Greece on Sunday sternly condemned the latest provocation by occupation forces in the Turkish occupied north of Cyprus. This follows the arrest of four European MEPs and the Cypriot Orthodox Church’s expert on cultural heritage in the occupied territories.
“This is an illegal act by an illegal regime, and a blatant disregard of European institutions,” Foreign Ministry Spokesman Grigoris Delavekouras said.
Cypriot MEP Eleni Theocharous, Bulgarian MEP Mariya Nedelcheva along with Polish MEPs Jaroslav Walesa (the son of former Polish president and Solidarity leader Lech Walesa) and Artur Zasada were detained with Cypriot Orthodox Metropolitan Porfyrios. The latter is the Cypriot Church’s Brussels-based delegate to the EU and an expert on pillaged and desecrated cultural heritage in the occupied north. Another two Greek Cypriots, former MP Yiannakis Matsis and Loizos Afxentious, were also detained.
According to an ANA-MPA dispatch from Nicosia on Sunday, Matsis and Afxentious continue to be held, possibly on “charges” by the pseudo-state of entering a forbidden military zone, namely, the fenced-off area of Varosha.
Greek Cypriot released on bail
A Greek Cypriot charged with illegally trespassing in a restricted military area in Turkish Cyprus was released on bail Sunday pending trial, Anatolia news agency reported.
A military court in Turkish Cyprus prohibited Loizos Afxentious from leaving northern Cyprus. The man is expected to be tried by a civilian court Monday morning.
Two Polish European Parliament members and two Greek Cypriots were detained Saturday after entering a fenced-off military area in Famagusta, reportedly to visit destroyed Orthodox churches there.
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