They come from four villages: Hagia Marina, Karpasa, Kurmagite, and Asomatos

The Maronites of Cyprus dream of returning to their abandoned homes in the north of the island

• Patriarch Al-Rahi is following up on the issue of the Cypriot Maronites and all the Maronite towns that have been displaced, always taking it to international levels.

  AFP

• Greek Cypriots leave the Karpaca Church after performing a small mass.

  AFP

• Pope Francis met immigrants to the island of Cyprus to learn about their problems.

  AFP

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Ninos Josephides, 68, rarely has the opportunity to visit his village of Aya Marina, located in the northern part of Cyprus, because after the Turkish invasion of the island, 47 years ago, it turned into a military site, and it cannot be entered without prior permission, yet he dreams of returning to it. a day.

He told an AFP team that participated in a visit organized by the Maronite Church to the Maronite villages in northern Cyprus on Saturday: "My house was here in front of the church, it was destroyed, there were many houses here."

The Church of St. Marina is almost the only existing building in the village, where a mosque can also be seen nearby.

divided island

The Maronite Cypriots are descended from four villages in the north of the island, namely, Hagia Marina, Karpacha, Kormagite, and Asomatos.

Cyprus has been divided since 1974, after Turkey invaded its northern third in response to a coup carried out by nationalist Greek Cypriots who wanted to link the island to Greece. Except for Ankara.

The Greek Cypriots, mostly Orthodox, fled to the southern part, leaving their lands, homes and possessions. As for the Maronites, who are a minority affiliated with the Catholic Church, a part of them remained in the villages of Kormageti and Karpasha, although their number decreased over the years, but the villages of Aya Marina and Asomatos were abandoned in a way Almost complete.

Josephides says: "Our village was bombed. Its residents were forced to flee. They thought they would return the next day, but this did not happen."

After the border between the two parts of the island was opened in 2003, the Greek Cypriots and the Maronites, who returned to inspect their property, found that it was either destroyed or confiscated and inhabited by others. As for Hagia Marina and Asomatos, they turned into two military barracks for the Turkish army, which maintains 30,000 soldiers in the northern part. .

restricted visit

The authorities of Northern Cyprus allow the Maronites to visit Ayia Marina five times a year during religious holidays, and everyone who wants to participate in these occasions is required to register his name with the authorities at least two days before the visit.

On Saturday, the authorities granted exceptional permission to visit, at the request of the Maronite Patriarch, Bechara Al-Rahi, who came from Lebanon to participate in the reception of Pope Francis in Cyprus. He called for a solution to the crisis through “dialogue.”

Since 2014, negotiations that sought, under the auspices of the United Nations, to find a solution to the divided EU's single-state crisis have stalled.

At the entrance to Aya Marina, a checkpoint of Turkish security forces in civilian clothes searched all the cars that entered the village, and took pictures of their cards and passports.

Inside the church, lit by a single light bulb, due to the lack of electricity and sunlight, along with the approximately 50 visitors, people in civilian clothes and others wore uniforms with the word “police” written on it in Turkish.

Inside the church, where he led a small prayer with those present, Patriarch Al-Rahi said that he "follows up on the issue of the Cypriot Maronites and all the Maronite towns that have been displaced, always bringing it to international levels."

I want to come back

After Aya Marina, the convoy headed to the village of Asomatos, located about half an hour to the north, and at the entrance to the village, security forces took the entrants' passports or ID cards, and returned them when the visit ended.

The authorities of Northern Cyprus allow the people of Asomatos to enter it every Sunday to participate in the weekly liturgy, provided that they are informed every Friday of the names, and visitors are supposed to leave the village immediately after the liturgy ends.

Maria Bartella Stefani, 71, of Asomatus, was among those in the village on Saturday.

She told AFP that her mother refused to leave the village after the invasion, "In the beginning, there were 120 people, and over the years some of them died, while others moved to Nicosia, and my mother Emilia remained alone."

The people of the village say that Emilia used to make bread and sell it to the Turkish soldiers to live.

Stephanie continued, "My mother was the last of the villagers to live in Asomatos, and she passed away in 2015."

After her death, Turkish forces began using her home for military exercises.

She said that she also has a home with her husband in the village: "I was born and raised here and married here. My house was built three months before the invasion, and now it is occupied by a commander in the Turkish army."

"I was forced to leave and start from scratch, I want to go back to this village," added Anita, Maria's sister, who lives today in the southern part of Nicosia.

fear of extinction

"For the original Maronites, these villages are their presence, their presence, their homes and the basis of their lives," said Selim Sfeir, the Maronite Archbishop of Cyprus, noting that "the visit of the Patriarch is morally important to prove our presence here."

However, some, such as Josephides, fear that it will not be possible to continue to establish existence, in the long run.

"The more we come here the more we love this place, but I don't know how long this will last, I am 68, my son is 37 and he may come here regularly, but others may feel tired of futile attempts," he said.

The Maronite presence in Cyprus dates back to the eighth century, and the number of Maronites at that time was 80,000 distributed over 60 villages, and the number declined under the Ottoman rule, and then after the division of the island, and today their number does not exceed 7000.

In his welcoming speech to the Patriarch in Aya Marina, the village mayor, Bartelis Haji Faisal, who lives in the southern part, said: “The people who inhabit these villages are dying day after day,” appealing to him and Pope Francis to continue what they are doing in order to return.

He added, "If nothing changes in our situation, the Maronites will disappear from Cyprus."

• The Maronite presence in Cyprus dates back to the eighth century, and the number of Maronites at that time was 80,000 distributed over 60 villages, and the number declined under the Ottoman rule, and then after the division of the island.

Today their number does not exceed 7000.

• Since 2014, the negotiations that sought, under the auspices of the United Nations, to find a solution to the crisis of the only divided country in the European Union have been suspended.

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