christian periods have seen extensive looting and destruction. Art objects eventually reach the black market and fall into the hands of art dealers 

and museums from around the world; the most recognized example is the Kanakaria 

mosaics, which were returned to their rightful owner in Cyprus in 1991 thanks to a U.S. 

District Court judgment. 

The destruction of religious cultural heritage on Cyprus has been well documented, 

and its consequences painfully obvious, as the panel of experts assembled here today will 

attest. I applaud their work and look forward to hearing their presentations—somber as 

they may be.

22

PREPARED STATEMENT OF CHARALAMPOS CHOTZAKOGLOU, 

PROFESSOR OF BYZANTINE ART AND ARCHAEOLOGY, HELLENIC OPEN UNIVERSITY AND MUSEUM OF KYKKOS MONASTERY 

I too would like to thank the Helsinki Commission for inviting me to testify on an 

issue which I believe is of great importance. Your decision to hold this Briefing clearly 

indicates the seriousness and concern of the issue under discussion. Yesterday in fact, 

marked 35 years since the Turkish invasion and occupation of Cyprus which forcibly separated Greek and Turkish Cypriots along ethnic lines and resulted in the destruction and 

desecration of Cyprus’ religious cultural heritage in the occupied area. 

In April 2003, the Turkish forces partially lifted the restrictions imposed on crossings 

to and from the occupied area. This was the first time, since 1974, that it was possible 

for Greek Cypriots to visit there. At that time I was teaching at the University of Cyprus 

as Visiting Professor of Medieval (Byzantine) Art, Architecture and Archaeology. In 

cooperation with the non-governmental Kykkos-Museum, I recruited a team of experts 

and proceeded to the detailed examination and photographic documentation of every 

accessible religious monument in the occupied area. I also sought to describe the state of 

conservation of the buildings, mural/mosaic decoration and movable property. Today, the 

project is completed—after I was arrested twice by the Turkish Military Police—and I can 

report to you that we possess a data base of approximately 20.000 photographs, as well 

as a collection of photographic and archive material of the monuments before 1974. A 

comparison of the monuments before and after the Turkish invasion easily shows the 

scope of destruction and desecration. 

Around 500 churches and religious sites belonging to the Greek-Orthodox 

Autocephalous Church of Cyprus, the Greek-Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem, the Holy 

Monastery of St. Catherine in Sinai, the Roman Catholic Church, the Catholic-Armenian 

Church, the Catholic-Maronite Church, the Jewish community, as well as the Protestant 

Church, along with their cemeteries have been willfully desecrated, pillaged, looted and 

destroyed. Furthermore, a considerable number of Christian churches have been converted 

into military camps, mosques, stables, hencoops, ox- and sheep-stalls. In addition, some 

are being used today as wheat-chambers, storerooms and granaries, while a number were 

rented or sold to private individuals, who use them as art-studios, carpentry-workshops, 

parking-stations, coffee-shops, residences, cultural-centers, gym-centers, ceramic-workshops, hotels, pubs, theaters, nightclubs, museums, ottoman baths (hamam), sport-clubs 

and dancing schools. The church of the Savior in the Chrysiliou-village is used today as 

a mortuary. 

UNESCO Report 25 of December 1984 states that ‘‘The Republic of Cyprus had 

repeatedly applied to UNESCO and asked the mission of observers to report on the condition of the monuments. So far, the mission has met with the refusal of the Turkish 

occupation regime. Similarly, the Council of Europe, after restricted inspection of some 

occupied churches, highlighted in a 1989 Report the severe condition of the buildings and 

requested their immediate conservation. The Church of Cyprus and the Government, as 

well as societies, institutions, foundations, church committees and individuals have tried 

unsuccessfully to get permission to restore, repair and maintain their churches. The Archbishop of Cyprus proposed repeatedly to fund any needed restoration of Muslim religious 

places in the south in addition to the funds provided by the Government. A mutual reaction regarding the permission of similar restoration of the Christian monuments in the 

23

north never came. Also, a Commission of the Church of Cyprus for the Religious Heritage 

in Cyprus, was founded in 2008, where I am taking part as an expert, but there was again 

no response from the Turkish side. Similarly, the Declaration of the European Parliament 

on September 5, 2006 on the Obligation of Protection and Conservation of the Religious 

Heritage in the occupied area of Cyprus, along with funding amounting to Ö500.000 for 

that purpose, met again with the Turkish refusal. The direct responsibility of Turkey concerning the occupied area is clearly stated in the decision of the European Court of 

Human Rights (ECHR) in the Fourth Interstate Application of Cyprus against Turkey (- 

ECHR, May 10, 2001). In its decision the European Court of Human Rights stated, inter 

alia, that Turkey ‘‘having effective overall control over northern Cyprus, its responsibility 

can not be confined to the acts of its own soldiers or officials in northern Cyprus but must 

also be engaged by virtue of the acts of the local administration, which survives by virtue 

of Turkish military and other support’’. 

The movable property of almost every church was looted, most of their mural/mosaic 

decorations was stripped away and a considerable number were located in international 

art markets abroad. Some well-known legal cases, as the Kanakaria-case (Indianapolis 

Court), the Antiphonitis-Case (Rotterdam Court), the Dikmen-case (Munich Court), as 

well as the published study of Ms. Jansen demonstrate and prove the involvement and 

activity of Turkish looters in the occupied areas. Furthermore, cases as the stripped away 

13th c. frescoes of the Lysi chapel (now in Houston, USA) and icons of the Koutzoventis 

monastery demonstrate, in the most obvious way, the co-operation and involvement of the 

Turkish armed forces in the illicit trade. Both, the above mentioned churches were situated in areas under the direct control of the Turkish military and their icons and frescoes 

were located in the USA, Germany and Holland. 

There is no religious freedom in the Turkish occupied areas of Cyprus for non Muslims since all the communities I referred to earlier are either not free or severely 

restricted in the exercise of religious services, praying and maintaining the graves of their 

ancestors. They do not have the right of staying in their monasteries or convents, nor the 

right to have free religious elections, ordination of priests, building or repairing their 

churches, or administrate their religious property. Even in the cases of a handful of 

churches operating in the occupied eastern Karpass peninsula where the remaining Greek 

Cypriot enclaved are, the illegal regime confiscated icons and still collects all donations 

and offerings of the pilgrims, who since 2003 can only visit these churches. The clergy 

and particularly the bishops are not allowed to hold services, a fact proven also by the 

two-three exceptions, after the intervention mainly of the US Embassy in Nicosia and 

UNFICYP. Even four days ago on July 17th, after repeated intervention of UNFICYP, 

permission was granted only to Greek Cypriot refugees of the occupied village of Kythrea 

to hold a service in their desecrated church but only for 50 persons and one priest, whose 

names had to be sent in advance and approved by the illegal regime and only under the 

presence and surveillance of the Turkish military. Bishops, as the Metropolitans of 

Carpasia, Famagusta, Tamasos, Kykkos, or the Armenian Archbishop, have been repeatedly prevented by the Turkish Army from holding religious services in occupied churches, 

although they had previously received permission from the illegal regime through 

UNFICYP. Therefore I was surprised to read the 2008 International Religious Freedom 

Report of the US Department of State that ‘‘However, the politically divisive environment 

on Cyprus engendered some restrictions on religious freedom, particularly for Greek Cypriots, Armenians and Maronites’’. The Report added that ‘‘the Turkish Cypriot Authorities 

24

generally respected religious freedom in practice’’. This blatantly ignores the inaccessibility for religious services to both the Greek-Orthodox churches and to the other faiths 

that I had mentioned above, including a Jewish cemetery and synagogue situated in the 

Turkish military camp of Margo, near Lapithos. 

The religious culture of the northern part of the island is changing because of the 

importation of over 160,000 mainland Turkish settlers who are overwhelmingly more 

conservative than the Turkish Cypriots. 

This is the reality of the situation in the Turkish occupied area. In total contrast, 

the Government of the Republic of Cyprus, through the Turkish Cypriot Properties 

Management Service and the Department of Antiquities, repairs and maintains mosques 

and Muslim places of Worship in the Government controlled area, 17 of which, have been 

declared as ‘‘ancient monuments’’, allowing the free exercise of their religious services. 

Though a Technical Committee composed of members of both communities was established a year ago, in the framework of the current negotiations for a Cyprus solution, to 

work jointly on restoration and preservation issues, there have been no tangible results 

to date. On the contrary, during this period, the 18th century church of St. Catherine in 

the occupied village of Gerani was demolished. 

Allow me to thank you again for your invitation, to speak on the religious cultural 

heritage of Cyprus in peril and I am at your disposal for any questions on the issue.

25

PREPARED STATEMENT OF KLAUS GALLAS, ART HISTORIAN 

AND BYZANTINE EXPERT 

I would like to thank the members of the Commission for allowing me to testify 

before you on the issue of Cyprus’ religious cultural heritage in peril. ‘‘There is still no 

complete case by case documentation of the art thefts that have been growing catastrophically in both number and seriousness ever since the start of the Turkish occupation of 

northern Cyprus. But there is no question that since the day of the invasion, July 20th 

1974, such internationally organised thefts and the accompanying illegal trade in works 

of art plundered from churches in the Turkish occupied sector—some of which form part 

of the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage—have multiplied to a worrying extent’’. 

One shocking instance that typifies this plundering and illegal trading is the ‘Dikmen 

case’, the most spectacular example of international theft recorded by the LKA, the 

Bavarian central department of crime. It culminated in a court case in Indianapolis in 

1989 against the American art dealer Peggy Goldberg which was successfully pursued by 

the Church of Cyprus and the Government of Cyprus. It concerned the 6th Century 

mosaics in the apsis of the Panagia Kanakaria ́ church on the Karpassia peninsula. Parts 

of these are now in the Byzantine Museum in Nicosia. Probably the first major account 

of the barbaric desecration and destruction of Christian heritage within the Turkish occupied area was the one by myself that appeared in the German national newspaper, the 

Frankfurter Allgemeine, on March 30th 1990. 

A striking example of this desecration is the A ́ jios Euphemianos Church about a mile 

outside the old centre of Ly ́si, to the west of Famagusta. When I first visited the little 

church prior to 1974 I was overwhelmed by the glowing colors and expressive features 

of the Byzantine murals dating from the 14th Century. But when I returned to Ly ́si in 

1989, long after the start of the Turkish occupation of northern Cyprus, I found that 

things in the village were completely changed. Even the altered name of the place, the 

Turkish designation ‘Akdogaˇn’, clearly indicated the intentions of the Turkish occupying 

powers: eradication of every cultural reminder of established historical stuctures on the 

island. 

The little church of Agios Euphemianos was difficult to locate because it was enveloped now by the Turkish barracks. How was it possible for this jewel of Byzantine creativity to have fallen victim to international art thieves under the very noses of the watchful Turkish soldiers? The removal of all the precious frescoes from the walls and ceilingdomes in a professional manner and their transportation abroad in an undamaged state 

is something that would have taken the robbers days if not weeks. Scaffolding would have 

had to be erected, tools and materials would have had to be carried to the church through 

or around the outside of the barracks. And then there would have been the whole business 

of exporting the works of art. This too would have meant having the right contacts and 

connections. Nothing could have been done without the permission of the Turkish occupation forces. 

In this context, there is also a mystery concerning the export license by the so called 

‘‘TRNC’’ for the 6th Century Golden Mosaics of the Panagia Church on the Karpas Peninsula, which was signed at the time by Osman O ̈ rek. Until 1963 he was defence minister 

in the Makarios government and from 1974 onwards the righthand man of Rauf 

Denktash, the leader of the Turkish Cypriot community. Later on, O ̈ rek declared the document to have been a forgery. In 1988 Peggy Goldberg, a US citizen, had acquired these 

mosaics and attempted to market them illegally for 1.2 million US dollars. What followed 

26

was the celebrated court case in Indianapolis that ended in the autumn of 1989 with the 

decision by federal judge James Noland in favour of the Republic of Cyprus and the 

Church of Cyprus. This was a uniquely important decision by the US Court. 

This case is symptomatic of the organised crime of ripping items of cultural heritage 

out of their context and, by doing so, destroying them for ever. Only in rare instances has 

the Government of Cyprus and the Church of Cyprus succeeded up to now in securing 

the return of stolen artworks to Cyprus either through court dispensations or by buying 

them back. The route taken by the works of art is usually from the Turkish occupied part 

of Cyprus to either Munich or Amsterdam, then from there to Zu ̈ rich and on to the USA. 

Following a house search of Aydin Dikmen’s premises and subsequent confiscation, 

the LKA in Munich is currently holding Byzantine mosaics, frescoes and icons presumed 

to be from the Turkish occupied part of Cyprus, to the value of more than 30 million 

Euros. Meanwhile the legal proceedings against Aydin Dikmen have been dragging on for 

more than ten years without a conclusion. For mosaics and frescoes, identification is less 

of a problem. They are usually quite easy to ascribe to a particular historic monument. 

Icons on the other hand are hard to pin down. 

The Republic of Cyprus may have secured the judgement in Indianapolis but it was 

less successful in its efforts to secure the return of the Ly ́si mosaics, notwithstanding the 

fact that they could not now be sold to unscrupulous collectors. It was Aydin Dickmen 

who, in 1985, also sold the Ly ́si frescoes to America. The De Menil Foundation in 

Houston, Texas, acquired these immensely valuable 13th Century frescoes for just 850,000 

US dollars! The interior of the Ly ́si chapel was then reconstructed true to the original 

within the halls of the Foundation’s museum so as to allow the frescoes to be displayed 

exactly as they had appeared in situ. The De Menil Foundation broke new ground in the 

details of this arrangement. When it was offered the frescoes, it side-stepped all the 

importation rules, negotiated directly with the Church of Cyprus, made an agreement for 

a ‘longterm assignment’ until 2012, bought the frescoes, had them restored and in effect 

rescued this entire endangered piece of cultural heritage. All the same, there are also 

some hidden dangers in this modus operandi. It lends strength and encouragement to 

unprincipled art thieves by signalling to them that they will always be able to make a 

profit, one way or the other, from their stolen goods. Maybe what is needed here to nip 

thieves in the bud is an international certificate for the buying and selling of works of 

art, complete with details of provenance. 

I wish to bring in another example to support the view that art theft in the Turkish 

occupied part of the Republic of Cyprus was usually only possible when it was tolerated 

or happened under the watchful eye of the Turkish military. On the south coast of the 

island only a mile from Kyrenia stands the Acheiropı ̈ ̈ıtos Monastery, a dignified complex 

dating from the 11th Century that was erected on the foundations of an early Christian 

settlement including a basilica. The monastery used to be a treasurehouse of Byzantine 

icons dating from a variey of centuries but what has become of these treasures? 

During a visit that I paid recently, gaining access to the monastery looked as if it 

would be impossible. Just as in the autumn of 1989, the Turkish forces were still 

ensconsed in its handsome rooms. But after repeated attempts on my part to be allowed 

in, the officers and men suddenly appeared helpful and I was permitted to enter. Of the 

once magnificent display of icons there was nothing to be seen. Only the richly carved 

pulpit from 1819, with its touches of gold leaf, and the remains of the Ikonostase, bereft 

of all its icons, gave a faint indication of the former glories of this empty chamber. How 

27

could this desecration of Christian cultural heritage have come about, right in the middle 

of the Turkish military camp? How could all these precious icons have been taken down 

and carried off from a monastery that was actually occupied by Turkish officers and men? 

The loss to Cyprus and to UNESCO’s World Cultural Heritage is unimaginable. It 

can be assumed that the amount of booty we are aware of is only a fraction of the material that has actually been stolen from the Orthodox churches of Cyprus. Which begs the 

question: how many treasures altogether have actually been taken between 1974 and 2009 

and are now lost to us for ever through having already been sold to collectors in all corners of the world? How many fortunes have the art thieves amassed for themselves in 

the meantime through these outrageous acts? They must amount to hundreds of millions 

of dollars. None of the plundered churches will ever sparkle again as they did in the light 

of days gone by . . . 

My greatest wish, which ties in with the appeal to the Helsinki Commission, is that 

in the very near future the many works of art that have been stolen, and in part still 

remain missing, should be restored to Cyprus. Only through solidarity and joint action 

aganst worldwide art theft, as well as against the barbaric destruction and desecration 

of examples of UNESCO’s World Heritage, can we keep alive our historic roots and our 

cultural identity. 

I thank the Commission for its valued attention.

28

PREPARED STATEMENT OF MICHAEL JANSEN, AUTHOR, ‘‘WAR 

AND CULTURAL HERITAGE: CYPRUS AFTER THE 1974 TURKISH INVASION’’

I would like to thank you for inviting me to testify before your influential Commission. The looting of Cyprus’ cultural heritage is not only a crime against Cyprus but a 

crime against humanity. We all are diminished by cultural loss of any kind. As a journalist based in the Eastern Mediterranean, I have seen a great deal of war, the scourge 

of the world’s cultural heritage. Indeed, we are just now picking up the pieces of the 

wanton destruction and plunder of Europe’s heritage during World War II. What has happened since Turkey invaded northern Cyprus 35 years ago has been even more dramatic. 

The devastation is comprehensive and has taken place in a small area. Churches, 

chapels, monasteries, libraries, museums, and private collections of religious art and 

antiquities were looted. Religious and historical sites have been damaged, ravaged or 

allowed to disintegrate. While the focus of this meeting is Christian sites and art, mention 

must also be made of archaeoelogical and historical treasures. The rich cultural heritage 

of Cyprus embraces pre-Christian as well as Christian sites and art. 

The cleansing of religious and historical sites began as soon as Turkish troops set 

foot in northern Cyprus on July 20, 1974, and continues until today. Cultural cleansing 

proceeded in parallel with the ethnic cleansing of 162,000 Greek Cypriots living in the 

area occupied by Turkey. 

When the first phase of the ethno-cultural cleansing process ended in late 1976, 

158,400 Greek Cypriots had been driven into the government-controlled south. Pillage was 

both random and conducted by professional thieves and smugglers. While gathering material for my book, War and Cultural Heritage, I interviewed Dutch dealer Michel Van Rijn 

who was in the north during early Turkish military operations. As he made his way to 

Nicosia along roads clogged with refugees, he saw Turkish soldiers throwing icons from 

looted churches onto burning pyres. My husband, Levant correspondent for The Economist 

of London, visited the area in September 1974. He found that churches were open to both 

looters and vandals. Nothing had been done to secure Christian sites when I paid my first 

visit to the north in February 1975. Looters not only stole and ravaged art but also, in 

the process of plundering, destroyed buildings and archaeological sites. 

During the second phase, from 1977 through 1979, the number of Greek Cypriots 

residing in the north was reduced from 3,600 to 2,000 while specific treasures were targeted by local networks of icon and antiquities smugglers. According to Van Rijn, Turkish 

journalist Ozgen Acar and British art writer Geraldine Norman—who have written extensively on what happened in northern Cyprus—the pillage was directed by Aydin Dikmen, 

a major Turkish black market dealer based in Munich. He had developed close connections with Turkish Cypriot looters and smugglers during hostilities between the Cypriot 

communities. 

The third phase began in 1980 and is ongoing. Today fewer than 500 Greek Cypriots, 

most of them elderly, are enclaved in the occupied Karpass Peninsula. Theft continues 

from known and newly discovered archaeological sites and illegal excavations are being 

conducted by archaeologists from Turkey. Both archaeological sites and church buildings 

are falling into rack and ruin due to neglect or being exploited or bulldozed by developers. 

Since Turkey is directly responsible for whatever takes place in northern Cyprus, cultural cleansing could have been averted or curbed if Ankara had honoured its signature 

29

on The Hague Convention of 1954 for the protection of heritage during war and occupation. But Turkey did not meet its commitments and the international community did not 

make use of opportunities to exert pressure on Ankara to do so. 

The first opportunities came in 1974–1975, before looting had become widespread or 

focused on specific treasures. In mid-September 1974, less than a month after the 

ceasefire, a Turkish team of experts visited northern Cyprus to investigate reports of 

looting. This team recommended that an inventory be made of both archaeological and 

church treasures and that a senior archaeologist should be appointed to protect and preserve cultural property. In early October, two experts from UNESCO toured sites in both 

north and south and found that war damage was slight. They called for the appointment 

of a ‘‘councillor for cultural heritage’’ to supervise conservation and restoration. Consequently, Canadian scholar, Jacques Dalibard was sent to Cyprus in February 1975. He 

concluded that Cyprus should be regarded as ‘‘one huge monument’’ and asked for the 

establishment of a permanent presence in the north to supervise the protection and restoration of antiquities and church art. Instead of acting on his recommendations, 

UNESCO suppressed his 120 page report. 

Subsequent European initiatives provided fresh opportunities to halt depredation and 

destruction. In October 1982 the Sub-Committee on the Architectural and Artistic Heritage of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe met in Nicosia. The Subcommittee ‘‘expressed concern at reports of damage, loss and dispersal of cultural objects 

in the Turkish occupied part of Cyprus and decided to seek means, within the Council 

of Europe, of associating all member states in moves to prevent such activities.’’ Nothing 

was done. In 1987 Europa Nostra called upon Turkey to halt pillage and destruction and 

asked the Council of Europe to take up the matter with the Turkish authorities. Nothing 

was done. In June 1989, the Sub-Committee on Architectural and Artistic Heritage dispatched a mission which carried out a week long survey, following in Dalibard’s footsteps. 

The mission’s report, written by Robin Cormack of the Courtauld Institute of Art in 

London, stated: ‘‘Most of the damage has occurred in the north and is the result of looting 

. . . evidently linked with the highly professional international market in illegally 

exported art.’’ Nothing was done. 

An opportunity also presented itself in 1989. This was a landmark trial in Indianapolis. The Cypriot government and church raised a case against local art dealer Peg Goldberg, who had purchased four segments of an early 6th century mosaic composition. This 

had been stripped by Dikmen’s operatives from the apse of the church of the Virgin of 

Kanakaria in occupied Cyprus. The mosaic had survived the iconoclasm of the 8th and 

9th centuries and was said to be finer than the mosaics at Ravenna in Italy and at St. 

Catherine’s monastery in Sinai. Restoration work was completed on the mosaic composition and church by the Dumbarton Oaks Institute in 1974. The judge awarded the mosaics 

to Cyprus on the ground that a ‘‘thief obtains no title or right of possession of stolen 

items.’’ Therefore, a ‘‘thief cannot pass any right of ownership . . . to subsequent purchasers.’’ The mosaic segments were returned to Cyprus but nothing was done about 

Dikmen or continuing pillage and destruction. 

An opportunity to put Dikmen out of business was presented to the German authorities in 1997 when the Munich police helped Van Rijn, poacher turned game keeper, mount 

a sting operation designed to return stolen icons and antiquities to Cyprus. Dikmen’s 

hoard of 8,000 items was seized, hundreds of Cypriot artefacts were identified, and 

Dikmen was put in prison. He was released after a year although the German police had 

30

hard evidence that he headed a network of looters, smugglers and dealers in stolen art 

and antiquities. He is contesting Cyprus’ claim to the artefacts. They remain in Munich 

while the courts decide who owns them. 

An estimated 16,000 icons, wall paintings and mosaics and 60,000 archaeological 

items have been looted and exported from northern Cyprus. While the Turkish authorities 

have done little or nothing to halt cultural cleansing and have even contributed to it, individual Turkish Cypriots, who regard the heritage of the island as their own, have castigated the authorities and publicised the pillage. Turkish Cypriot poet Mehmet Yasin was 

among the first to survey the situation and mainland Turkish Journalist Ozgen Acar of 

Cumhurriet exposed Dikmen’s depredations in the Turkish and international press. But 

their efforts have come to naught. 

Turkey may not have set out to pillage and destroy Christian religious art and property or to loot important archaeological sites in the occupied north. But Ankara did adopt 

a policy of erasing the Hellenic character of the area by replacing Greek place names with 

Turkish names. And Turkey collaborated in the destruction of the north’s dominant Christian culture by allowing churches to be looted, used as cinemas, restaurants, store houses, 

and goat pens and to collapse due to neglect. Hundreds of churches and chapels, frescoes 

and icons had survived in the north until the last quarter of the 20 century and provided 

spiritual uplift to local Christian communities. 

While looting usually accompanies warfare and unrest in countries with rich heritages, the case of Cyprus is particularly dramatic because extensive pillage and destruction 

took place in a well defined geographic area. Scholarly investigation has also been disrupted. By contrast, in the government-controlled south, sites have been largely preserved 

and scholars have been at work uncovering the distant past and pushing back the history 

of the island by 5000 years. In 1974, archaeologists spoke of Cyprus as having 9,000 years 

of history, scholars now say Cyprus has 14,000 years of history. Today there are two very 

distinct cultural heritage zones on this small island: a wasteland in the north and a land 

of plenty in the south. 

Finally, I would like to suggest that the OSCE has some responsibility for the division and ethnic and cultural cleansing of Cyprus. As the Helsinki accord was being negotiated, the Greek military junta mounted a coup against the legitimate government of 

Cyprus, Turkey occupied more than 36 per cent of island, and Britain did nothing. These 

three countries were guarantors of the island’s independence and sovereignty. The least 

the OSCE can do today is press Ankara to halt the destruction of Christian sites, illegal 

archaeological excavations, traffic in icons and antiquities and allow for the preservation 

of religious sites. The OSCE could also ensure that member states do not receive stolen 

Cypriot art and antiquities. 

Æ

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