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Turkey Wipes Out the Christian Culture of Occupied Cyprus
A sixth-century mosaic of Saint Mark, stolen from a church after Turkey’s military invaded Cyprus in 1974, was recently recovered in a Monaco apartment and returned to Cypriot officials.
- Uzay Bulut
- Gatestone Institute
The ancient masterpiece was described by Arthur Brand, the Dutch investigator who located it, as “one of the last and most beautiful examples of art from the early Byzantine era.”
Many other cultural Cypriot relics, from churches and other sites, were stolen from Cyprus by Turkish invaders and smuggled abroad.
Some were recovered and returned in the past.
In 1989, mosaics stolen from the Church of Panagia Kanakaria, discovered in the…