More than 180 projects worked on by cultural heritage committee so far

More than 180 projects have been worked on by the bicommunal technical committee on cultural heritage since its establishment in 2008, the committee’s Turkish Cypriot co-chairman Ali Tuncay said on Thursday.

“We have made significant progress since the committee’s establishment … Within the scope of work carried out under different phases, restoration, urgent intervention, conservation, or survey work has been completed on over 180 cultural heritage sites to date,” he told the north’s Tak news agency.

He added that the committee has utilised over €45 million in financial resources since 2010, with the majority of those funds – €35m – having been supplied by the European Union, and other amounts having been provided by the foundations administration (Evkaf), the Greek Orthodox church, and other organisations.

Looking ahead to 2026, he said the committee will begin conservation work on the mosques in the Limassol district villages of Koilani and Ayios Thomas, while tenders will also be put out for conservation work to begin on a total of 10 other mosques, five of which are in the Paphos district and five in the Larnaca district.

Additionally, he said, work is ongoing at the Panayia Apsinthonissa monastery, which is located between the Kyrenia district villages of Sychari and Vouno, and at the well known Apostolos Andreas monastery near Rizokarpaso, with five other restoration projects set to commence on religious buildings in the Kyrenia district before the end of the year.

He also said work will continue to conserve and restore non-religious buildings, including a historic stone house in the Famagusta district village of Limnia, the Diamante bastion of Famagusta’s Venetian city walls, and Lefka’s historic aqueducts.

In addition, he stressed that the committee’s work is “balanced between both sides” of the island and the cultural heritage of both the Turkish Cypriot and Greek Cypriot communities, as well as other communities on the island.

“We maintain a balance between both sides. Religious places of worship, baths, fountains, water mills, castle walls, archaeological sites, and cemeteries on both sides of Cyprus are considered as a whole and within the same framework,” he said.

He added that this approach “both makes us productive and builds trust”, and that “conducting similar projects in the north and the south in a balanced manner is vital for building trust between Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots”.