An historic meeting of faiths in Nicosia
An important step toward rapprochement between Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots is to take place today in Nicosia, as the newly elected archbishop of Cyprus, Chrysostomos, receives the mufti of the Turkish-occupied north of Cyprus, Ahmet Yonluer, who is head of religious affairs in the breakaway region. It is the first meeting between religious leaders of the two communities. A few days later Chrysostomos is to visit the occupied sector of Nicosia. Yonluer will accompany the archbishop to the Monastery of Saint Barnabas, now a museum, and the grave of the founder of the Church of Cyprus. It is also the first time an archbishop of Cyprus has visited the occupied territory since the invasion of Turkish military forces in 1974. «I believe this is a very important meeting and we will try to send messages to all concerned but also underscore our decision that we can live happily once again with the Turkish Cypriots,» Chrysostomos said in this interview with Kathimerini. «We will stress the invasion and illegal occupation of our territory by Turkey. Our enemy is Ankara and not the Turkish Cypriots,» he added.
