European Commissioner for Cohesion and Reforms, Elisa Ferreira, has addressed concerns about the desecration of religious sites in occupied Cyprus.
In response to a written question from Member of the European Parliament Demetris Papadakis, she referred to the work of the bicommunal technical committee on cultural heritage and outlined the European Commission’s stance.
Papadakis had approached the Commission following the desecration of the Church of St. Anna in occupied Kythrea, which has been converted into a boxing school.
Commissioner Ferreira expressed the Commission’s profound concern for the preservation of Cyprus’s cultural heritage.
She deplored “any destruction of cultural heritage sites or lack of respect for them” and strongly condemned the “clear lack of respect demonstrated in the case of St. Anna’s in the occupied territories.”
She underscored the Commission’s support for the bicommunal Technical Committee on Cultural Heritage (TCCH), which received the European Heritage Label in 2021.
Since 2012, the Commission has allocated approximately €27.5 million to TCCH. The committee has restored, maintained, or protected over 130 cultural sites across Cyprus, including the completion of maintenance work on 64 churches in the Turkish Cypriot community.
Commissioner Ferreira emphasized that the technical committee operates independently, and the Commission does not interfere with its work.
She clarified that “following consultations with all stakeholders, the technical committee is the body that will make the final decision regarding the monuments to intervene.”
