I am Metropolitan Vasilios of Constantia and Ammochostos, a member of the hierarchy of the Orthodox Church of Cyprus. My Diocese includes the city and the broader district of Famagusta. In fact, the Diocese should have been located in the city of Famagusta (Ammochostos), which, unfortunately, is not possible due to the political situation in our country as a result of the Turkishinvasion in 1974.I am writing with regard to the violations of human rights and especially the right to religious freedom and worship in Cyprus.

The Holy Diocese of Constantia and Ammochostos has recently organizedand hostedtwo International Conferences in Paralimni. One of them, in particular, was the Inter-Orthodox Pre-Assembly Consultation of the World Council of Churches in which delegates from many different countries representing Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox churches participated, in order to prepare for the forthcoming General Assembly of the World Council of Churches, which will take place in Karlsruhe, Germany, from the 31^st of August until the 8^th of September 2022.

We initially intended to visit the city of Famagusta in order to celebrate the Divine Liturgy at the church of Saint George of Exorinos in Medieval Famagusta and the Monastery of Saint Barnabas. Unfortunately, we were very disappointed to be informed that the illegal government in the occupied area of Cyprus,rejected our application and declared me and two of my closest associates, the Chancellorand the Deacon of the Diocese, as personae non gratae. Furthermore, it should be noted that the Turkish-Cypriot authorities very recently rejected for the first time other applications for celebrating the Liturgy in other communities in the occupied area of Famagusta.

There is no doubt that thisactionverifies that the illegal Turkish-Cypriot authorities follow very closely, almost step by step, the evolving aggressive policy of Turkey and President Erdogan in particular, who is constantly threatening Cyprus and Greece, promotingterritorial revisionism andseeking to establish de facto the current dividing situation in Cyprus. In this context, it isapparent that the so-called Turkish-Cypriot government seeks to establish itself as a regular “state entity” and takes similar actions of “authority”in that direction. These actions are totally unacceptable, especially when, to some extent,there is an unacceptableintervention in the internal situation of the Republic of Cyprus.

This unparalleled prohibition of the bishop of the broader area of Famagusta to perform his religious duties constitutes an unjustified and purposeful violation of human rights. Therefore, I am obliged to write this complaint and strongly express my objection to this illegal decision, which bans free worship and alienates the bishop from places of worship that in fact belong to his religious authority and legal responsibility.What is known from recent history, based on what happened in other places which have been occupied and controlled by Turkey, their aim was to gradually promote Islamizationby destroying the Christian religious heritage and effectively altering the cultural character of those areas.

Additionally, the permission for religious services in places of worship in the occupied area is considered a measure of building mutual confidence between the two communities, which is now severely undermined as well asevery effort in this direction. If this measure is rejected, may we ask how further substantial measures of mutual confidence could thus be implemented?

Based on common fundamental democratic principles, we ask for the termination of this severe discrimination and violation of human rightsand generally prevent the establishment of this kind of divisive actions. Especially, considering the tragic results ofterritorial revisionism and aggressive policies of more powerful nations against other nations as we all have been recently witnessing.

Metropolitan Vasilios

of Constantia and Ammochostos

July 18th,2022

Holy Metropolis of Constantia and Ammochostos

Paralimni, Cyprus