A big win, unfortunately only in a cultural context did Cyprus after the decision of the Munich Court of Appeal return them to the Church of Cyprus 173 ecclesiastical relics, such as pictures, mosaics, murals etc. a. which had been collected from temples and monasteries in the occupied territories, by the Turkish antiquarian Aydin Dickmen.

 

This is a case that has been pending for fifteen years as Dickman had managed to convince - partially of course - that the heirlooms belonged to him through legal tricks (!), so he demanded in return 6 million. euro. Decisive though, was the opinion of the German professor of Byzantine studies Mr. Johannes Dekker, who proved that the relics are works of Cypriot hagiographers.

 

Note however, that all the works seized from the hands of the Turkish antiquarian were 232 but the 60 they will still remain in Germany, as most are antiquities, for which Mr. Decker cannot comment.

Dikmen's greatest looting took place in the frescoes of the church of Agios Euphemianos in Lysi, which were bought by the Menil foundation in Texas but last year it was possible to return them to Cyprus as well as the 6th century wall mosaics from the church of Panagia Kanakaria in Lythrangomi.

 

Among the works that will be returned, however, are pieces of mosaics from Panagia Kanakaria, fragments of frescoes from Panagia Absinthiotissa in Synghari, like the head of St. Ignatius, heartbreaks too, frescoes from the church of Panagia Pergameniotissa in Akanthou, dating back to the 12th century, frescoes from the 9th century church of Agia Solomoni and from the church of Antiphonitis (approx. 1200 and the end of the 15th c.) as well as a large number of pictures and old manuscripts.

 

"These are works that come from about fifty different looted temples in Turkish-occupied Cyprus, which have been fully identified, while unfortunately a large part of them has not been fully identified due to incomplete files", reported by the Delegation of the Church of Cyprus to the European Union.

Moreover, with the same decision of the Court of Appeal, Dickmen must return to the Church of Cyprus approx 90 thousands of euros, which had been seized along with the heirlooms in his apartment in Munich by the Bavarian Police in 1997.

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