Stolen Religious Artifacts Return to Cyprus from Germany

Σε επίσημη τελετή η οποία πραγματοποιήθηκε στο Μόναχο το απόγευμα της Τρίτης 16 Ιουλίου 2013, οι εκκλησιαστικοί θησαυροί παραδόθηκαν από τις βαυαρικές αρχές στην κυπριακή δημοκρατία. Υπενθυμίζουμε ότι πρόκειται για μέρος της συλλογής που είχε ανακτηθεί στο πλαίσιο αστυνομικής επιχείρησης τον Οκτώβριο του 1997, στο Μόναχο, από τον Τούρκο αρχαιοκάπηλο Αϊντίν Ντικμέν. Τα περισσότερα εξ αυτών είχαν λεηλατηθεί από εκκλησίες που βρίσκονται στα κατεχόμενα μετά την εισβολή. Στόχος είπε πλέον, είναι να επιστραφούν άλλα 60 αντικείμενα τα οποία κλάπηκαν από τον ίδιο αρχαιοκάπηλο, διαδικασία η οποία αναμένεται να ολοκληρωθεί στο επόμενο διάστημα. Ευτυχής η Τασούλα Χατζηττοφή, ιδρύτρια του Walk of Truth και που με δική της πρωτοβουλία επέστρεψαν οι θησαυροί στην Κύπρο. Μιλώντας στις Τομές Στα Γεγονότα, είπε ότι κάθε φορά που επαναπάτριζε ένα θησαυρό στην Κύπρο ένιωθε ότι έφερνε ένα πρόσφυγα πίσω στο σπίτι του. Looted Art From Cypriot Churches Is Returned by Germany By Catherine Hickley - Walk of Truth via Bloomberg The cache of artworks discovered by Munich police in 1997 included icons, mosaics and frescos stolen from Northern Cyprus and smuggled out of the country after the Turkish invasion. Bavarian authorities returned 173 artworks to representatives of the Cypriot government and Greek Orthodox Church at a ceremony in Munich today. Frescos, mosaics and icons looted from churches, museums and monasteries in Northern Cyprus and seized by police in Munich 16 years ago were today handed over to the Cypriot government. The artifacts were discovered in the Munich apartment of Aydin Dikmen, a Turkish-born art dealer, in 1997. Then valued at 30 million deutsche marks ($17 million), they included a mosaic hacked from the wall of the 6th-century Kanakaria church and a fresco from the medieval Antiphonitis Church. After years of legal wrangling, a Munich court determined in March that 173 of the seized artworks were removed at the time of the Turkish invasion in 1974. That decision paved the way for today's ceremony in Munich, where Bavarian Justice Minister Beate Merk handed the art to consul Eleni Papanicolaou and representatives of the Cypriot Greek Orthodox Church. "The artworks are no longer needed as evidence," Merk said in an e-mailed statement. "Now they can return 'home.' Cultural treasures are of immense importance for every nation." Walk of Truth, an organization based in The Hague whose aim is to protect cultural heritage from war and crime, welcomed the repatriation. "This is a big moment for all Cypriots who feel a bond to their cultural heritage and their island," said the statement. The organization was founded by Tasoula Hadjitofi, formerly an Honorary Consul of Cyprus in the Netherlands. Hadjitofi made it her task to repatriate lost artworks after a Dutch dealer tried to sell her stolen Cypriot artifacts, according to her website. Dikmen was "trading illegally worldwide in Byzantine artworks," according to a July 12 statement from the Bavarian Interior Ministry. Criminal proceedings against him were dropped because the statute of limitations had expired. All the rights belong to the producers of the video Sigma tv and Bloomberg media for the english text http://www.sigmalive.com/news/local/55715 http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-07-16/looted-art-from-cypriot-churches-is-returned-by-germany.html www.imkykkou-blog.com www.kykkos.org.cy