A ceremony will be held next Wednesday in the old city of Turkish-occupied Famagusta to mark the completion of restoration works at the church of St. Anne and Tanner’s mosque by the bicommunal Technical Committee on Cultural Heritage.
 
The ceremony was scheduled to take place last December, it was postponed however after heavy floods which cost the lives of several people in the occupied part of Cyprus.
 
Takis Hadjidemetriou, the Greek Cypriot Head of the Technical Committee told CNA that the ceremony symbolises “the struggle waged by the Technical Committee against destruction.”
 
Moreover, he also called for more efforts in order to save Cyprus’ monuments. Referring to two recent incidents, involving the collapse of part of the church of St. James, as well as part of the Nicosia walls located in the buffer zone, Hadjidemetriou said that “the Technical Committee needs more support in order to fulfill its duties.”
 
Concerning the venetian walls of Nicosia, where the Technical Committee was planning to intervene in order to remove vegetation, Hadjidemetriou said that after the partial collapse, more action will be taken, in line with an initial study conducted by experts.