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Cyprus News Agency - September 5, 1997

Archbishop Chrysostomos leaves for US

Larnaca, Sep 5 (CNA) -- Turkish threats against Cyprus can be countered effectively if Hellenism maintains its unity, but positions stated so far on the Cyprus problem do not lead in the right direction for a resolution of the issue, Archbishop Chrysostomos has said.

Speaking today on his departure for the US, the Primate of the Greek Orthodox Church in Cyprus said "until today, we have not heard positions which lead in the right direction (for a Cyprus solution), which means the withdrawal of Turkish occupation troops and settlers, and the restoration of human rights in all Cyprus".

Invited to comment on Turkish threats against Cyprus, Archbishop Chrysostomos said the threats "can be neutralised by the unity of Hellenism in Cyprus and Greece, as well as in the diaspora, particularly in the US".

The Archbishop will conduct a service on the occasion of the inauguration of the Greek Orthodox church of Ayios Themonianos in Houston, Texas.

The church, built by the US philanthropist and art collector Dominique De Menil, is a replica of the church of Ayios Themonianos located in the Turkish-occupied village of Lysi.

The church in Houston will house two priceless 13th-century mosaics stolen from the Lysi church in 1979 by Turkish art smugglers for the purpose of selling them on the international black market.

De Menil, who rescued the mosaics from certain doom by paying a reported one million US dollars for them, agreed to hand the mosaics over to their rightful owner, the Greek Orthodox Church of Cyprus, in 2010.

Until that time, the mosaics will be displayed at the Houston church.

Turkish art smugglers, in complicity with the occupation regime, have and continue to pillage for profit dozens of churches housing priceless religious objects and mosaics.

| While in the US, Archbishop Chrysostomos will meet with the Primate of the Greek Orthodox Church of America, Archbishop Spyridon, as well as hold contacts with other religious and diaspora leaders. He will also meet with US political figures.

[ Cyprus News Agency - www.cyna.org.cy/ - September 5, 1997 ]