Another example is the Turkish Cypriot journalist and President of the Turkish Cypriot Press Workers Union, Ali Kismir. He had charges pressed against him by the so-called authorities of the secessionist entity in the occupied areas of Cyprus, for allegedly insulting “TRNC security forces command” in an article he wrote in 2021. Destruction of cultural heritage As a result of the Turkish invasion of 1974 the rich cultural heritage of the occupied part of the island has suffered considerable damage and is in danger of complete destruction. Press reports and testimonies show that more than 500 Greek Orthodox churches and chapels and 17 monasteries that are located in towns and villages of the occupied part of the island have been pillaged, deliberately vandalised or torn down. Many Christian places of worship have been converted into mosques, depots of the Turkish army, stockyards and hay barns. This fact clearly proves that the religious heritage in the occupied areas has been the target of the occupation regime as part of its policy to eradicate the cultural character of the area. Moreover, important cultural monuments and places of worship continue to be completely inaccessible because they are located within the “military zones” of the Turkish occupation army. The whereabouts of the ecclesiastical items of these churches, estimated to 20,000, remain unknown. The Cyprus Police estimates that since 1974 more than 60,000 cultural artifacts have been illegally transferred to different countries around the world. The most significant and priceless icons came in possession of auction houses and were illegally sold by art dealers abroad. The destruction is not limited to the monuments belonging to the Church of Cyprus, but also extends to religious monuments belonging to the Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem and to the Armenian, Maronite and Catholic Churches of Cyprus, as for example the Armenian Monastery Sourp Magar in Halefka and the Maronite Monastery of Prophet Elias in Skylloura. For example, in September 2023 the occupying forces have transformed the restored by its parishoners Agia Anna church in occupied Kythrea into a boxing ring. Turkey, as a state party to the 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property During Armed Conflict, is required to refrain from acts of hostility and damage against cultural property situated in the northern part of Cyprus. Article 4(3) specifically stipulates that the Contracting Parties undertake to prohibit, prevent and, if necessary, put a stop to any form of theft, pillage or misappropriation of, and any acts of vandalism directed against, cultural property. The Cyprus Question| A brief Introduction 33
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