Destruction of the Greek Cypriot cemetery and church in occupied Lapythos village (Cyprus)
22.1.2013
Question for written answer E-000565-13
to the Commission
Rule 117
Antigoni Papadopoulou (S&D)
According to an article published in the Turkish Cypriot daily newspaper Kibrisli on 18 January 2013, the Greek Cypriot cemetery in the occupied village of Lapythos (Cyprus) has been destroyed as a result of action initiated by the so-called mayor of occupied Lapythos, Fuat Namsoy, who is also the General Secretary of the Turkish Cypriot National Unity Party (UBP). Diggers and bulldozers destroyed the cemetery and the church located inside it, and the headstones of the Greek Cypriot graves were broken and thrown into the destroyed church. The bones which had been taken out of the cemetery were thrown away as rubbish. In the Greek Orthodox tradition, such actions against cemeteries and lack of respect for the dead are considered a severe violation of religious human rights.
The Commission is therefore asked to answer the following:
- 1.How can it stop such acts of barbarism by the Turkish occupying regime against Greek Cypriot cemeteries and the disrespect shown for the families of the buried Greek Cypriots?
- 2.As this is not an isolated incident but is one of many over the last 39 years of Turkish occupation of 37% of the island’s territory, what does the Commissioner for Justice, Fundamental Rights and Citizenship of the EU advise the Cypriot Government, and the Cypriot people in particular, to do in order to stop all such Turkish acts of provocation in 2013, the ‘European Year of Citizens’?
OJ C 347 E, 28/11/2013