Snarl-up over Muslim cemetery
Archbishop Ieronymos may have given the go-ahead for the creation of a Muslim cemetery in Athens but the government is unclear about how this controversial project will be realized, according to a left-wing parliamentary deputy who has researched the matter. Efforts by Pericles Korovesis of the Coalition of the Radical Left (SYRIZA) to get an update on plans for the cemetery, approved by Ieronymos in March, were frustrated as three different ministries each said responsibility lay elsewhere. According to a question tabled in Parliament by Korovesis, the Interior Ministry – which usually handles immigrant issues – said the Education and Religion Ministry was the competent authority. But the Education Ministry said responsibility lay with local authorities «and, by extension, the Interior Ministry.» The SYRIZA deputy was subsequently referred to the Environment and Public Works Ministry which issued a statement noting that Athens municipal authorities were «the competent authority in this case» and that the latter «had informed the Church’s Holy Synod about the suitability of the plot of land (for the cemetery).» The most helpful response came from the Foreign Ministry. The creation of a Muslim cemetery «is a humanitarian obligation, not just a legal obligation arising from international treaties,» said Deputy Foreign Minister Theodoros Kassimis. A three-hectare plot, worth 13 million euros, was donated by the Church for the creation of a Muslim cemetery in western Athens in 2005. The project was approved by the new archbishop this March. Muslim citizens currently must send their dead to the northern region of Thrace – home to Greece’s largest Muslim population – for burial. Apart from the high cost, this practice also violates Muslim tradition which dictates that the deceased should be buried within an hour of their death.
