Turkey, TRNC and South Cyprus condemn Limassol mosque attack
AN ATTACK on a mosque in South Cyprus that coincided with the 200th anniversary of the Greek uprising against the Ottoman Empire has been condemned by both sides of the island and Turkey.
The external parts of the Muslu Çavuş Mosque in Episkopi — called Yalova or Piskobu in Turkish — in the Limassol region were daubed with Greek flags, blue crosses and words such as “Greece”, “Long Live Greece” and “1821 and 2021” on Wednesday.
President Ersin Tatar issued a message of condemnation: “Greek Cypriot provocations have come to the fore again . . . prior to the five-plus-UN informal meeting to be held in Geneva, Switzerland, from April 27 to 29.
“Even though our mosques and religious and holy places in South Cyprus do get attacked, [on Wednesday], on the 200th anniversary of the Greek uprising, the racist and fascist slogan ‘Death to All Turks’ was written on the wall of our mosque in Limassol.
“Whilst this incident once again displays the Greek Cypriot mentality, it must be remembered that hundreds of our mosques were attacked and destroyed during the period between 1963 and 1974.
“Our advice to the Greek Cypriot administration and its leadership is not to organise and not to support such racist and fascist attacks, to prevent [them from happening] and to arrest those responsible as soon as possible. This is our hope.”
Prime Minister Hamza Ersan Saner said he was “saddened” to have seen the “racism” and “vandalism” on the mosque.
“This is provocation and it is unacceptable . . . the Greek Cypriot administration should find the culprits and they should face justice.”
Speaking to Cyprus Today, Turkish Cypriot co-chair of the Technical Committee on Cultural Heritage Ali Tuncay, said: “This is not an isolated incident and these sorts of attacks have been repeated on mosques [in South Cyprus] for a long time. If the culprits are not being brought to justice, than there is no deterrent. We expect the perpetrators to be found and for appropriate legal action to be taken.”
Mr Tuncay said that he had been in contact with his Greek Cypriot counterparts and was told that work had begun to clean off the graffiti.
The Turkish Foreign Ministry condemned the incident in a written statement issued yesterday.
“Such provocative actions, taken at a time when efforts to find a solution to the Cyprus issue have intensified, clearly will not help establish trust between two communities,” the statement said.
“We agree with [President Tatar] in his call to bring those responsible for the incident to justice as soon as possible.
“We expect that the issue will be pursued with the necessary seriousness and sensitivity with a view to avoiding a repetition of such unacceptable acts.”
Greek Cypriot government spokesman Kyriacos Koushos said in a written statement on Thursday that “brainless people” under the “pretext of so-called patriotism”, insulted places of worship but “also the very meaning of patriotism as taught to us by our glorious heroes, who were all about honour and ideals and not destruction”.
He continued: “Malicious actions, such as these, do not in any way contribute to the creation of the right climate that we seek in our effort to find a solution to the Cyprus problem and the reunification of our homeland.
“The [South Cyprus] government will not show any tolerance at all for such delinquent behaviours that in essence affect the country itself, but also [the] genuinely patriotic spirit that distinguishes and has always distinguished Cypriot Hellenism.”
The mayor of the village, Lefkios Prodromou, was reported to have said that this was the third time the mosque had been attacked.
The Office of The Religious Track of the Cyprus Peace Process tweeted: “The vandalism on Episkopi mosque is not just shameful. It is clear desecration of a place of worship. We strongly condemn it.”