EXCLUSIVE: Religious artifacts in Cyprus in ‘great peril’

Icon from Cyprus

The Washington Times
By Julia Duin

Originally published 04:45 a.m., July 21, 2009, updated 06:22 a.m., July 21, 2009

Religious artifacts on the divided island of Cyprus are in «great peril,» according to a U.S. Helsinki Commission document to be released Tuesday afternoon.

Thousands of Orthodox icons, manuscripts, frescoes and mosaics have been looted from churches, chapels and monasteries in northern Cyprus, ending up on international auction blocks, says the document, the result of a lengthy investigation by the Helsinki Commission and titled «Destruction of Cultural Property in the Northern Part of Cyprus and Violations of International LawΔιαβάστε τη συνέχεια του άρθρου »