Greek and Turkish Cypriots unite to restore cemeteries in Green Line
So far, restoration is under way at 15 cemeteries inside the Green Line, the demilitarised zone between the two parts of the island.
There are also talks of extending the project, which is costing €700,000.
After the Turkish invasion in 1974, churches, mosques and cemeteries were vandalised, damaged or abandoned.
For decades, people were not allowed to cross over to the other side to leave flowers beside their relatives' graves.
"People come to our village to see their graves, their houses, we have people visiting to see where their ancestors are," said Haroula Efstratiou, president of the Greek Cypriot community of Tochni.
"Just as we demand that they respect us, our dead, our religion and so on, I believe we owe them the same respect," Efstratiou added.
Murudeh Erzen, president of a Turkish Cypriot community in Palaikythro, also spoke of the need for both sides to respect each other.
"We want to make another arrangement," Erzen said. "We want to protect our stuff again, our mosques, our churches."
The cemetery restoration project, which is funded by the European Union, started last May.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Euronews
5 hours ago
- Euronews
What's the EU country where people can't wait to leave?
More than one in ten European Union citizens wants to leave their region out of choice or necessity, according to the latest Eurobarometer poll. Within the next five years, 7% would like to move out of choice, while 4% would move out of necessity. The highest percentages of people willing to leave were found in Portugal and Hungary, with 16% each, followed by France (15%), and Greece and Poland, at 12% each. On the other side of the spectrum, the highest shares of respondents who ruled out voluntarily moving away from their region soon were found in the Netherlands (94%) and Croatia (90%). People who may pack up and leave—whether by choice or necessity—mainly do so because they can't find quality jobs or have limited economic opportunities (29%). Fed up with politics: Maltese and Slovaks most unhappy However, almost a quarter (23%) of respondents say they feel they are being pushed away by a lack of trust in the political environment of their region or country. The highest levels of discontent among those wishing to leave were reported in Slovakia (50%), Malta (45%), Luxembourg (38%), Croatia and Hungary (both 36%). Spaniards, Greeks and Czechs looking for affordable properties One-fifth (22%) of those planning to leave point to the lack of affordable quality housing, which remains one of the most pressing issues across the continent. The housing crisis is hardest felt in Spain: 40% of people living here say that would be the main reason to migrate. Czechs also reported a high rate, at 30%. According to the latest European Housing Trend report, high housing costs are holding back 64% of potential buyers. Among them, 40% can't save up for a deposit, particularly in the Czech Republic (60%) and Greece (58%). No rent hassles in the Balkans? The European Housing Trend report also indicates which EU countries have the highest percentages of homeowners. Romanians (85%), Croatians (83%), Bulgarians (80%), Brits (75%), Hungarians and Italians (72%) are the most likely to own a property, while Maltese (46%), Germans (34%) and Swiss (30%) are the least likely to be in this situation.
Euronews
6 hours ago
- Euronews
US-led coalition in Syria captures senior IS group commander
US-led coalition forces captured a senior Islamic State commander believed to be the group's leader in a pre-dawn helicopter raid Wednesday near Syria's Turkish border, killing one Iraqi citizen during the operation. The operation took place in Atmeh, a town near the Turkish border, and an IS group commander alleged to be Abu Hafs al-Qurashi was taken away. At the same time, an Iraqi citizen was killed, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. The observatory said the man captured had a French-speaking woman with him, and it is not known if she was taken by US forces or Syrian security, who later cordoned off the area. The US military has not responded to requests from the media for comment, and it is not immediately clear if the man captured is IS' main leader. Two years ago, the IS group announced that a man called Abu Hafs al-Hashemi al-Qurashi had been named as its new leader after Turkish authorities killed his predecessor. The IS jihadist group broke away from al-Qaeda more than a decade ago. It attracted supporters from around the world after it declared a self-proclaimed "caliphate" in 2014 in large parts of Syria and Iraq. Despite its defeat in Iraq in 2017 and in Syria two years later, the IS group's militants still carry out deadly attacks in both countries and elsewhere. All previous IS leaders have adopted Al-Qurashi as part of their surname, implying a connection to Quraish, the tribe to which Islam's Prophet Muhammad belonged. The IS group claims its leaders hail from the tribe, and al-Qurashi is used as a nom de guerre -- all part of the terror organisation's propaganda, as it is largely invented and its handful of leaders are unrelated, according to reports. Its first leader, the self-proclaimed emir and caliph Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, did not take on the Al-Qurashi name, despite claiming he hailed from the tribe without providing evidence.
LeMonde
a day ago
- LeMonde
France faces prospect of paying higher borrowing costs than Italy
As hard as it may be to take for France, many investors no longer have any doubt: Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's Italy is now just as credible when it comes to public finances, if not more so. "Once at the bottom of the class in the European Union in terms of budget discipline, Italy is now in a position to give lessons to France," said independent economist Philippe Crevel in an analysis published at the end of July. Some observers see Italy, now led by the far right, as a model of fiscal discipline for its neighbor. The numbers most symbolic of the reversal are the interest rates that investors demand in exchange for holding the two countries' public debt. In 2011 and 2012, Italy was seen as so turbulent and unreliable that investors insisted on a premium of up to 400 basis points (4%) over French rates. When France paid 3% annual interest, Italy had to pay 7%. Since then, the risk premium has shrunk dramatically, dropping to less than five basis points for the main benchmark with a 10-year repayment period on August 15, a rate unprecedented since 2005. For five-year bonds, the gap between French and Italian debt on financial markets disappeared entirely in mid-July.
