Armenpress

ARMENIAN MONASTERY IN NORTHERN CYPRUS TURNED INTO CAFE

YEREVAN, MAY 10, ARMENPRESS: Citing an April 17 story in Yeniduzen
newspaper published in the Northern Cyprus, Armenian foreign ministry said
an Armenian Saint Makar monastery, which is in the mountainous part of the
island, was turned into a cafe. The newspaper said its new owner, Dervish
Sonmezler, intends to rebuilt the monastery into a hotel.
The monastery was built in the 4-th century AD by Copts, but later it
passed to Armenians and was for centuries an Armenian Church sanctuary.
Though it was subordinated to the second Armenian Catholicosate in Antelias,
Lebanon, the monastery maintained closed ties with Etchmiadzin.
Before the Turkish occupation of the Northern Cyprus the monastery was
one of the favorite destinations for local Armenians, but now it is
inaccessible to Christians. All manuscripts and other relics kept in it were
plundered and sold and only the intervention of the Republic of Cyprus, the
Armenian Church and international organizations prevented further
destruction of the monastery.