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ARMENIANS HOLD MASS IN TURKISH CYPRUS, A FIRST IN 50 YEARS
Hurriyet Daily News, Turkey
May 12 2014
NICOSIA - Anadolu Agency
The Armenian community on Cyprus has held a mass in an Armenian Church
on the Turkish side of the island, for the first time in 50 years.
Armenians from the northern and southern parts of the island met in
the church located in Nicosia for the mass.
Archbishop Varoujan Hergelian performed the mass, which was attended
by approximately 500 people from the Armenian community.
The service was also attended by Lisa Buttenheim, the Special
Representative and Head of the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in
Cyprus, Å~^evket Alemdar, the imam of the Hala Sultan Mosque on the
island, and a number of diplomats.
"I graduated from the schools near the church. These places were
home to us. We are home now," one of the participants of the service,
Gora Terziyan, told Anadolu Agency.
She expressed hope that such steps would contribute to the ongoing
peace process on the divided island.
Another participant, Gula Kasabiyan, said being able to hold the
service for the first time in half a century was evidence that the
issues between the two sides of the island could be settled. "We
should always look beyond for peace," she said.
The Armenian Church hosting the historic rite was allocated to the
Armenian population of the island during the Ottoman era. However,
it was abandoned by Armenians in 1964. The church subsequently fell
into ruin, but was renovated in 2010.
The Mediterranean island has been divided since Turkish troops
intervened in 1974 in response to a Greek Cypriot coup seeking union
with Greece.
The Greek Cypriot administration is a member of the European Union
and is internationally recognized with the exception of Turkey, which
is the only country that recognizes the Turkish Republic of Northern
Cyprus in the north.
May/12/2014
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/armenians-hold-mass-in-turkish-cyprus-a-first-in-50-years.aspx?pageID=238&nID=66335&NewsCatID=393
Hurriyet Daily News, Turkey
May 12 2014
NICOSIA - Anadolu Agency
The Armenian community on Cyprus has held a mass in an Armenian Church
on the Turkish side of the island, for the first time in 50 years.
Armenians from the northern and southern parts of the island met in
the church located in Nicosia for the mass.
Archbishop Varoujan Hergelian performed the mass, which was attended
by approximately 500 people from the Armenian community.
The service was also attended by Lisa Buttenheim, the Special
Representative and Head of the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in
Cyprus, Å~^evket Alemdar, the imam of the Hala Sultan Mosque on the
island, and a number of diplomats.
"I graduated from the schools near the church. These places were
home to us. We are home now," one of the participants of the service,
Gora Terziyan, told Anadolu Agency.
She expressed hope that such steps would contribute to the ongoing
peace process on the divided island.
Another participant, Gula Kasabiyan, said being able to hold the
service for the first time in half a century was evidence that the
issues between the two sides of the island could be settled. "We
should always look beyond for peace," she said.
The Armenian Church hosting the historic rite was allocated to the
Armenian population of the island during the Ottoman era. However,
it was abandoned by Armenians in 1964. The church subsequently fell
into ruin, but was renovated in 2010.
The Mediterranean island has been divided since Turkish troops
intervened in 1974 in response to a Greek Cypriot coup seeking union
with Greece.
The Greek Cypriot administration is a member of the European Union
and is internationally recognized with the exception of Turkey, which
is the only country that recognizes the Turkish Republic of Northern
Cyprus in the north.
May/12/2014
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/armenians-hold-mass-in-turkish-cyprus-a-first-in-50-years.aspx?pageID=238&nID=66335&NewsCatID=393