human rights archaeology:cultural heritage in conflict

Cypriot antiquities, Munich State Prehistoric Collection

2009-11-09T04:00:00.001Z

I found an exhibition catalogue of Cypriot antiquities in the Munich State Prehistoric Collection, though the catalogue actually has frustratingly little information in it.

Nevertheless, I hoped that the catalogue could perhaps (only) be (vaguely) useful to affirm that: first, international public and private antiquities collections hold many unprovenienced artefacts (1) from Cyprus, many of which are probably looted artefacts; and second, thereby, those collectors directly or indirectly supported the looting of cultural heritage from Cyprus.

(I'm afraid that all German-English translations are mine.)

Introduction

Now the Chief Curator of the Munich Museum for Prehistory and Early History, archaeologist Dr. Gisela Zahlhaas edited the exhibition catalogue of Finds of the Bronze Age in Cyprus (2).

Then Director of the Munich State Prehistoric Collection, archaeologist and numismatist Hans-Jörg Kellner (1977: 11) explained that:

The exhibition was put together almost exclusively from the State Prehistoric Collection's own inventory. The group of archaeological finds from Cyprus got here on a long tradition of collecting; Julius Naue brought the first pieces to Bavaria in 1886.

But this exhibition would not have been possible without the private collection of Sanzin, which in the years after 1960 [i.e. after the end of colonial occupation], was almost closed. Some of the illustrated pottery had come to the museum as a gift or through art dealers.

All these Cypriot acquisitions were in line with the intentions of the State Prehistoric Collection, similarly the exhibition is not a view of the exceptional, but rather the determining factor was the typical, the characteristic.(3)

Preamble

Unfortunately, the catalogue very rarely gave information; and it never identified or distinguished between excavated, surveyed, confiscated, donated, and purchased antiquities.

Moreover, the vast majority of the artefacts appear to have been inventoried just before their permanent exhibition (as 93 of the 104 inventory numbers began with "1974" or "1975"); so, I couldn't even guess their original accession date.

Still, it is possible to work out some things because of the lack of information. If archaeologists had made chance finds of artefacts, those chance finds would have had find-spots.

Likewise, if peasants had made chance finds of artefacts on their land (or on land they worked on, grazed their animals on, etc.), and if archaeologists or antiquarians had acquired those chance finds, those chance finds would (probably) have had find-spots.(4)

Furthermore, if the artefacts were worthy of international exhibition, they would (probably) have been mentioned in one publication or another, if only as an aside in the Annual Report of the Director of the Department of Antiquities (ARDA).

(Moreover, many looted artefacts have been published, with find-spots, so even having both pieces of information is no guarantee, if the catalogue does not explicitly state the artefact was found by excavation, survey or chance.)

So, if archaeological artefacts had a literature reference but no find-spot, they were probably looted; and if antiquities had find-spots but no literature reference, they were also probably looted; and if they had no find-spot or literature reference, they were very probably looted.

David Gill and Christopher Chippindale (1993: 610) defined "surfaced" artefacts as 'object[s] whose finding or excavation in the field has never been reported.... which appear in an exhibition or sale without history, previous publication, or other account'.

Gill and Chippindale (1993: 610) identified the three sources of surfaced objects as illicit excavation, forgery, and old collections; but they dismissed old collections being significant sources as 'a [c]onvenient [f]iction' (1993: 622).

Furthermore, I fear supply of illicit Cypriot antiquities has been so great it has met the demand, so there has never been a market for a forgery industry. Thus, while a few of the surfaced objects may have been forgotten or forged, most will have been looted.

Data

The catalogue presented 104 inventoried artefacts (under 79 catalogue numbers). It listed: only 6 artefacts with find-spots and literature references; 4 with find-spots, and 2 more with find-spots and (here, irrelevant) comparative literature references; 5 with literature references; and 6 with (again, here, irrelevant) comparative literature references, as well as 81 with no information whatsoever.

Thus, 87 (83.65%) of the artefacts lacked any information whatsoever; and 93 (89.42%) lacked reliable provenience. 98 (94.27%) of them were probably looted; or only 6 (5.77%) were probably excavated scientifically (and legally, and without the illicit antiquities trade's cultural, economic and political harms).

Looting communities

This catalogue's sample of probably looted artefacts with find-spots is too small to learn anything significant about different communities' roles in the illicit antiquities trade.

Nevertheless, for the record: one probably looted artefact inventoried in 1967 was from 'Dhenia bei Akaki', both of which were majority Greek Cypriot mixed villages (Zahlhaas, 1977: 25); and one inventoried in 1975 was from the majority Greek Cypriot mixed village of Polis (Zahlhaas, 1977: 39).

The other four probably looted artefacts were from the non-existent village of "Maloula" (5) - presumably, a misrecording of the Greek Cypriot village of Athienou Malloura - two inventoried in 1969, and two in 1972 (Zahlhaas, 1977: 26; 33; 34; 44).

According to the Embassy of the Republic of Cyprus in Washington, D.C., Athienou Malloura had been 'visited by grave robbers in the 1930s and 1960s, according to The Cyprus Weekly' (ERC, 2005); but the Athienou Archaeological Project was even more specific.

Malloura's sanctuary site was 'looted in the 1930s' (Toumazou, Kardulias and Yerkes, 1992), then those looters 'exported hundreds of statues from Cyprus illegally' (AAP, 2005).

Local contacts told the Project that 'as recently as the 1960's [sic]', Malloura's burial site, Mağara Tepesi, was 'destroyed by looters, bulldozing, and plowing' (AAP, 2005). So, the four probably looted artefacts from Athienou Malloura may be from the tombs of Mağara Tepesi.

Unprovenienced artefacts are objects that have no information about their archaeological context, so they can teach very little about the society/societies that made and used them.
Funde der Bronzezeit auf Zypern
Die Ausstellung wurde fast ausschließlich aus eigenen Beständen der Prähistorischen Staatssammlung zusammengestellt. Die Gruppe der Bodenfunde aus Zypern geht hier auf eine lange Sammeltradition zurück; die ersten Stücke brachte schon 1886 Julius Naue nach Bayern.

Doch ware diese Ausstellung ohne die Privatsammlung Sanzin nicht möglich gewesen, die in den Jahren nach 1960 fast geschlossen übernommen werden konnte. Manche der gezeigten Tongefäße waren auch als Schenkung oder durch den Kunsthandel in das Museum gelangt.

Entsprechend der Intention der Prähistorischen Staatssammlung war bei allen diesen zyprischen Erwerbungen ebenso wie bei der Ausstellung nicht der Blick auf das Exzeptionelle, sondern der auf das Typische, Charakteristische bestimmend gewesen (Kellner, 1977: 11).

[This was a single paragraph; but I inserted paragraph breaks to make it easy to read in a blog.]
Gill and Chippindale (1993: 608) judged that only 'very few of these [farmers'] older finds may have been conveyed into the corpus'.
"Maloula" doesn't appear in the glossary of geographical terms or in the toponymy of village names of the Complete Gazetteer of Cyprus (ROCPCSGN, 1987: xv; 773).

Bibliography

AAP (Athienou Archaeological Project). 2005: "About Athienou-Malloura". Athienou Archaeological Project, 7th November. Available at: http://www.davidson.edu/academic/classics/Toumazou/AAP/site.html

ERC (Embassy of the Republic of Cyprus in Washington, D.C.). 2005: "Archaeologists dig new finds". Embassy of the Republic of Cyprus in Washington, D.C., 1st September. Available at: http://www.cyprusembassy.net/home/index.php?module=article&id=2891

Gill, D W and Chippindale, C. 1993: "Material and intellectual consequences of esteem for Cycladic figures". American Journal of Archaeology, Volume 97, Number 4, 601-659.

Kellner, H-J. 1977: "Vorwort [Foreword]". In Zahlhaas, G, (Be.). Funde der Bronzezeit auf Zypern: Katalog der Ausstellung [finds of the Bronze Age in Cyprus: Catalogue of the exhibition], 7-11. München: Prähistoriche Staatssammlung München Museum für Vor- und Frühgeschichte.

ROCPCSGN (Republic of Cyprus Permanent Committee for the Standardization of Geographical Names). 1987: A complete gazetteer of Cyprus, volume 1. Nicosia: Cyprus Research Centre and Republic of Cyprus Department of Lands and Surveys.

Toumazou, M K, Kardulias, P N and Yerkes, R W. 1992: "Excavation and survey in the Malloura Valley, central Cyprus: The 1991 season". Old World Archaeology Newsletter, Volume 15, Number 3, 18-23. Available at: http://www.davidson.edu/academic/classics/Toumazou/AAP/articles/91season.html

Zahlhaas, G, (Be.). 1977: Funde der Bronzezeit auf Zypern: Katalog der Ausstellung [finds of the Bronze Age in Cyprus: Catalogue of the exhibition]. München: Prähistoriche Staatssammlung München Museum für Vor- und Frühgeschichte.

recently looted UCL Incantation Bowls: suppressed report findings revealed

2009-11-08T01:30:00.001Z

Explaining everything I didn't in my earlier note about Lord Renfrew on UCL incantation bowls, in today's Observer, Vanessa Thorpe and James Doeser have reported on the "UK scholars linked to 'stolen' bowls of Babylon".

Lord Renfrew revealed the suppressed report findings by using his parliamentary privilege (protection from prosecution for slander, libel, breach of contract, etc.) and placing the findings in the House of Lords library. The 'secret report... exposed an apparent attempt to cover up UK academic connections to a potentially deadly trade in stolen Iraqi antiquities'.

As well as agreeing to the suppression of the report and the gagging of its authors, UCL itself evidently spoke about the report and misrepresented it. In 2007, UCL and private collector Martin Schøyen released a statement saying that 'UCL [was] pleased to announce that no claims adverse to the Schøyen Collection's right and title have been made or intimated'.

Cultural destruction and the loss of historical understanding (and cultural tourism) are not the only costs of the illicit antiquities trade. Archaeologist Professor Peter Stone observed that 'there is a strong case that the money made by illegally digging up artefacts in historic sites is being used to buy guns for the insurgent forces'.

Antiquities looting will continue as long as collectors and museums buy looted antiquities; and that illicit antiquities trade will contribute to terrorist and paramilitary violence. In Cyprus, as in Iraq, museums and collectors must stop buying looted antiquities.

Lord Renfrew on UCL incantation bowls

2009-10-30T18:00:00.005Z

Over on Looting Matters, David Gill's posted an excerpt from Lord Renfrew's speech to the House of Lords, in which he discussed 654 Aramaic incantation bowls. UCL had studied the bowls for Norwegian businessman Martin Schøyen; when concerns were raised that the bowls had been looted from and should be returned to Iraq, UCL instead returned them to Schøyen.

Quoting an excerpt from Gill's excerpt, Lord Renfrew reported that the UCL Committee of Inquiry concluded that:

they had indeed been looted from Iraq, or more precisely concluded, "on the balance of probabilities that the bowls were removed from Iraq, and that their removal took place after 6th August 1990", and was therefore illegal.

(I will try to blog the case more completely in the future.)

Fielding, Jansen, Hellenist propaganda: Dalibard's UNESCO Cypriot cultural heritage report

2009-09-28T12:00:00.003+01:00

I've finally checked some of my sources' (supposed) sources in the British Library's newspaper archive, like John Fielding's 1976 report on the Rape of Northern Cyprus.

Fielding discussed Jacques Dalibard's 1976 Cypriot cultural heritage report for UNESCO, and Hellenist propaganda has polluted understanding of both. Unsurprisingly, Michael Jansen's work has yet again been called into question.

(UNESCO first suppressed, then released a heavily-edited version of Dalibard's original report on the treatment of cultural heritage in both northern and southern Cyprus. I've previously noted what Jansen insinuated, and discussed how she misrepresented Dalibard's and others' reports.)

We must ignore how closely Jansen paraphrased some of Guardian journalist John Fielding's lines without quotation or attribution, because there are other, bigger problems.

Jansen has used Fielding's genuine and just criticisms of Turkish and Turkish Cypriot nationalist extremists' treatment of Greek Cypriot cultural heritage, but she has also misrepresented Fielding's article.

Jansen deliberately - and lazily obviously - excluded Fielding's argument and claims, and denied by omission Greek Cypriot nationalist extremists' treatment of Turkish Cypriot cultural heritage.

Directing the reader of the paragraph to '[s]ee the report by John Fielding published in The Guardian, May 6, 1976', Michael Jansen (1986: 315) said that the '"bowdlerized version [of Dalibard's report]" was published..., with a UNESCO disclaimer attached disassociating itself from the author's views'.

Thus, instead of using the full Dalibard report as a means of exposing the situation and applying pressure to both the authorities in northern Cyprus and Ankara, UNESCO and its member states dropped the issue, giving the looters and smugglers both license and immunity - even from moral pressure.

In her book on War and Cultural Heritage: Cyprus After the 1974 Turkish Invasion, Jansen (2005: 27-28) stated that the 'bowdlerized version' 'was not scheduled for release until April 1976 because of Turkish and Turkish Cypriot objections.

If his original report had been published and promptly acted upon, it might have compelled the Turkish side to abide by the spirit, if not the flawed wording of the relevant provisions of [Turkish Cypriot Antiquities] Law 35.

Before UNESCO managed to muster the nerve to promulgate the second five-page Dalibard report, the Turkish Cypriots had forced him to to quit his position as conservator of the treasures of northern Cyprus.

To deflect attention from what was taking place in the north, the Turkish Cypriot administration claimed that the Greek Cypriots had burned to the ground a mosque in the village of Peristerona west of Nicosia.

When Dalibard visited the mosque he found it to be undamaged and he said so, enraging the Turkish side. Dalibard went home to Ottawa and UNESCO shelved the abridged report.

Jansen's (2005: 28n20) footnote for this quotation cited 'John Fielding, "The Rape of Northern Cyprus," Guardian, 6 May 1976'.

Jansen implied that pressure was only necessary against 'authorities in northern Cyprus and Ankara', and that Dalibard only endured 'Turkish and Turkish Cypriot objections', that 'publish[ing] and promptly act[ing] upon' Dalibard's full report would only have affected 'the Turkish side'.

And it is true that Fielding (1976: 13) described the Turkish Cypriot administration's propaganda and UNESCO's censorship of Dalibard's report as 'a depressing indicator of Unesco's timidity and the Turkish Cypriots' calculated disregard for the truth'.

Yet the very first paragraph of John Fielding's (1976: 13) study of the Rape of Northern Cyprus stated (with my emphases) that,

Almost two years after the Turkish invasion of Cyprus, a Unesco report on the looting and vandalism of Greek churches in the occupied north of the island has been suppressed for fear of upsetting both Greeks and Turks.

Fielding did claim that the Turkish Cypriot administration must have 'perceived and approved' of 'vandalism and desecration' 'so methodical and so widespread that they amount[ed] to institutionalised obliteration of everything sacred to a Greek'.

But (again with my emphases) Fielding also stated that

The [Turkish Cypriot] hatred and lies are deeply rooted in the memories and mythology of massacre and spoliation in the 103 Turkish villages destroyed by Greeks in 1963 [sic].

Jansen denied this claim by omission, and thus misrepresented Turkish Cypriot nationalist violence in particular, and the Cyprus Problem in general (as well as Fielding's work).

Fielding judged that, because of the Greek Cypriot nationalist violence against Turkish Cypriot cultural heritage before 1974,

Since the invasion of 1974, it is the Greek churches, perceived as monuments to oppression and symbols of a divisive constitution that made the Turks second class citizens, that have borne the revenge.

Not only is this knowledge essential to understanding the destruction of Greek Cypriot cultural property, but it's also essential to honest and just histories of the Cyprus Conflict. Denial of any community's suffering is both historically misleading and morally wrong.

Obviously, I do not expect Jansen or others to discuss everything every time (or indeed, everything any time); but when education and research are so grossly one-sided, they are mere propaganda.

[I quoted all of the sources word-for-word the same, but I added paragraph breaks to long quotations to make them easy-to-read in a blog post.]

Bibliography

Dalibard, J. 1976: Cyprus: Status of the conservation of cultural property. Paris: UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation). Available at: http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0002/000217/021772eb.pdf

Fielding, J. 1976: "The rape of Northern Cyprus". The Guardian, 6th May, 13.

Jansen, M. 1986: "Cyprus: The loss of a cultural heritage". Modern Greek Studies Yearbook, Volume 2, 314-323.

Jansen, M. 2005: War and cultural heritage: Cyprus after the 1974 Turkish invasion. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.

Kios: abandoned village, reoccupied, decayed, damaged, destroyed

2009-09-23T12:00:00.031+01:00

This former Turkish Cypriot village is officially known as Kios, commonly known as Istinjo, and occasionally known as Tabanlı (1); however it is named, the abandoned village has been reoccupied, and it has decayed; and it has been damaged and destroyed. I've finally created the site photo blog for the evacuated village of Kios/Tabanlı: cultural heritage and community.

Soon after the war of 1974, historical toponymist Jack Goodwin (1978: 340) recorded that

The T [Turkish Cypriots] left for resettlement in N [northern] Cyprus under UNFICYP escort in Aug[ust] 1975, [and] G [Greek Cypriot] refugees have occup[ied] some houses under the Govt [Government] "temp[orary] allocation" program[me].

Yet as one Turkish Cypriot, Halil (2008) observed, 'the only inhabitants are now goats, sheep and pigs, tended by local farmers'. (Turkish Cypriot journalist Hasan Karaokçu (2003c) had found the same thing; and so did I, in this skeleton of a home.)

And recently, the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus Presidency(2) claimed 'Tabanlı (İstinco)' had been 'destroyed [yok edilen]' (KKTCC, 2007). So was the village reoccupied, or was it destroyed?

Istinco villager Mehmet Güçlü considered that,

It is difficult to explain the raid that was carried out in my village....

Hundreds of walnut trees which were grown by our grandfathers or by our generation were all cut and taken away. Now you can't even find their traces. Of course, the Greek Cypriots benefited from the timbers of the walnut trees, which are quite expensive. They used these timbers both for carving and making furniture. This was a short way for the Greek Cypriots to make a profit....

The Greek Cypriots did all this intentionally, so that the Turks would not want to return to their former places (cited in Karaokçu, 2003a).

One Turkish Cypriot villager of Istinjo, BirKıbrıslı (2007b), reviewed:

The wallnut [sic - walnut] tree was long gone. The orchards, the vineyards, the almond and carob trees, even the figs had disappeared. There were a few skinny pomegranate and orange trees trying to survive in the suffocating heat. The water at the fountain which was flowing day and night as thick as my neck had almost totally dried up.

And not only orchards and vineyards had been destroyed.

BirKıbrıslı (2007a), relayed that one of the other villagers 'was unable to locate the plot of land on which his house stood because no landmark he recognised remained standing'.

BirKıbrıslı (2007b) explained that:

It was like visiting a foreign place. None of my family's houses were still standing. And the house I was born in lay in ruins just across the road from Grandparents' "guest house"....

I couldnt identify the places where the village flour mill and the wheat threshing field had stood.

The buildings had not simply decayed.

Like Hasan Karaokçu (2003c), I found the school with its doors removed, its windows smashed, and the ruin reused as a straw barn.

Furthermore, Karaokçu (2003c) claimed that '[a]ll the houses [in Appiyaca district of lower Istinjo/Tabanlı] had been razed to the ground and the place was in ruins'. At least some of the ruins I saw seem to fit Karaokçu's description of homes razed to the ground; and others appeared destroyed.

Intriguingly, the Cyprus Temples project's bicommunal architectural team believed Istinco Mosque's structure was in '[g]ood' condition, and its mass '[p]reserved'.

But the Cyprus Temples project had evidently visited Istinjo Mosque soon after its restoration, because in 2003, Turkish Cypriot journalist Hasan Karaokçu (2003c) found the mosque 'a victim of neglect. Its doors and windows were all broken and inside was full of pigeon nests and faeces'.

Moreover, BirKıbrıslı (2007b) noted that '[o]nly the school building and the mosque, minus the minaret, looked familiar'.

The bicommunal architectural survey team did not know Istinco Mosque's doors and windows had been broken; and the team did not know Istinjo Mosque's minaret had been destroyed.

So, the mosque's doors and windows had been broken, and its minaret destroyed; the school's doors had been removed and its windows smashed, then its ruin reused. Some of the village's houses had been ruined or razed to the ground.

And according to Hasan Fehmi (2003, cited by Halil, 2009), there were 203 Turkish Cypriots in the village in 1973; but there were too few homes for them, or even for the 155 Turkish Cypriots in the village in 1960 (Goodwin, 1978: 340); so, other houses must have been razed to the ground.

This evidence seems to suggest that the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus Presidency was right: a few of its houses may have been reoccupied immediately after the displacement of its Turkish Cypriot community, but the village of Kios/Istinjo/Tabanlı was 'destroyed [yok edilen]' (KKTCC, 2007).

The village is also known as Istinco; Istindjo; Instingio; Istingo; Istinicklo; Istinjon; Istintziou; Kio; Tabanlı; Tehinou; Tehiu; Tehoropi.
Kuzey Kıbrıs Türk Cumhuriyeti Cumhurbaşkanlığı.

Bibliography

BirKıbrıslı. 2007a: "Turkish speaking Cypriots are a minority in the North". Cyprus Forum, 14th January. Available at: http://www.cyprus-forum.com/post-124758.html#124758

BirKıbrıslı. 2007b: "BirKibrisli's dairy [sic - diary]... My first 17 years in 7 days...". Cyprus Forum, 18th December. Available at: http://www.cyprus-forum.com/viewtopic.php?p=237219#237219

CCEAA and CCTA (Cyprus Civil Engineers' and Architects' Association and Chamber of Cyprus Turkish Architects). 2007ox: "Istinco Mosque [Paphos District]". Cyprus Temples, 17th November. Available at: http://www.cyprustemples.com/templedetails.asp?id=388

Fehmi, H. 2003: Güneyde kalan değerlerimiz [Our remaining assets in the South]. Lefkoşa: publisher unknown.

Goodwin, J C. 1978: An historical toponymy of Cyprus. Nicosia: Jack C. Goodwin.

Halil. 2008: "The 100's [sic] of villages that were burned down". Cyprus Forum, 11th February. Available at: http://www.cyprus-forum.com/viewtopic.php?p=256991#256991

Halil. 2009: "Melandra, Istinjo, Sarama, Tremithousa, Anadiou". Cyprus Forum, 22nd May. Available at: http://www.cyprus-forum.com/post-450799.html#450799

Karaokçu, H. 2003a: "The present conditions of Turkish Cypriot villages in south Cyprus 1". Diplomatic Observer. Available at: http://www.diplomaticobserver.com/news_read.asp?id=836

Karaokçu, H. 2003c: "The present conditions of Turkish Cypriot villages in south Cyprus 3". Diplomatic Observer. Available at: http://www.diplomaticobserver.com/news_read.asp?id=838

KKTCC (Kuzey Kıbrıs Türk Cumhuriyeti Cumhurbaşkanlığı [Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus Presidency]). 2007: "Erçakıca 'Mülkiyet Sorununu Kıbrıs Sorunundan ayırmak ve sadece Rumların Sorunu diye lanse etmek İnsafsızlık' [Erçakıca: 'it is an injustice to separate the Property Problem from the Cyprus Problem and to present it as only the Greeks' problem']". Kuzey Kıbrıs Türk Cumhuriyeti Cumhurbaşkanlığı [Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus Presidency], 13. Haziran. Şu adreste bulunabilir: http://www.kktcb.eu/index.php?tpl=show_announ&id=84

Van Coufoudakis: destruction of Cypriot cultural heritage

2009-09-12T16:00:00.006+01:00

A few days ago, Rector Emeritus (retired chancellor) of the University of Cyprus, Professor Van Coufoudakis discussed the Cyprus Problem: the Destruction of Cypriot Cultural Heritage (PDF).

The University of Illinois(1) and the Hellenic Students' Association sponsored him to speak at the Krannert Art Museum. What did he discuss? According to them,

Professor Van Coufoudakis deal[t] with the destruction of Cypriot cultural heritage following political events on the island. He provides an insider's analysis of an international crisis whose most recent phase was created in 1974 when Turkey and Greece clashed over possession of the island.(2)

Notably (with my emphases),

His talk is seminal, especially in light of the April 2009 report by the Legal Service of the US Congress on this very issue [USLLC, 2009].

Preamble

Coufoudakis's paper isn't online, so I don't know word-for-word what he said in his lecture; but Coufoudakis has discussed the same issues elsewhere, and the U.S. Legal Library of Congress report is accessible (via the American Hellenic Institute Foundation).

I have not yet read the United States Law Library of Congress' report on Cyprus: Destruction of Cultural Property in the Northern Part of Cyprus and Violations of International Law, which apparently made Coufoudakis's work so seminal.

But I have read and reviewed the unofficial transcript of the post-report, U.S. Helsinki Commission hearing on Cyprus' Religious Cultural Heritage in Peril, and it does not bode well.

Furthermore, on 10th December 2008 - the 60th anniversary of the United Nations' Universal Declaration of Human Rights - Coufoudakis published International Aggression and Violations of Human Rights: the Case of Turkey.

According to Coufoudakis, his book 'speaks of Turkey's continuing human rights violations in Cyprus following its 1974 invasion' (PDF), and uses sources like '[t]he victims of the Turkish invasion'; but I haven't read that yet either.

Nonetheless, I have read the section on the Destruction of Cultural Heritage in Coufoudakis's booklet, Human Rights Violations in Cyprus by Turkey.

And fortunately, according to the Republic of Cyprus Press and Information Office, Human Rights Violations in Cyprus by Turkey (PDF) was Coufoudakis's booklet 'based on a forthcoming larger study.... published by the end of 2008'. Now I don't have to trawl through the larger study.

To me, Coufoudakis's booklet is more valuable than his book, because even though the Republic of Cyprus considers him 'one of the most authoritative voices', his book could be dismissed as "the opinions of one Greek ~~Cypriot~~"(3). Coufoudakis's booklet is an official document; it is the opinion of the "progressive" Greek Cypriot government of the Republic of Cyprus.

Injustice

And what is the Greek Cypriot government's opinion? The Republic of Cyprus Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Minas Hadjimichael, observed that

Double standards and injustice very often characterize international relations driven by narrow national interests.

This does not mean however that we must be silent, or, what is more, be kept silent. On the contrary, we have a double duty to speak out and condemn all perpetrators and violators of human rights and fundamental freedoms (ROCPRUN, 2009).

So, allegedly, both the government and Coufoudakis are against double standards, against injustice, against sectarian nationalist politics.

Hadjimichael said Coufoudakis

maintains that human rights should not be compromised by political expediency and, therefore, argues that no solution to the Cyprus problem can be found unless it is based on the respect of human rights for all Cypriots, Greeks and Turks alike (ROCPRUN, 2009).

Apparently, his book and booklet are not driven by 'narrow national interests'; seemingly, they 'condemn all perpetrators and violators of human rights'; but their very titles show that the only identified and condemned human rights violator is Turkey.

They do not discuss Greek or Greek Cypriot human rights violations in Cyprus before and after the Turkish invasion; they do not tell the stories of the victims of the Greek Junta and EOKA B's coup, or the victims of Greek Cypriot state and paramilitary destruction of homes and villages.

In a review for the Cyprus Action Network of America, Fanoulla Argyrou (2009) argued that

It restores the realities over Cyprus to their proper prospective [sic - perspective]. It lists the robberies, looting, and wanton destruction by Turkey in the occupied part of Cyprus, rapes and forced prostitution of Greek Cypriot women, torture, inhuman treatment, assault and battery, murder, deprivation of liberty and false detention.

The book is a must for all to have and use in addressing the distortion of history, the efforts to upgrade the illegal regime in the occupied part of Cyprus and shift the responsibility to the victims themselves, the Greek Cypriots in order to help Turkey with its EU accession negotiations.

The proper perspective is that of the victims; but the Greek Cypriots are not the only victims, and the nationalists are not the victims' friends. The nationalists are the extremists who drove the violence, or their ideological allies; and this propaganda is perpetuating the victims' suffering.

Ethnic cleansing

What does Coufoudakis say in the government booklet? Suggesting its political importance, Coufoudakis (2008: 39-42) concludes the booklet with the discussion of the Destruction of Cultural Heritage:

The systematic and deliberate destruction and obliteration of the Greek Cypriot cultural heritage is the final touch in Turkey's policy of ethnic cleansing and of the colonization of occupied Cyprus (Coufoudakis, 2008: 39)....

Yet, as I explained in my review of the U.S. Helsinki Commission hearing, about 5% of churches in northern Cyprus have been demolished; but about 10% of mosques in southern Cyprus have been destroyed.

If Turkey committed ethic cleansing and colonisation, then the Greek Cypriot state committed ethnic cleansing and internal colonialism.

Non-cooperation

The destruction of the Greek Cypriot cultural heritage has been enhanced by:....
The unwillingness of the occupation authorities to cooperate with UNESCO
The attempt by the Turkish Cypriot subordinate local administration in occupied Cyprus to gain de facto recognition in return for its cooperation with international institutions (Coufoudakis, 2008: 39-40).

Yet the Republic of Cyprus has made clear to the European Parliament that they should not 'go against their own or UN resolutions by offering this recognition ['political recognition of the illegal regime'] either directly or indirectly' (cited in Jansen, 2005: 58).

Archaeological work

The expulsion of foreign archaeological schools working in the northern part of Cyprus until the time of the Turkish invasion (Coufoudakis, 2008: 40)....

That was wrong; but at the same time, an archaeologist (2008: Pers. Comm.) told me that the Greek Cypriot antiquities department 'made clear to all archaeologists [informally]... that if anyone of their nationality worked in the North, all projects of that nationality [in the South] would be closed', which was also wrong.

Christian historic Cyprus

The historic wealth of occupied Cyprus is shown by the presence of:
31 major archaeological sites and ancient cemeteries
11 major fortresses, towers and fortifications
37 historic designated homes and bridges
520 churches, monasteries and chapels (Coufoudakis, 2008: 41)....

Evidently, Coufoudakis did not count places like Hazreti Ömer Tekke, which was 'converted to a private vacation home by foreigners in 1968' (Goodwin, 1978: 331) - that is, under the Republic of Cyprus.

Islamic historic Cyprus

It is unclear whether Coufoudakis included listed monuments like Haydarpaşa Mosque and Selimiye Mosque in north Nicosia, or Lala Mustafa Paşa Mosque and Sinam Paşa Mosque in Famagusta, since they were built as (Latin) churches under Latin rule, then converted into mosques under Ottoman rule; but obviously, if he did, he ignored the fact that they had been mosques for more than four hundred years.

Ottoman mosques were "only" converted Latin churches, not converted Orthodox churches, and at the time of the Latin churches' conversion, 'the Greeks, left alone with the Turks..., eagerly joined with them in obliterating all traces of the Latin domination' (Enlart, 1987 [1899]: 77).

However, since then, any historic Christian site has been accepted as "Cypriot" cultural heritage; but historic Islamic sites are still treated as "foreign", and often called Latin churches (even though those churches were equally negative heritage of foreign rule).

Certainly, Coufoudakis did not say any Islamic cultural heritage was part of the 'historic wealth' of the occupied areas (despite recognising every Christian site).

The black market for art objects, and the investments of the Republic of Cyprus

Perhaps most exquisitely, Coufoudakis first complained that

The destruction of the Greek Cypriot cultural heritage has been enhanced by: The lure of money in the black market for art objects (2008: 39-40),

then praised that

In cooperation with Cypriot foundations they [the Republic of Cyprus and the Church of Cyprus] have also invested in the recovery of such items from the international market (2008: 41).

The Republic of Cyprus', the Church of Cyprus', and "Cypriot foundations"' massive investments may have most 'enhanced' the destruction, either by buying illicit antiquities, or by underwriting the market (so private antiquities collectors buy illicit antiquities, knowing they can cover the cost - or even make a profit - by selling them on to Church or State).

Salvage and sacrifice

Perhaps most intriguingly, Coufoudakis noted that

Occasionally, compromises have been made in which items of secondary importance were sacrificed for the recovery of other more important historic artifacts and religious items (2008: 41).

That can only be a reference to watching minor illicit antiquities trading in the hope of catching organised criminal operations; or making deals with illicit antiquities traders in the hope of getting key artefacts; or (in Cyprus, illegal) undercover antiquities police operations.

Conclusion

The "progressive" Greek Cypriot government's "new" position is the old one: "Cypriot" cultural heritage is Greek Cypriot cultural heritage; Turkey was the only human rights violator; and the Greek Cypriots were the only victims.

The perpetuation of this Hellenist nationalist distortion of history is contradictory and depressing.

[Footnotes added on 16th September 2009.]

When I said 'the University of Illinois', I meant the European Union Center, the Modern Greek Studies Program, the Center for South Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, the Russian, Eastern European and Eurasian Center, the Center for Global Studies, the Department of Political Science, and the Cline Center for Democracy, which are institutions of the University of Illinois.
According to Anonymous, Coufoudakis 'disagreed with the phrase "clashed over possession of the island" but had no say in it'.
Anonymous was kind enough to point out my typo. Evidently I've been writing about Cypriots so long, now everything gets that suffix.

Bibliography

Argyrou, F. 2009: "Review and presentation of 'International Aggression and Violations of Human Rights: the case of Turkey in Cyprus' by professor Van. Coufoudakis". Paper presented at the Cyprus Action Network of America, New York, USA, 14th April. Available at: http://www.cyprusactionnetwork.org/review_and_presentation_of_international_aggression_and_violations_of_human_rights_the_case_of_turkey_in_cyprus%E2%80%9D_by_professor_van_coufoudakis

Coufoudakis, V. 2008: Human Rights Violations in Cyprus by Turkey. Nicosia: Republic of Cyprus Press and Information Office. Available at: http://www.cyprus.gov.cy/moi/pio/pio.nsf/All/25F252AA003F82A8C225759400246F88/$file/Human%20Rights%20Violations%20in%20Cyprus%20by%20Turkey%20(390%20KB,%202008).pdf

Coufoudakis, V. 2008: International aggression and violations of human rights: The case of Turkey in Cyprus. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.

Coufoudakis, V. 2009: "The Cyprus Problem: The destruction of Cypriot cultural heritage". Paper presented at the University of Illinois Krannert Art Museum, Champaign, USA, 9th September.

Enlart, C. 1987 [1899]: Gothic art and the Renaissance in Cyprus. London: Trigraph Limited.

Jansen, M. 2005: War and cultural heritage: Cyprus after the 1974 Turkish invasion. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.

ROCPRUN (Republic of Cyprus Permanent Representative to the United Nations). 2009: "Remarks". Paper presented at the U.S. Foreign Press Association, New York, USA, 23rd April. Available at: http://www.cyprus.gov.cy/moi/pio/pio.nsf/All/4F40558523872CE5C22575A500233756?OpenDocument

USHC (United States Helsinki Commission). 2009: Briefing: Cyprus' religious cultural heritage in peril [unofficial transcript, 21st July 2009]. Washington, D.C.: United States Helsinki Commission. Available at: http://csce.gov/index.cfm?FuseAction=ContentRecords.ViewTranscript&ContentRecord_id=457&ContentType=H,B&ContentRecordType=B&CFID=15766631&CFTOKEN=41039785

USLLC (United States Law Library of Congress). 2009: Cyprus: Destruction of Cultural Property in the Northern Part of Cyprus and Violations of International Law. Washington, D.C.: United States Law Library of Congress. Available at: http://ahiworld.org/AHIFpolicyjournal/pdfs/cyprus_destruction.pdf

U.S. Helsinki Commission: Cyprus' cultural heritage - hearing debunking

2009-09-10T12:30:00.003+01:00

Before, I explored public sources' information about the U.S. Helsinki Commission's report on Cyprus' Religious Cultural Heritage in Peril.(1) Now, I will review the unofficial transcript of the hearing.(2)

I don't want to affirm its truths: I want to debunk its half-truths and lies, and expose its propaganda. Most of all, though, I just want to stop sifting through ~~bullshit~~ ~~propaganda~~ bullshit. I would appeal for more inventive propaganda, but then I would have to spend even more time reading it to be able to debunk it.

Warning: this is a super-loser-length blog post; the soundtrack is the final sigh of my patience, and I think it has more value as a debunking than as a light read, unless you enjoy observing me entering a world of pain.

Stating the obvious, or "genocide: Bad Thing"

Unfortunately, because of absurd, grotesque and demonstrably false accusations of genocide denial, before I begin, I must state the obvious to reassure the uninformed – and the misinformed.

I recognise and condemn the destruction of Greek Cypriot (3) cultural heritage in northern Cyprus, and the ethnic cleansing of the Greek Cypriot community from northern Cyprus.

I recognise and condemn those and other violations of the human rights of the Greek Cypriot community, e.g. rape, murder, and population displacement (e.g. c.f. the European Commission of Human Rights' (1976) report on Cyprus v. Turkey).

In my work, I documented the destruction of Greek Cypriot cultural heritage, e.g. the destruction of Greek Cypriot homes in Rizokarpaso; bizarrely, it was that documentation that elicited the accusation of encouraging genocide.

(I also documented the destruction of an Armenian Genocide mass grave in Kuru in south-eastern Turkey, and debunked its cover-up.)

Nonetheless, the recognition and condemnation of violations of human rights of Greek Cypriots does not require the denial of violations of human rights of Turkish Cypriots (4), or vice versa.

Indeed, the recognition and condemnation of violations of Greek Cypriots' human rights requires precisely the recognition and condemnation of violations of Turkish Cypriots' human rights, and vice versa: first, because human rights are the rights of all humans; and second, because denial distorts history, promotes misunderstanding and distrust, and thus prolongs conflict and injustice.

Sadly, this hearing, and the report, both dodge, downplay and/or deny destruction of Turkish Cypriot cultural heritage; and worse, they misappropriate the very evidence of that ethnic cleansing for its denial; thus, they are reduced to mere propaganda.

Witnesses, or "Apostles"

This hearing was on the day of the publication of the report. So, these testimonies were not evidence the witnesses gave to the Commission for the report, but effectively, evidence the witnesses gave for the Commission, to the public.

(I do not know whether these witnesses also gave evidence to the Commission, but certainly the Commission cited Chotzakoglou's and Jansen's publications in its report.)

The only three witnesses were: Greek archaeologist and art historian Dr. Charalampos G. Chotzakoglou; German art historian Dr. Klaus Gallas; and American journalist Michael Jansen. They were disappointing choices, but they were not surprising ones.

Greek News (2008) reported that Hellenist activists - the Coordinated Effort of Hellenes (CEH) and the International Coordinating Committee "Justice for Cyprus" (PSEKA) - 'secured' the commission on 'destruction and desecration of Greek Orthodox churches in the occupied area of Cyprus - committed to by the Commission's Chairman, Congressman Alcee Hastings'.

(Hastings was a judge convicted of perjury and conspiracy to obstruct justice for bribes; he is now a Florida Democratic Congressman, and the Greek Orthodox vote is an important voting bloc in that battleground state.(5))

Charalampos Chotzakoglou

Charalampos Chotzakoglou is a professor of Byzantine art and archaeology at the Hellenic Open University (in Greece) and the Museum of Kykkos Monastery (in southern Cyprus); he has also taught at the (southern Cypriot) University of Cyprus.

In 2008, Chotzakoglou wrote and the Museum of the Holy Monastery of Kykkos published Religious Monuments in Turkish-Occupied Cyprus: Evidence and Acts of Continuous Destruction.

In the Preface the Metropolitan Bishop of Kykkos and Tylliria, Nikephoros (2008: 11), accused Turkey of 'crimes against humanity' and 'national elimination'; in the Prologue to Documentation of Atrocities, University of Cyprus Professor of Archaeology Demetrios Triantaphyllopoulos (2008: 13) accused Turkey of 'genocide'.

Chotzakoglou (2008: 49) alleged the Turkish occupation regime was 'extinguishing every single Greek trace of the occupied part of Cyprus'; but, according to the Republic of Cyprus Press and Information Office's (2007: 3) numbers, 25 of 520 (4.81%) Christian buildings in northern Cyprus had been demolished (by 2007).(6)

According to the bicommunal architectural survey, Cyprus Temples, at least 11 of 115 (9.56%) mosques in southern Cyprus had been demolished. (There were 11 destroyed mosques in the 85 published (CCEAA and CCTA, 2005); furthermore, there were other mosques destroyed in northern Cyprus before the island's partition and segregation.)

So, according to Chotzakoglou's criteria, the Greek Cypriot administration was extinguishing every single Turkish Cypriot trace throughout Cyprus; Greek Cypriot paramilitaries and local nationalist extremists destroyed a greater proportion of the Islamic cultural heritage of Cyprus in a shorter period of time.

Yet despite the physical evidence accessible in southern Cyprus, and its documentation by the bicommunal architectural survey, Chotzakoglou (2008: 57) only acknowledged 'damages'. That is inaccurate, and demonstrates his untrustworthiness.

Klaus Gallas

In 1990, art historian Klaus Gallas published an article called the Stripping of Art: Northern Cypriot Churches are Plundered in Frankfurter Allgemeine Magazin. Making a general point, design journalist and critic Klaus Thomas Edelmann (1991) described Frankfurter Allgemeine Magazin as 'a weekly newspaper supplement with no hard news (its slogan: "Colourful entertainment...")'.

Nevertheless, in 2002, the Republic of Cyprus Press and Information Office republished his article in a glossy bilingual German-and-English edition, Where the Heavens are Plundered. In the article, Gallas inaccurately claimed '[n]o such thing [indiscriminate destruction of Turkish Cypriot cultural heritage] exists in the southern part of the Republic of Cyprus' (2002 [1990]: 6). That is untrue, and demonstrates his untrustworthiness.

Michael Jansen

In 1986, journalist Michael Jansen wrote an article about Cyprus: the Loss of a Cultural Heritage; in 2005, she wrote a book on War and Cultural Heritage: Cyprus After the 1974 Turkish Invasion; since then, she has given speeches (e.g. Jansen, 2006) and written articles promoting the Hellenist nationalist interpretation, including one 'sponsored by the government of the Republic of Cyprus' (Jansen, 2007).

As I explained in a paper on Representations of a Suppressed UNESCO Report in Histories of Cultural Heritage Destruction, Jansen reported false information about the treatment of cultural heritage, and about research into that treatment, grotesquely misrepresenting bicommunal and international sources to defend her dishonest interpretation.

Perhaps worst, in Jansen's book,

She had distorted a condemnation of pre-1974 Greek Cypriot destruction of Turkish Cypriot cultural heritage to make it sound like a condemnation of post-1974 Turkish Cypriot destruction of Greek Cypriot cultural heritage (Hardy, 2009).

These witnesses were massively and shamelessly biased. The U.S. Helsinki Commission's choice to invite these witnesses to testify cannot have been an accident; it reveals a similar commitment to the Hellenist nationalist interpretation, and it does not bode well for the report.

Hearing, or "sounding off"

Abandoned buildings, or forgotten buildings

Beginning the hearing, the moderator, U.S. Helsinki Commission Deputy Chief of Staff Ronald McNamara, mentioned that, at the 1991 OSCE (7) Symposium on the Cultural Heritage,

The OSCE acknowledged the important contribution of religious faiths, institutions and organizations to the cultural heritage and committed themselves to cooperate closely with such groups regarding the preservation of the cultural heritage, paying due attention to monuments and objects of religious origin whose original communities no longer use them or no longer exist in the particular region.

Given its particular applicability to the situation in northern Cyprus, I would repeat that last part of the text: "whose original communities no longer use them or no longer exist in the particular region."

Yet, that is as true of Islamic cultural heritage in southern Cyprus as it is of Christian cultural heritage in northern Cyprus.

McNamara could have said it had "particular applicability to the situation in Cyprus", but not only in northern Cyprus. That allegedly objective exclusion is the same one Greek Cypriot propaganda uses, and the inconsistency in its application is a warning.

Islamic places of worship in the South, or "always look on the bright side of life"

McNamara commented that,

In stark contrast to the situation in the North, which I recently had an opportunity to visit, scores of mosques and other Islamic places of worship are maintained by the Cypriot government in the southern part of the country.

Similarly, Chotzakoglou stated that,

In total contrast [to 'the reality of the situation in the Turkish-occupied area'], the government of the Republic of Cyprus, through the Turkish Cypriot Properties Management Service and the Department of Antiquities repairs and maintains mosques and Muslim places of Worship in the government-controlled area,... allowing the free exercise of their religious services.

That is true - the Greek Cypriot administration does maintain scores (twenties (20s)) of Islamic cultural heritage sites - but as observed before, Greek Cypriot nationalist extremists destroyed at least 11 of the mosques in southern Cyprus.

Again, as observed before, the proportion of southern Cyprus's mosques destroyed (about 10%) was actually twice as high as the proportion of northern Cyprus's churches destroyed (about 5%). It is understandable that McNamara didn't see the mosques that had been razed to the ground, but inexcusable that he presented Greek Cypriot propaganda as fact.

(Sadly, the optimistic assumption would be that Hellenist activists manipulated the U.S. Helsinki Commission; but its selection of Hellenist witnesses suggests the Helsinki Commission acted freely and knowingly.)

Furthermore, the Republic of Cyprus Turkish Cypriot Properties Management Service's "restoration" of Episkopi Mosque involved uncovering Christian frescoes, so according to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, the building was 'hardly... suitable' for use as a mosque any more (van der Werff, 1989: 13); so perhaps the Service's work is not the best example of 'allowing [them] the free exercise of their religious services'. The same thing happened in Polis and Klavdia, and possibly elsewhere as well.

Islamic places of worship in the North, or "if life seems jolly rotten, there's something you've forgotten"

Chotzakoglou pushed the Archbishopric of Cyprus’s 'repeat[ed]' offer

to fund any needed restoration of Muslim religious places in the North in addition to the funds provided by the government. A mutual reaction regarding the permission of similar restoration of the Christian monuments in the North never came.

But the Republic of Cyprus has not even restored all of the mosques in the South! Politely, it is unsurprising that the Turkish Cypriot administration did not trust or accept the offer, or show good willing about restoration of Christian monuments.

(Even if it had been accepted and effected, it would still have been propaganda, designed to advertise Greek Cypriot generosity and concern with cultural heritage, and to downplay or displace talk of Greek Cypriot destruction of Turkish Cypriot cultural heritage.)

Chotzakoglou went on to say that,

Similarly, the declaration of the European parliament on September 5, 2006, on the obligation of protection and conservation of the religious heritage in the occupied area of Cyprus along with funding amounting to half-a-million euro for that purpose met again with the Turkish refusal.

You don't need to read it, but just in case you want to, to know what I say is true, this is the complete Declaration of the European Parliament on the Protection and Preservation of the Religious Heritage in the Northern Part of Cyprus [5th September 2006]:

The European Parliament,
– having regard to Article 151 of the EC Treaty,
– having regard to Rule 116 of its Rules of Procedure,
A. whereas, according to Article 151 of the EC Treaty, the Community shall promote the cultural heritage of its Member States while respecting their national and regional diversity,
B. whereas since 1974 the government of the Republic of Cyprus has been unable to exercise control over the northern part of Cyprus and to ensure respect for the provisions of Article 151,
C. whereas more than 133 churches, chapels and monasteries that are located in the northern part of Cyprus and have been controlled by the Turkish army since 1974 have been desecrated, 78 churches have been converted into mosques, 28 are used as military depots and hospitals and 13 are used as stockyards, and whereas their ecclesiastical items, including more than 15 000 icons, have been illegally removed and their location remains unknown,
1. Condemns the pillage of Greek Orthodox churches and monasteries and the removal of their ecclesiastical items;
2. Calls on the Commission and the Council to take the necessary actions to ensure respect for the Treaty and the protection and restoration of the affected churches to their original Greek Orthodox status;
3. Calls on the Commission and the Council to examine this matter under the relevant chapters of the negotiations with Turkey;
4. Instructs its President to forward this declaration, together with the names of the signatories, to the Commission and the Council.

It did not acknowledge the existence of conflict before 1974. It ignored destruction of Turkish Cypriot cultural heritage in southern Cyprus since 1974, and it implicitly denied destruction of Turkish Cypriot cultural heritage in northern Cyprus before 1974.

I do not know whether the European parliamentarians made the Declaration because of religious allegiance, political negotiation, or simple ignorance, but it was historically one-sided, and has become yet another tool of Hellenist propaganda.

Christian places of worship in the North, or "gilding the lily"

Discussing his Kykkos Monastery Museum survey, Chotzakoglou stated that '[a]round 500 churches and religious sites... have been willfully [sic] desecrated, pillaged, looted and destroyed'.

According to the Republic of Cyprus Press and Information Office, 'around 520 churches, monasteries and chapels... were transformed or destroyed' (ROCPIO, 2007: 3); allegedly,

Mosques 125
Stables, or hay warehouses [barns] 67
Museums, cultural centres, hotels 57
Hostels, restaurants, ammunition warehouses 17
Completely demolished 25
Desecrated 229

I could not think how or why they had grouped hotels with museums (rather than with hostels); but sadly, I suspect it is because, according to the second edition of Miltos Miltiadou's book on the Cyprus Question: A Brief Introduction for the Republic of Cyprus Press and Information Office, '[o]ne church has been converted into a hotel' (2006: 41; PDF).

The single case doesn't sound as bad as the plural, while the use of 56 churches as museums or cultural centres doesn't sound as bad as the use of 57 churches as museums, cultural centres, or hotels.

(Indeed, Miltiadou's third edition had been revised to state only that '57 [churches] have become museums, cultural centers or hotels' (2008: 52 – emphasis added; PDF).)

I am so bored of propaganda; I no longer find it revealing, or intriguing, or even amusing. I wish they would simply state the truth; after all, it is awful.

So many churches have been desecrated, damaged or destroyed in northern Cyprus, it is depressing. The massive omissions are unnecessary, and the little twists – like the perverse gilding of the lily – are downright bizarre.

McNamara showed genuine interest but equal ignorance:

Of the 20 or so churches that I stopped into randomly in villages and so forth [in northern Cyprus], none of them were intact. Most of them were populated by pigeons, with pigeon droppings that would be unimaginable, actually, and probably quite unhealthy....

The bicommunal architectural team's survey found Kantou Mosque's 'minaret... was inaccessible... because of piles of pigeon droppings'; and I found many other mosques carpeted with bird shit and bodies.

Bigmouth strikes again. Michael Jansen said that,

UNESCO, as I said earlier, suppressed the report, which was written by Jacques Dalibard. This report was 120 pages long and quite detailed.

In her book, Jansen (2005: 27) stated that 'Dalibard's report... ran to one hundred pages including maps and appendices'. To be clear, that isn't a typo, and I wouldn't criticise her for a typo. At best, it is laziness. Similarly, in her book, Jansen (2005: 28) said that the censored report was five pages long, when it was nine.

.... And his report was actually kept under wraps until about two years ago.

On 26th July 2009, I asked the (Greek Cypriot) Cyprus National Commission for UNESCO whether Dalibard’s report was indeed available (and if Jansen's claims are accurate, the Greek Cypriot commission has the greatest vested interest in showing me Dalibard's report); but I got no reply.

UNESCO really did nothing about this situation at all....

As was explained twenty years ago, in the 1989 Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe report (which Jansen has read (e.g. c.f. 2005: 48-51)), 'the only way Unesco could in fact intervene is on the condition that it recognise the government in the north, which no United Nations organisation is able to do' (van der Werff, 1989: 5).

Helpfully, the Greek Cypriot position on this is very clear, because then president of the parliament of Cyprus, Alexis Galanos, wrote a letter to the European Parliament Sub-Committee on Architectural and Artistic Heritage of Cyprus, and Jansen (2005: 58) quoted him 'spell[ing it] out':

I would certainly like to believe that the Council of Europe and Assembly members would not wish to go against their own or UN resolutions by offering this recognition ['political recognition of the illegal regime'] either directly or indirectly.

It is upon Greek Cypriot insistence that UNESCO – and the European Parliament Sub-Committee on Architectural and Artistic Heritage of Cyprus – have been forced to do 'nothing... at all'. It is stunning that the Greek Cypriot side have the gall to demand inaction and simultaneously to complain about it.

Then Jansen excelled herself:

I just wanted to mention that there is a Web site which one can consult. It was put up jointly by Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot engineers and architects. It's called cyprustemples.com and it has on it 505 churches and 111 mosques and Muslim sites.

It doesn't: it has 505 Christian sites and 115 Islamic sites.

It gives the state of each one and what is recommended to repair it or replace it or whatever. And it is a very valuable site. It shows a lot.

These people spent quite a lot of time; they have plenty of photographs. And buildings which have been completely destroyed or are in very bad states, there are, of course, no photographs of them.

There are, of course, lots of photographs of them, of buildings in very bad states; there is even a photograph of a completely destroyed building: Kutrafa Mosque. Jansen's errors and misrepresentations are in equal parts remarkable and tiresome.

But it is, as I say, a very valuable source on what exactly has gone on. It needs to be updated, but otherwise, it is a very good effort....

It is incredibly insulting that Jansen so patronisingly promotes the Cyprus Civil Engineers' and Architects' Association and Chamber of Cyprus Turkish Architects' wonderful work, when she both incompetently misstates it, and lazily misrepresents it.

Responsibility

So, whom do these unreliable witnesses hold responsible for the destruction of Greek Cypriot cultural heritage in northern Cyprus since 1974?

Gallas judged that 'art theft in the Turkish-occupied part of the Republic of Cyprus was usually only possible when it was tolerated or happened under the watchful eye of the Turkish military' (8). Indeed, Gallas perceived 'the intention of the Turkish occupying powers: eradication of every cultural reminder of established historical structures on the island'.

Intriguingly, Klaus Gallas's translator noted that

Dr. Gallas would like to say that it is important to him to note that he's not attacking, if I may use that word, the Turkish government, but that it is important to preserve and protect the theft. He believes that nothing could take place without the supervision and eyes of the Turkish military.

(I don’t know what Gallas's translator meant by it being 'important to preserve and protect the theft', but anyway...)

It is interesting and encouraging that Gallas apparently distinguished between the Turkish government and the Turkish military; but it was not enough, because it did not distinguish between the Turkish state (government or military) and the Turkish deep state.

I will say one thing for Klaus Gallas: he seems to be genuinely misinformed and misled; I do not believe Klaus Gallas has knowingly misrepresented sources or history.

Unfortunately, neither Jansen or Chotzakoglou made the kind of careful and crucial distinction that Gallas did (even if Gallas's distinction was still inaccurate).

Chotzakoglou reminded the hearing:

[It was] 35 years since the Turkish invasion and occupation of Cyprus which forcibly separated Greek and Turkish Cypriots along ethnic lines and resulted in the destruction and desecration of Cyprus' religious cultural heritage in the occupied area....

Greek Cypriot paramilitary-initiated violence drove half of the Turkish Cypriot community into enclaves - ghettoes - in 1963-1964. That violence encompassed the desecration, damage and destruction of secular and religious Turkish Cypriot cultural heritage across the island. Evidently, Chotzakoglou didn't remember that.

Chotzakoglou highlighted the necessary 'cooperation and involvement of the Turkish armed forces in the illicit trade [in antiquities]', because some of the plundered churches had been 'under the direct control of the Turkish military'.

Jansen agreed, and noted that 'some were looted by the soldiery soon after the north was taken over'. Discussing Turkish deep state heroin-and-antiquities smuggler Aydın Dikmen, Jansen alleged 'collusion between Dikmen and the military', and even all Turkish authorities, insofar as he was 'arrested and held by the Turkish authorities in northern Cyprus. But as a friend of mine says, his wife turned up with a big bag of money and he was out the next day'.

Bribery is not implausible for Aydın Dikmen (though I have never heard anything about his wife, and am genuinely surprised even Michael Jansen felt comfortable alleging Dikmen's wife had committed a serious crime, in public, on record; I only include her allegation as reportage).

Chotzakoglou, Jansen and Gallas have confused individuals and groups with institutions and states: for example, my local police in Stoke Newington were corrupt and criminal, but neither Hackney council nor the British state was complicit or responsible.

Jansen stated that the looting was 'not only a crime against Cyprus but a crime against humanity', that '[w]hat has happened since Turkey occupied northern Cyprus 35 years ago has been even more dramatic than what took place in Europe ['during World War II']'.

But she did not consider official Greek Cypriot responsibility for the explosion of looting between 1963 and 1974, and falsely claimed that the 'devastation is comprehensive and has taken place in a small area'.

Jansen also, equally falsely claimed that the 'cleansing of religious and historical sites began as soon as Turkish troops set foot in northern Cyprus on July 20, 1974, and continues until today', according the Turkish military a singular and complete responsibility for (if not committing, then enabling or allowing) all cultural crimes in Cyprus.

"Spontaneous" nationalist locals' violence against religious and historical sites may or may not have begun with the tit-for-tat arsons of cemeteries in Vasileia in 1955 (CO 926/184, cited in Asmussen, 2001: 225n74); but paramilitaries' systematic violence had certainly begun by the time of the EOKA attack on Morphou Mosque in 1958 (Georgiades, 2008), and the Akritas Organisation's instigated Akritas-TMT warfare from 1963/1964 onwards.

It was not simply inaccurate to say that 'Turkey is directly responsible for whatever takes place in northern Cyprus', inasmuch as it is the country in control of the territory; it was inaccurate in a complicated way. The Turkish state does have control over the territory, but it does not have control over the Turkish deep state. Likewise, the Italian state is responsible for what happens within Italy, but it is not responsible for what the mafia do within Italy.

Jansen rightly observed that

The cultural cleansing of the area could have been averted or curbed if Ankara had honored its signature on the 1954 Hague Convention for the protection of cultural heritage during war and occupation. But Turkey did not meet its commitments....

The Republic of Cyprus, however, did not even sign the 1954 Hague Convention until 9th September 1964, tellingly, just four weeks after Turkish military intervention ended the Greek Cypriot paramilitaries' displacement of Turkish Cypriots and destruction of their villages and mosques.

Jansen was correct that the Republic of Turkey has had a responsibility to prevent looting and destruction in northern Cyprus since 1974; but the Republic of Cyprus had a responsibility to prevent looting and destruction across Cyprus between 1960 and 1974, and has had the same responsibility in southern Cyprus since 1974.

Jansen accurately relayed that the 1989 Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) mission to Cyprus reported that 'most of the damage has occurred in the North and is the result of looting evidently linked with a highly professional international market in illegally exported art'.

In the same paragraph as the one Jansen paraphrased, PACE Senator Ymenus van der Werff (1989: 11) also reported that 'the international art market is now well aware of the existence of a well-funded market in the south for items coming from the north'; but Jansen didn't consider that important enough to mention it.

.... Turkey also collaborated in the destruction of the North's dominant Christian culture by allowing churches to collapse due to neglect or to be looted and to be used as cinemas, restaurants, store houses and goat pens....

Contrarily, the Republic of Cyprus allows Turkish Cypriot homes as well as mosques to collapse due to neglect or to be looted and to be used as store houses and goat pens.

Responding to this vile propaganda has reduced me to rat-a-tat, tit-for-tat replies; but this unedifying display is all that can be done when the level of debate is so low. Better academic and ethical standards are necessary for a community conversation that can establish truth and enable reconciliation and coexistence; otherwise, these "professionals" will continue to harm even those they pretend to defend.

Postscript, or "... you’re still reading!?"

I've included three final footnotes of less important but interesting asides, or revealing comments: first, about the Christian identity (and Islamic history) of Cyprus (9), second, about communal and religious freedom in Cypriot society (10); and third, about mosques' management in southern Cyprus (11).

The United States Helsinki Commission is also known as the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE).
The U.S. Law Library of Congress's report was on Cyprus: Destruction of Cultural Property in the Northern Part of Cyprus and Violations of International Law.

It analysed the cultural property law applicable to northern Cyprus, 'especially the legal consequences of the destruction and pillage of Cyprus' religious and cultural property by "TRNC [the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus]"' (USLLC, 2009: 3).

Later, I will study that report, but only for its cultural heritage claims, not for its legal ones. (I may review its legal claims too, but they are different from the historical and ethical cultural heritage claims. Especially because there are so many legal claims, I may try to study them all together.)

U.S. Helsinki Commission Deputy Chief of Staff Ronald McNamara made a summary report of the briefing, though I'm not sure of the proper name of the publication. (McNamara, R J. 2009: "Scars of 1974 invasion abound as leaders seek to reunite Cyprus". Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe Reports, Volume 41, Number 7. Available at: http://www.csce.gov/index.cfm?FuseAction=ContentRecords.ViewDetail&ContentRecord_id=462&Region_id=0&Issue_id=0&ContentType=G&ContentRecordType=G&CFID=18142340&CFTOKEN=35116856(?))
The "Greek Cypriot" community includes Greek Cypriots, Armenian Cypriots, Latin Cypriots and Maronite Cypriots.
The "Turkish Cypriot" community includes Turkish Cypriots, Gypsy Cypriots/Roma Cypriots and Linobambakoi Cypriots.
Apparently, Hastings didn't agree to the Turkish Coalition of America's reactive request for a new commission on the treatment of the Turkish minority in Greece; nevertheless, Hastings has stated that he has 'support[ed] Turkish initiatives in Congress' and 'look[ed] forward to working with TCA'.

In 1996, before Hastings' time, the Helsinki Commission had held a briefing on the Turkish minority in Western Thrace; however, notably, its moderator was a Human Rights Watch researcher, and its witnesses were two ethnic Turks and two ethnic Greeks.

Worryingly, the (Hellenist) Cyprus Action Network of America (CANA) presented evidence that the TCA is a Turkish deep state organization.
More peculiarly and problematically, Chotzakoglou (2008: 28) said that the Museum of the Monastery of Kykkos recorded more than 550 Christian buildings in northern Cyprus.
The Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe.
Gallas noted,
In this context, there is also a mystery concerning the export license by the so-called Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus for the 6th century Golden Mosaics of the Panagia [Kanakaria] Church on the Karpas Peninsula, which was signed at the time by ['right-hand man' of Turkish Cypriot President Rauf Denktaş] Osman Orek....

Later on, Orek declared the documents to have been a forgery....
Similarly, in his earlier article, Gallas (2002 [1990]: 4) said that the Kanakaria Mosaics' '"TRNC" export licence.... was signed by Osman Orek.... But Orek described the document as forged'. So, Gallas was clear it was an official licence, and Orek had signed it; but the New York Times' William Honan (1989) called it 'Dikmen's "export document"' (note the quotation marks), and said that Orek had 'purportedly' signed, but had 'denied' signing.
Jansen noted that,
While the focus of this meeting is on the island's religious heritage, this is rooted in 12,000 years of history which came before St. Paul and St. Barnabas brought Christianity to Cyprus.
She neglected to mention that an Islamic tomb was built in Cyprus less than thirty years after the birth of Islam; now it has an eighteenth-century shrine and a nineteenth-century lodge, Hala Sultan Tekke.

The tomb was built for Mohammed's wet nurse, Umm Haram, who probably died in Cyprus in 647 or 649 C.E. The Republic of Cyprus Department of Antiquities listed it as 'among the most important holy places of Islam', and medievalist Gwynneth der Parthog (1995: 222-223) judged the tomb the third most important site.

There were also 'several mosques' in Nicosia in the Seventh Century, but most were 'dismantled or destroyed' when their founding Arab conquerors left (Peterson, 1999: 58), and there were other pre-Ottoman mosques (Yıldız, 2006: 188), though none survives now. So Cyprus had a place in the early history of Islam as well as in the early history of Christianity.
Chotzakoglou justly complained that non-Muslims in northern Cyprus 'do not have... the rights to have free religious elections, [or] ordination of priests', and Jansen claimed that 'in the government-controlled areas,... there is complete freedom of religion for everyone'.

Yet they seemed strange statements, because, according to Cypriot Maronites, there was a 'conspiracy' to appoint a Lebanese archbishop, between the Synod of Maronite Bishops in Lebanon and the Maronite Cypriots' governmental representative Antonis Hajiroussos.

The complaint seemed even stranger because the Greek Cypriot administration had rejected the Kormakitis Maronites' elected mukhtar in 2005.
Michael Jansen 'consulted someone who is connected with the mosque in Nicosia' and asked, 'what is the situation there?'
He said there are three congregations in Cyprus in established mosques [in Nicosia, Larnaca and Limassol], which have been restored and repaired, and there is a fourth congregation in Paphos....

And most of the people who are in the congregations are people who came to Cyprus in the past decade, two decades. They are of Arab origin or Bangladeshi origin or Pakistani origin. Apparently, Turkish Cypriots don't attend the mosques. So the mosques are maintained. The government of Cyprus provides a salary for the imam and the congregations take up collections to pay the water bill, the electricity bill and for small repairs. And that is the situation on the two sides; it's quite different.
[I have spoken with someone connected with the mosque too, and with members of the congregation as well, and I was told that Libya contributed money for the mosque(s), because Colonel Muammar Gaddafi had 'too much money'. So, very different indeed, but unsurprisingly, not at all in the way Jansen claimed.]

Bibliography, or if you're somehow not bored yet, you soon will be

Asmussen, J. 2001: 'Wir waren wie Brüder': Zusammenleben und Konfliktentstehung in ethnisch gemischten Dörfern auf Zypern ['We were like brothers': Coexistence and the emergence of conflict in ethnically mixed villages in Cyprus]. Hamburg: Lit-Verlag.

CCEAA and CCTA (Cyprus Civil Engineers' and Architects' Association and Chamber of Cyprus Turkish Architects). 2005: "List and Evaluation of Greek and Turkish Cyprus Religious Buildings Built Before 1974". Cyprus Temples, 23rd June. Available at: http://www.cyprustemples.com/ [last accessed: 1st March 2009]

Chotzakoglou, C G. 2008: Religious monuments in Turkish-occupied Cyprus: Evidence and acts of continuous destruction. Lefkosia: Museum of the Holy Monastery of Kykkos.

Der Parthog, G. 1995: Byzantine and Medieval Cyprus: A Guide to the Monuments. London: Interworld Publications.

Duin, J. 2009: "Religious artifacts in Cyprus in 'great peril'". The Washington Times, 21st July. Available at: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/jul/21/report-warns-about-heavy-loss-of-religious-artifac/

ECHR (European Commission of Human Rights). 1976: Cyprus v. Turkey [Applications No. 6780/74 and No. 6950/75, 10th July 1976]. European Human Rights Reports, Number 482. Available at: http://www.uniset.ca/microstates/24EHRR482.htm

Edelmann, K T. 1991: "Willy Fleckhaus was the art director's art director". Eye Magazine, Number 3. Available at: http://www.eyemagazine.com/feature.php?id=12&fid=367

EP (European Parliament). 2006: Declaration of the European Parliament on the protection and preservation of the religious heritage in the northern part of Cyprus. Strasbourg: European Parliament. Available at: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?pubRef=-//EP//TEXT+TA+P6-TA-2006-0335+0+DOC+XML+V0//EN

Gallas, K. 1990: "Demontage der Kunst: Nordzyperns Kirchen werden geplündert [The stripping of art: Northern Cypriot churches are plundered]". Frankfurter Allgemeine Magazin, 30. März.

Gallas, K. 2002 [1990]: Wo der Himmel unter die Räuber fällt / Where the heavens are plundered. Nicosia: ROCPIO (Republic of Cyprus Press and Information Office).

Georgiades, N. 2008: "I teleftaia epithymia tou Memeti [Mehmet's last wish]". Haravgi, 30i Oktobriou. [Γεωργιάδης, Ν. 2008: «Η Η τελευταία επιθυμία του Μεμέτη». Χαραυγή, 30η Οκτωβρίου.] Brisketai sto: http://www.haravgi.com.cy/site-article-16213-gr.php

Greek News. 2008: "Members of Congress renew commitment on Greek issues". Greek News, 26th May. Available at: http://www.greeknewsonline.com/modules.php?name=News&file=print&sid=8670

Hardy, S A. 2009: "The liberation of censorship in Cypriot archaeology: Representations of a suppressed UNESCO report in histories of cultural heritage destruction". Paper presented at the Histories of Archaeology Research Network Meeting, Cambridge, UK, 14th March. Available at: http://human-rights-archaeology.blogspot.com/2009/03/histories-of-archaeology-and-liberation.html

Honan, W H. 1989: "Court to say who owns 6th century church art". New York Times, 17th May. Available at: http://www.nytimes.com/1989/05/17/arts/court-to-say-who-owns-6th-century-church-art.html

Jansen, M. 1986: "Cyprus: The loss of a cultural heritage". Modern Greek Studies Yearbook, Volume 2, 314-323.

Jansen, M. 2005: War and cultural heritage: Cyprus after the 1974 Turkish invasion. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.

Jansen, M. 2006: "War and cultural heritage: Cyprus after the 1974 Turkish invasion". Paper presented at a National Press Club Book Event, Washington D.C., USA, 16th May. Available at: http://www.cyprusembassy.net/home/uploads/pdf/Miscellaneous/Jansens%20speech%20at%20the%20events%20May%202006.pdf

Jansen, M. 2007: "The pillage by Turkey of the 12,000 year old cultural heritage of Cyprus". Europe's World, Spring. Available at: http://www.europesworld.org/EWSettings/Article/tabid/190/ArticleType/ArticleView/ArticleID/20454/Default.aspx

Miltiadou, M. 2006: The Cyprus Question: A brief introduction. Nicosia: Republic of Cyprus Press and Information Office.

Miltiadou, M. 2008: The Cyprus Question: A brief introduction. Nicosia: Republic of Cyprus Press and Information Office.

Nikephoros. 2008: "Preface". In Chotzakoglou, C G, (Au.). Religious monuments in Turkish-occupied Cyprus: Evidence and acts of continuous destruction, 11-12. Lefkosia: Museum of the Holy Monastery of Kykkos.

Petersen, A. 1999: Dictionary of Islamic architecture. London: Routledge.

ROCPIO (Republic of Cyprus Press and Information Office). 2007: The Cyprus Problem in numbers [27th November 2007]. Nicosia: Republic of Cyprus Press and Information Office.

Triantaphyllopoulos, D. 2008: "Prologue to documentation of atrocities". In Chotzakoglou, C G, (Au.). Religious monuments in Turkish-occupied Cyprus: Evidence and acts of continuous destruction, 13. Lefkosia: Museum of the Holy Monastery of Kykkos.

USHC (United States Helsinki Commission). 2009: Briefing: Cyprus' religious cultural heritage in peril [unofficial transcript, 21st July 2009]. Washington, D.C.: United States Helsinki Commission. Available at: http://csce.gov/index.cfm?FuseAction=ContentRecords.ViewTranscript&ContentRecord_id=457&ContentType=H,B&ContentRecordType=B&CFID=15766631&CFTOKEN=41039785

USLLC (United States Law Library of Congress). 2009: Cyprus: Destruction of Cultural Property in the Northern Part of Cyprus and Violations of International Law. Washington, D.C.: United States Law Library of Congress. Available at: http://ahiworld.org/AHIFpolicyjournal/pdfs/cyprus_destruction.pdf

Van der Werff, Y. 1989: Information report on the cultural heritage of Cyprus [Doc. 6079, 6th July 1989]. Brussels: Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.

Yıldız, N. 2006: "Cyprus". In Meri, J W (Ed.). Medieval Islamic civilisation: An encyclopaedia - volume 1, 188-189. London: Routledge.

Desmond Fernandes' historical understanding: specialised, or misleading?

2009-09-03T06:30:00.003+01:00

Searching for terms I feared the Internet might associate with me, I found two Lobby for Cyprus events that concerned me, both involving Desmond Fernandes. I am worried that his historical understanding, his academic history work and public political commentary, may be so specialised as to be misleading.

Fernandes is a serious scholar: he is a human geographer and geographer of genocide, and has published serious scholarly work, including a book considering the Kurdish and Armenian Genocides and an article making a Comparison of Kurdish Educational Language Policy in Two Situations of Occupation (in Genocide Studies and Prevention, the journal of the International Association of Genocide Scholars).

[Inserted on 4th September 2009:

I should have noted that when I heard about his work on Cyprus, I had already read and respected Desmond Fernandes' article with İskender Özden, United States and NATO inspired 'psychological warfare operations' against the 'Kurdish communist threat' in Turkey.

While researching this blog post, I found and appreciated Fernandes' individual article on Denialism and the Armenian Genocide (which was an excerpt from his book on the Kurdish and Armenian Genocides).

I trust Fernandes as an academic and as an educator. It is because I trust him that I find his apparently one-sided work another warning sign that even intelligent, independent research is being misdirected, and thus misdirecting the public.]

On 21st July 2008, the Labour and Co-operative MP David Drew(1) sponsored a House of Commons debate on the Armenian, Assyrian, Greek, Kurdish and Greek Cypriot Genocides and the Politics of Denialism:

The intention of the discussion [was] to highlight the attempts to deny the various genocides committed against Turkey's ethnic minorities or near neighbours during the last 90 years and the reasons for these denials.

There [were] speakers from all the affected ethnic groups including Lobby for Cyprus.

But if the Turkish state's treatment of the Greek Cypriot community constituted genocide (as Fernandes argues), then the Greek Cypriot administration's treatment of the Turkish Cypriot community also constituted genocide; yet there were no speakers from the Turkish Cypriot community.

I appreciate that Fernandes has specialised in Turkey and Turkish policy, but I fear that his work may be so specialised that it is ultimately misleading. Thankfully, some of the blurb for his work teases out the very things that worry me.

According to Kurdish Beyan.net editor Gurgîn Bakircioglu, 'Fernandes examines important and often ignored questions of genocide where clear evidence exists but is still denied'.

The primary author of the co-authored Comparison of Kurdish Educational Language Policy in Two Situations of Occupation, linguistic human rights scholar Dr. Tove Skutnabb-Kangas, stated that Fernandes proved

the Turkish state (and its forerunner, the Ottoman Empire) has been committing genocide against the groups mentioned in the title of the book, at least since 1894, and continues to commit genocide even today.

Notably, Skutnabb-Kangas specified the 'comparative aspect, documenting and comparing several genocides' as 'novel'.

Specialism is natural and necessary, and an expectation of discussion of different histories can be unrealistic; but here it is a matter of balance, which affects readers' understanding of history and its lessons. I do not expect the discussion of two histories; but I do expect the discussion of both halves of one history.

Based upon the information advertising his book, speeches and meetings, Fernandes' work on Cyprus does not compare Turkish state and Greek Cypriot administration policies; it only compares Turkish state policies in Cyprus and Turkish state policies elsewhere.

This is crucial, because avoiding any comparison between Turkish and Greek Cypriot policies is ignoring the history of Cyprus, and the context within which the Turkish state developed and implemented its policies.

None of that excuses Turkish ethnic cleansing of the Greek Cypriot community (or the Armenian Cypriot, Latin Cypriot or Maronite Cypriot communities either).

Nevertheless, documenting only one half of abhorrent nationalist violence in Cyprus is doing what Bakircioglu claims Fernandes exposes: 'ignor[ing] questions of genocide where clear evidence exists' and 'assist[ing] and support[ing]... denial'.

Ahead of the House of Commons debate, on 16th July 2008, Des Fernandes gave a seminar on the Genocide in the Turkish Occupied North of Cyprus, which included 'a critique of the Annan Plan, written within the context of a genocide debate' and applied

the concepts and definitions of [lawyer Raphael] Lemkin, who first used the word genocide, and the UN 1948 Genocide Convention to the polices and practices that Greek Cypriots have been subjected to in occupied Cyprus.

(The United Nations' 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide reflected Lemkin's definition, but excluded cultural genocide.)

How could Fernandes critique the Annan Plan 'within the context of a genocide debate' without the context of the political exclusion, geographical enclaving and economic destitution of the Turkish Cypriot community (and the Linobambaki and Roma Cypriot communities), without the context of the destruction of Turkish Cypriot homes, schools, mosques, neighbourhoods and entire villages?

This shows that Fernandes' work on Cyprus cannot academically or justly be limited to Turkish state treatment of the Greek Cypriot community; it also shows that Fernandes' one-sided research inaccurately and unjustly supports one-sided public policy.

The Turkish Cypriot community suffered domicide; it suffered ethnocide/politicide; if the Greek Cypriot community was a victim of genocide, then the Turkish Cypriot community was a victim of genocide, too.

Thus, Fernandes' apparent ignorance of Turkish Cypriot suffering means his work is not simply specialised; I fear it is misleading, and may misdirect historical understanding and public policy.

Encouragingly, Drew is an environmentalist, but disappointingly, he votes for ID cards and against equal gay rights. I only mention this to show that he is a serious and seemingly informed parliamentarian, not an activist or propagandist.

Fernandes, D. 2007: "Denialism and the Armenian Genocide". Variant, Number 30, 27-29.

Fernandes, D. 2007: The Kurdish and Armenian genocides: From censorship and denial to recognition? Stockholm: Apec Press.

Fernandes, D and Özden, İ. 2001: "United States and NATO inspired 'psychological warfare operations' against the 'Kurdish communist threat' in Turkey". Variant, Number 12, 10-16.

Fernandes, D and Skutnabb-Kangas, T. 2008: "Kurds in Turkey and in (Iraqi) Kurdistan: A comparison of Kurdish educational language policy in two situations of occupation". Genocide Studies and Prevention, Volume 3, Number 1, 43-73.

U.S. Helsinki Commission: listserv discussion; discrediting discussants

2009-09-02T08:00:00.001+01:00

I'm trying to get through a pedantic part of my thesis, which is boring me and delaying everything from article drafting to blogging (to itself, as I procrastinate).

Anyway, during a will-breaking listserv discussion on a U.S. Helsinki Commission report, someone(s) searched (without success) for sinister evidence discrediting me. (I cannot know whether they were discussants or invisible readers.)(1) They looked for links between my university - and, worse, my supervisors - and the Turkish Cypriot administration of northern Cyprus.

The listserv discussion was about the U.S. Helsinki Commission report on the destruction of Greek Cypriot cultural heritage in northern Cyprus since 1974. Someone else publicised the report, I warned it was biased and inaccurate, then the discussion descended until I withdrew. (I talked it over with friends and colleagues and we agreed: resistance is futile.)

During the first week of the two-week discussion, someone in the U.S. searched for 'TRNC Sussex University' and '[one supervisor's name] Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus' (figs. 1 and 2); someone else in the U.K. searched for '[one supervisor's name] Turkish Republic Northern Cyprus' (fig. 3).

(My supervisors' names and supervision are public (hence the hits), but I will not state them here, as I do not want to happen to them what has happened to me.)

Fig. 1: 'TRNC Sussex University' Google search and research blog hit, 1.37pm, 31st July 2009, near Wichita city, Kansas state, USA

Fig. 2: 'J... C... Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus' Google search and research blog hit, 7.19pm, 31st July 2009, near Wichita city, Kansas state, USA

Fig. 3: 'J... C... Turkish Republic Northern Cyprus' Google search and research blog hit, 7.34pm, 2nd August 2009, near Maidstone town, Kent county, UK

Thankfully, the search results seem quite sensitive to wording, so the first page of results for searches for 'Sam Hardy genocide denial' and even 'Sam Hardy genocide denial Cyprus' include my fieldwork notes before a visit to an Armenian Genocide mass grave in Turkey, and my signature of a petition to recognise the Armenian Genocide of 1915.

Nonetheless, searches for 'Sam Hardy denialist', 'Sam Hardy denialist Cyprus', 'Sam Hardy genocidal denialist Cyprus', etc. include listserv discussion accusations against me.

(Those searches did also present either my defences, or my blog posts, or political scientist Simon Maghakyan's link to my documentation of the destroyed Armenian Genocide mass grave, and so on.)

I have been accused of being relativist, denying genocide, diminishing genocide (which is anyway offensive and still 'soft core denial'), even encouraging genocide, as well as opportunistic or ideological allegiance with the Turkish nationalist lobby.

Not only are there any results at all for '"Sam Hardy" Turkish mercenary', but false accusations against me are the second hit. (Mercifully, my defences are the first.)

So, although whoever evidently failed in their futile attempt to discredit me, the listserv discussants' offensive, false accusations are now public and any naive member of the public may be tragically misled.

I cannot even be certain the searches were related to the listserv discussion, as people could have searched for these terms but not visited my research blog.

Nevertheless, it would be a highly improbable coincidence that (presumably) different people in different countries searched for these terms and visited my research blog for the first time in more than five years - and 35,000 website hits - during the two-week listserv discussion.

U.S. Helsinki Commission: Cyprus' cultural heritage in peril

2009-07-24T19:00:00.007+01:00

A Greek Cypriot friend sent me a link to a Cyprus News Agency (CNA) piece stating that a US report highlighted plundering of religious sites in north. It emphasised that 'religious artifacts in the Turkish occupied north of Cyprus are in "great peril"'. ~~Soon, I will examine~~ [I have now debunked] the unofficial transcript of the hearing and the full report of the commission, but for now, [here] I will review the public sources.

[The full report is a legal report on the nature of cultural crimes in northern Cyprus and Turkey's responsibility for the crimes and their prevention and punishment. I will review some of its cultural heritage claims, but I won't analyse its legal claims (now, maybe much, much later).]

(As a sample of interest, Ümit Enginsoy discussed "Greek pieces looted in Turkish Cyprus" in Hürriyet Daily News, too. It's also on bicommunal Cypriot discussion forums, on international Orthodox Christian news and the American Orthodox Institute blog, on Greek Cypriot blogs, international blogs; it's even on Twitter.)

The (Greek Cypriot) Cyprus News Agency assured that

The report is the result of a lengthy investigation by the Helsinki Commission and titled "Destruction of Cultural Property in the Northern Part of Cyprus and Violations of International Law."

The title is telling. They are not doing two reports, or a number of them, one on each aspect of the problem. The only report has automatically excluded any destruction of cultural property in the southern part of Cyprus. That can only be a deliberate bias, and proof of the untrustworthy nature of the report.

In the Cyprus Mail, Rebecca Bailey wrote a more detailed piece about the Washington Times article that publicised the U.S. Helsinki Commission report. As Bailey noted,

The Cyprus Department of Antiquities will feel vindicated; the details of the report seems [sic] to reconfirm what they claim on their website, particularly with regard to the Orthodox churches in the occupied areas....

These figures are sure to cause a vast emotional response amongst the Greek-Cypriot community, especially on the anniversary week of the 1974 Turkish Invasion.

Sadly, it is impossible not to think that is the reason why this report has been made this week. It is an abuse of the emotions of Greek Cypriot victims as much as it is a denial of the suffering of the Turkish Cypriots.

[Indeed, two Hellenist organisations, the Coordinated Effort of Hellenes (CEH) and the International Coordinating Committee "Justice for Cyprus" (PSEKA), had 'secured' the 'investigation into the destruction and desecration of Greek Orthodox churches in the occupied area of Cyprus - committed to by the Commission's Chairman, Congressman Alcee Hastings' (Greek News, 2008).]

The U.S. Helsinki Commission is an independent U.S. Government agency that supports U.S. compliance with the Helsinki Final Act, a Cold War agreement on political, military, economic, scientific and human rights affairs, which was maintained after the end of the Cold War.

Ahead of its 21st July 2009 report, on 15th July 2009, the U.S. Helsinki Commission's 15th July 2009 gave a briefing on Cyprus' religious cultural heritage in peril:

WASHINGTON—Senator Benjamin L. Cardin (D-MD), Chairman of the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, and Co-Chairman Congressman Alcee L. Hastings (D-FL), announced today the U.S. Helsinki Commission will hold a briefing on:

Cyprus' Religious Cultural Heritage in Peril....

The 35-year-long artificial division of Cyprus has taken a tremendous toll on the lives of the people of that country. Despite clear international commitments on the importance of preserving religious and cultural heritage, hundreds of churches, chapels and monasteries in the northern part of Cyprus remain in peril. Thousands of icons, manuscripts, frescos, and mosaics have been looted from sites in northern Cyprus -- many ending up on international auction blocks.

That description was factually correct, but it was only half of the facts; it didn't discuss the treatment of Islamic cultural heritage throughout Cyprus since 1955, or in southern Cyprus since 1974. That half-truth can only act as propaganda.

According to the Washington Times' Julia Duin,

The report by the U.S. Helsinki Commission, which monitors compliance with agreements among members of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, included this claim by Turkey. But the report also added that Cyprus, which exercises effective control over the southern two-thirds of the island, has spent about $600,000 since 2000 to renovate 17 historic mosques.

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe's report - which I know at least one of the U.S. Helsinki Commission's witnesses had read - clearly stated that Ktima Paphos's New Mosque 'had been entirely razed' (van der Werff, 1989: 11) and that Evdimou Mosque had to be 'virtually... rebuilt' (van der Werff, 1989: 13).

To deny that destruction, or to praise the restoration without recognising and condemning the destruction that made the restoration necessary, is a shameful historical lie. It does not only insult the memory of the communities who suffered at the time; it prevents understanding, undermines trust, and thus attacks peace.

Panelists are to include [only]:

Dr. Charalampos Chotzakoglou, Professor of Byzantine Art and Archaeology, Hellenic Open University and Museum of Kykkos Monastery; author of ["]Religious Monuments in Turkish-Occupied Cyprus: Evidence and Acts of Continuous Destruction."

Chotzakoglou is obviously a Hellenist, and the one-sided nature of his work clearly reveals him as a partial, some might say prejudicial witness.

Dr. Klaus Gallas, Art Historian and Byzantine expert who has focused on international smuggling of religious and architectural artifacts plundered from northern Cyprus.

I do not wish to judge Gallas yet, but the one-sided focus of his work is worrying.

Michael Jansen, author of "War and Cultural Heritage: Cyprus after the 1974 Turkish Invasion."

I have exposed the problems in Michael Jansen's work before, in a paper on Representations of a suppressed UNESCO report in histories of cultural heritage destruction. Nevertheless, the best example of her scholarship may be her use of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe's report.

Having claimed that 'there was massive pillage and destruction in the north and none in the south' (2005: 45), Jansen's subsequent quotation of the PACE report ended, '[s]ome damage was however clearly caused for no other purpose than destruction' (van der Werff, 1989: 11, cited in Jansen, 2005: 50), when it should have ended,

Some damage was however clearly caused for no other purpose than destruction. In the south, we visited the site of the main Paphos mosque that had been entirely razed and saw damaged graves (van der Werff, 1989: 11).

As I explained in the paper:

She had distorted a condemnation of pre-1974 Greek Cypriot destruction of Turkish Cypriot cultural heritage to make it sound like a condemnation of post-1974 Turkish Cypriot destruction of Greek Cypriot cultural heritage.

I fear she has done it again, and this time, at a dangerous stage in Cypriot efforts to achieve peace, reconciliation and reunification.

Bailey, R. 2009: "New report details ransacking says Orthodox heritage in 'great peril'". Cyprus Mail, 22nd July. Available at: http://www.cyprus-mail.com/news/main.php?id=46938
CNA (Cyprus News Agency). 2009: "US report highlights plundering of religious sites in north". Cyprus Weekly, 22nd July. Available at: http://www.cyprusweekly.com.cy/main/92,1,283,0,1971-.aspx
Duin, J. 2009: "Religious artifacts in Cyprus in 'great peril'". The Washington Times, 21st July. Available at: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/jul/21/report-warns-about-heavy-loss-of-religious-artifac/
Enginsoy, Ü. 2009: "Greek pieces looted in Turkish Cyprus, panel says". Hürriyet Daily News, 22nd July. Available at: http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=greek-pieces-looted-in-turkish-cyprus-panel-says-2009-07-22
Greek News. 2008: "Members of Congress renew commitment on Greek issues". Greek News, 26th May. Available at: http://www.greeknewsonline.com/modules.php?name=News&file=print&sid=8670
Jansen, M. 2005: War and cultural heritage: Cyprus after the 1974 Turkish invasion. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
Van der Werff, Y. 1989: Information report on the cultural heritage of Cyprus (Doc. 6079). Brussels: Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.

[I noted CEH and PSEKA's lobbying on 27th July 2009. I explained the legal focus of the commission report on 29th July 2009.]

Cypriot museums' looted artefacts' acquisitions, 1961-1976

2009-07-23T11:00:00.003+01:00

This is an early look for looted artefacts in Cyprus Museum Curator and antiquities department archaeologist Kyriakos Nikolaou's(1) reports of Cypriot museum acquisitions between 1961 and 1976.

Background

This owes its inspiration to David Gill and Christopher Chippindale's (1993) study of Material and Intellectual Consequences of Esteem for Cycladic Figures. But I did something different with the data, and the data itself was very different, so the Aegean and Cypriot results can't be compared directly.

Previously, I've explored the impact of the silent accord and amnesty, through which Greek Cypriot archaeologists legalised the looted artefacts in Greek Cypriot collectors' private antiquities collections.

There are several good examples of why the Cypriot data are different, but the easiest one here is an artefact from a private collection, which an antiquities department archaeologist said was '[p]robably from Athienou', when it was obviously definitely from there, because the archaeologist later mentioned the 'excavations [that] dated the tomb in which this terracotta was found' (Flourentzos, 1977: 153).

Often, Greek Cypriot archaeologists knew what had been looted, from where, and when; and they subtly published that information. That is lucky twice over: first, it simply means there's more information; but second, it means there's information that helps us to understand the relationship between the illicit antiquities trade and the Cyprus Conflict.

Value

I've used the information in Nikolaou's (1966; 1969; 1977) reports to estimate: how many of the "principal acquisitions" were probably looted; how many of the looted artefacts were looted before 1963, how many between 1963 and 1974 and how many after 1974; and the proportions of artefacts looted by Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots.

These reports are useful sources for estimating public collections' acquisition of looted artefacts, partly because they were compiled by one of the public collectors for his academic/professional community.

They are also useful partly because they quite frequently say where the looted artefacts came from, so by cross-referencing the reports with the 1960 census, it is possible to guess who probably looted them, Greek Cypriots or Turkish Cypriots (3).

But they are particularly useful sources because Nikolaou explicitly stated when archaeologists excavated, cleared or surveyed artefacts, and when archaeologists and others incidentally recovered artefacts (see descriptions in footnote 3); so, he implicitly suggested that the other artefacts were not found by archaeologists or by accident, but probably by looting.

(The information is included below.(2) I included the number of coins in each of the Byzantine and later acquisitions between 1961 and 1966 as a simple proof that one acquisition may be many artefacts.)

Precautions

When Nikolaou said the year the acquisition had been inventoried (or published) in the museum, but other information suggested it had been collected before (like Wing-Commander O'Brien Hubbard's private antiquities collection, donated and inventoried in 1963), I included it in the material probably looted before 1963.

As a precaution, when Nikolaou didn't say the year the acquisition had been inventoried (or published) in the museum, I still included it in the material probably looted before 1963. Obviously, it is likely that it was looted between 1961 and 1976.

Especially because of the first 1961-1966 report, it is likely that the material in the 1966-1969 and 1969-1976 reports was looted between 1966 and 1976. But the acquisitions could be from old family collections, or hobby collections, or something, so as a precaution, I included in the pre-conflict looting.

I had to exclude Nikolaou's (1966) information about acquisitions of Neolithic and Chalcolithic, Late Cypriote (Late Bronze Age (LBA)), and Cypro-Geometric artefacts, because it was mixed in with all of the other archaeological activities, and unnumbered, so it couldn't be analysed reliably.

(In the 1961-1966 report, Nikolaou numbered the Cyprus Museum acquisitions and the other museums' acquisitions separately; in the 1966-1969 and 1969-1976 reports, he numbered them all in one list for each period.)

Looted artefacts' acquisitions, 1961-1976

There were 313 acquisitions in Nikolaou's reports, 18 of which were excavated or cleared (in work before or after looting, or before development), or surveyed, or incidentally recovered; the other 295 were probably looted. (But obviously that doesn't mean that 92.45% of museums' material was looted, because that doesn't include all of the normal excavations.)

There are problems with studying the 22 probably looted after 1974, however, so I will concentrate on the remaining 273 probably looted between 1961 and 1974.

Of those 273, 95 came from Greek Cypriot or Greek Cypriot majority places, so they were probably looted by Greek Cypriots; and 22 came from Turkish Cypriot or Turkish Cypriot majority places, so they were probably looted by Turkish Cypriots; 156 had no information about where they came from. Thus, of those acquisitions with find-spots, 95/117 (81.20%) were probably looted by Greek Cypriots, and 22/117 (18.80%) by Turkish Cypriots.

Those proportions of involvement in looting are very close to the proportions of the communities on the island, respectively 80.90% and 19.10% (3); it cannot be an entirely false image. This strongly suggests that the illicit antiquities trade was a bicommunal business, not just of Turkish Cypriot looters and Greek Cypriot collectors (as Greek Cypriot propaganda claims), but of Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot looters.

Looting before 1963

Of the 69 probably looted before 1963, 34 were probably looted by Greek Cypriots; and 6 were probably looted by Turkish Cypriots before 1963; 29 had no information. Thus, of those acquisitions with find-spots, 34/40 (85%) were probably looted by Greek Cypriots, and 6/40 (15%) by Turkish Cypriots.

Looting between 1963 and 1974

Of the 204 probably looted between 1963 and 1974, 61 were probably looted by Greek Cypriots; and 16 were probably looted by Turkish Cypriots; 127 had no information. Thus, of those acquisitions with find-spots, 61/77 (79.22%) were probably looted by Greek Cypriots, and 16/77 (20.78%) by Turkish Cypriots.

The similar proportions of communities' involvement in looting before 1963 and between 1963 and 1974 reinforce the impression of a successful, established, bicommunal business. The apparently increased Turkish Cypriot activity is easily explained by that community's massively increased poverty during that period, and its (illicit antiquities trading) paramilitary's control.

That is undoubtedly an unrealistically low estimate of Turkish Cypriot involvement in looting between 1963 and 1974; but that is because Greek Cypriot archaeologists encouraged Greek Cypriot private collectors to buy Turkish Cypriots' looted artefacts, and not many of them would have been bought for or donated to public collections between 1963 and 1974.

Nonetheless, Greek Cypriot private collectors evidently bought some Greek Cypriots' looted antiquities too, and while the exact proportions of communities' involvement in looting is unknowable, the rough idea of a fully bicommunal business is undeniable.

Looting after 1974

For the acquisitions inventoried after 1974 and probably looted, it's a little more complicated. The 1973 amnesty on collections of looted antiquities gave the few archaeologists access to a huge amount of material for study, cataloguing and publication; it took years to work through.

Some acquisitions from 1974 or before were only inventoried in 1975 or 1976 (e.g. Graeco-Roman acquisition 15 (Nikolaou, 1977: 90-91), but because Nikolaou gave the information for that one, I included it with the other artefacts probably looted between 1963 and 1974); those post-1974 acquisitions with no information could have been looted in 1974 or before.

Moreover, between 1974 and 1975 (and later), around a third of all Cypriots were made refugees, Greek Cypriots driven south and Turkish Cypriots driven north; so the ethnic composition of some villages changed (4).

If all of the looted artefacts inventoried after 1974 (and without evidence of looting before 1975) are assumed to have been looted after 1974, of the 22 probably looted after 1974, 12 were probably looted by Greek Cypriots; and 1 was probably looted by Turkish Cypriots; 9 had no information. Thus, of the acquisitions with find-spots, 12/13 (92.31%) were probably looted by Greek Cypriots, and 1/13 (7.69%) by Turkish Cypriots.

It would be unfair to use that data, though, because Turkish Cypriot looting continued in northern Cyprus, just as Greek Cypriot looting evidently continued in southern Cyprus. (It would also be unfair to forget that the Turkish Cypriot looters in northern Cyprus still sold their looted antiquities to Greek Cypriot collectors in southern Cyprus.)

Yet one of the interesting things, then, is that while the the communities changed, the looting continued (depending upon the village, suggesting that some of the looters were in the remaining old communities, and that some of the members of the new communities very quickly learned what to loot from where). That is yet another proof that the illicit antiquities trade was not an ethnic business; it was a bicommunal business, which harmed both communities.

Bibliography

Cucó, A. 1992: Report on the demographic structure of the Cypriot communities [Doc. 6589, 27th April 1992]. Strasbourg: Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE).
Flourentzos, P. 1977: "Four Archaic terracottas from Cypriote private collections". Report of the Department of Antiquities, Cyprus, 1977, 150-153.
Gill, D W J and Chippindale, C. 1993: "Material and intellectual consequences of esteem for Cycladic figures". American Journal of Archaeology, Volume 97, Number 4, 601-659.
Nikolaou, K. 1966: "Archaeology in Cyprus, 1961-1966". Archaeological Reports, Number 12, 27-43.
Nikolaou, K. 1969: "Archaeology in Cyprus, 1966-69". Archaeological Reports, Number 15, 40-54.
Nikolaou, K. 1977: "Principal acquisitions by the Cyprus museums, 1969-76". Archaeological Reports, Number 23, 77-91.

Footnotes

His name is sometimes written as Kyriacos Nicolaou.
Information:
- Benefit of the doubt: where the information could have suggested the acquisition was looted, but as a precaution, I assumed it had been incidentally recovered;
- GC: a Greek Cypriot place (with less than 10% of the population from the other community), according to the 1960 census;
- GC maj mix: a mixed place with more Greek Cypriots than Turkish Cypriots, according to the 1960 census;
- Incidentally recovered: where the information revealed the acquisition was not found in archaeological excavations or looters' digs, but through accidental discoveries;
- No info: there was no information about where or how the artefact was found;
- TC: Turkish Cypriot place (with less than 10% of the population from the other community), according to the 1960 census;
- TC maj mix: a mixed place with more Turkish Cypriots than Greek Cypriots, according to the 1960 census;
- Unknown: unknown provenance - explicit statement that where and how the artefact was found is unknown (unlike no info, where there may have been forgotten or otherwise unpublished information);
- Village, town and district names: the find-spots - the places the artefacts were found, or the places nearest to them
Early Cypriote (Early Bronze Age (EBA)) acquisitions, 1961-1966:

Acquisition 1: from Pyla, inventoried in 1962 (Nikolaou, 1966: 28) [Pyla GC maj mix]
Acquisition 2: 'From the Hubbard Collection which the heirs to the late Wing-Commander O'Brien Hubbard of Kyrenia kindly presented in 1963 to the Museum', i.e. unknown, inventoried in 1963 (Nikolaou, 1966: 28) [N.B.: known to have been collected before 1963, however, thus included in pre-conflict looting]

Middle Cypriote (Middle Bronze Age (MBA)) acquisitions, 1961-1966:

[Acquisition 1 (and only)]: 'From the Hubbard collection', i.e. unknown, inventoried in 1963 (Nikolaou, 1966: 29) [N.B.: known to have been collected before 1963, however, thus included in pre-conflict looting]

Cypro-Archaic acquisitions, 1961-1966:

Acquisition 1: 'from the area of Marion', inventoried in 1961 (Nikolaou, 1966: 34) [Marion/Polis-tis-Chrysochou GC maj mix]
Acquisition 2: no info, inventoried in 1961 (Nikolaou, 1966: 34)
Acquisition 3: no info, inventoried in 1961 (Nikolaou, 1966: 34)
Acquisition 4: no info, inventoried in 1961 (Nikolaou, 1966: 34)
Acquisition 5: 'Found in the well-known sanctuary of Meloushia', inventoried in 1961 (Nikolaou, 1966: 34-35) [Melouseia-Larnakas TC]
Acquisition 6: from Agia Irini, inventoried in 1961 (Nikolaou, 1966: 35) [Agia Eirini-Keryneias TC maj mix]
Acquisition 7: no info, inventoried in 1962 (Nikolaou, 1966: 35)
Acquisition 8: no info, inventoried in 1963 (Nikolaou, 1966: 35)
Acquisition 9: no info, inventoried in 1963 (Nikolaou, 1966: 35)
Acquisition 10: 'brought up by divers from the bottom of the sea some 300 m. off the coast of Salamis', inventoried in 1963 (Nikolaou, 1966: 35) [Salamis between GC maj mix Famagusta and GC Agios Sergios, Limnia, Stylloi and Acheritou] [incidentally recovered]
Acquisition 11: from Marion, inventoried in 1964 (Nikolaou, 1966: 35) [Marion/Polis-tis-Chrysochou GC maj mix]

Cypro-Classic acquisitions, 1961-1966:

Acquisition 1: 'From the Hubbard Collection comes a fine series of 706 coins', i.e. unknown, inventoried in 1963 (Nikolaou, 1966: 36) [N.B.: known to have been collected before 1963, however, thus included in pre-conflict looting]
Acquisition 2: from Marion, inventoried in 1964 (Nikolaou, 1966: 36) [Marion/Polis-tis-Chrysochou GC maj mix]
Acquisition 3: from Marion, inventoried in 1964 (Nikolaou, 1966: 36) [Marion/Polis-tis-Chrysochou GC maj mix]
Acquisition 4: 'The upper part of a terracotta female figure of the well-known seated type found in the tombs of Marion' (but itself found in those tombs, or of the type of those found in those tombs?), inventoried in 1964 (Nikolaou, 1966: 36) [Marion/Polis-tis-Chrysochou GC maj mix]
Acquisition 5: 'found some 50 m. east of the Stadion of Kourion', inventoried in 1964 (Nikolaou, 1966: 36) [Kourion near Episkopi TC maj mix]
Acquisition 6: no info, inventoried in 1966 (Nikolaou, 1966: 36)

Hellenistic acquisitions, 1961-1966:

Acquisition 1: no info, inventoried in 1961 (Nikolaou, 1966: 37)
Acquisition 2: from Tamassos, inventoried in 1962 (Nikolaou, 1966: 37) [Tamassos near GC Politiko and Pera]
Acquisition 3: from Agios Thyrsos, inventoried in 1963 (Nikolaou, 1966: 37) [Agios Thyrsos between larger GC Agia Gialousa, Agia Trias and Rizokarpaso and smaller TC Koroveia and Galinoporni]
Acquisition 4: 'found at the locality "Liastrika" by the sea north of Akanthou village', published in 1964 (Nikolaou, 1966: 37) [Akanthou GC]
Acquisition 5: no info, inventoried in 1965 (Nikolaou, 1966: 37)
Acquisition 6: no info, inventoried in 1965 (Nikolaou, 1966: 37)
Acquisition 7: from Soloi, inventoried in 1965 (Nikolaou, 1966: 37) [Soloi near larger GC maj mix Kseros-Karavostasi and smaller TC Ambelikou]

[Acquisition 1 (and only) from Kourion House Museum]: 'found built in the cavea of the theatre at Kourion', accessioned in 1963 (Nikolaou, 1966: 37) [incidentally recovered]

[Acquisition 1 (and only) from Kouklia Museum]: 'found during ploughing' (Nikolaou, 1966: 37) [incidentally recovered]

Acquisition 1 (from Paphos Museum): 'picked up in 1962 at the locality "Agrielea" in the Oreites forest by the village of Archimandrita', published in 1963 (Nikolaou, 1966: 37) [benefit of the doubt]
Acquisition 2 (from Paphos Museum): 'John Seltman picked up in a field at "Malloutena", at Kato Paphos', published in 1963 (Nikolaou, 1966: 37) [incidentally recovered]

Graeco-Roman acquisitions, 1961-1966:

Acquisition 1: no info, published in 1963 (Nikolaou, 1966: 41)
Acquisition 2: no info, inventoried in 1963 (Nikolaou, 1966: 41)
Acquisition 3: 'From a looted [end of 41, start of 42] tomb at the locality "Avgolemou", in the village lands of Korakou', inventoried in 1963 (Nikolaou, 1966: 41-42) [Korakou GC]
Acquisition 4: 'from the same site [Korakou-Avgolemou]', inventoried in 1963 (Nikolaou, 1966: 42) [Korakou GC]

Acquisition 1 (from Paphos Museum): 'turned up by the plough' (Nikolaou, 1966: 42)
Acquisition 2 (from Paphos Museum): 'turned up by the plough' (Nikolaou, 1966: 42)

Byzantine and later acquisitions, 1961-1966:

Acquisition 1: '81 Byzantine skyphate coins; 33 Lusignan billion deniers; 21 Venetian silver coins; 2 Turkish silver coins' but with no info as to where from, inventoried in 1961 (Nikolaou, 1966: 43)
Acquisition 2: 346 coins but with no info as to where from, inventoried in 1961 (Nikolaou, 1966: 43)
Acquisition 3: 189 coins but with no info as to where from, inventoried in 1961 (Nikolaou, 1966: 43)
Acquisition 4: no info, published in 1963 (Nikolaou, 1966: 43)
Acquisition 5: 'from the Hubbard collection', i.e. unknown, inventoried in 1963 (Nikolaou, 1966: 43)
Acquisition 6: 598 coins 'from Ayii Anargyri', inventoried in 1963 (Nikolaou, 1966: 43) [but which Ayii Anargyri/Ayioi Anargyri/Agioi Anargyri/Agioi Anargyroi GC]
Acquisition 7: from Potamia, published in 1964 (Nikolaou, 1966: 43) [Potamia TC maj mix]
Acquisition 8: 3 coins but no info as to where from, inventoried in 1965 (Nikolaou, 1966: 43)
Acquisition 9: from Kyrenia, inventoried in 1966 (Nikolaou, 1966: 43) [Kyrenia GC maj mix]

Neolithic and Chalcolithic acquisitions, 1966-1969:

Acquisition 1: from Chlorakas, inventoried in 1968 (Nikolaou, 1969: 41) [Chlorakas GC]
Acquisition 2: 'found in 1966 at the locality Palloura in the village of Chlorakas' (Nikolaou, 1969: 41) [Chlorakas GC]
Acquisition 3: from Kato Paphos, accession undated (Nikolaou, 1969: 41) [Paphos GC maj mix, but neighbourhoods...?]
Acquisition 4: unknown, accession undated (Nikolaou, 1969: 41)
Acquisition 5: from Konia-Vastaes, accession undated (Nikolaou, 1969: 41) [Konia GC]
Acquisition 6: from Kallepia-Kilades, accession undated (Nikolaou, 1969: 41) [Kallepeia GC]
Acquisition 7: 'found accidentally' (Nikolaou, 1969: 41) [incidentally recovered]

Early Cypriote (Early Bronze Age (EBA)) acquisitions, 1966-1969:

Acquisition 1: no info, inventoried in 1967 (Nikolaou, 1969: 41)
Acquisition 2: no info, inventoried in 1967 (Nikolaou, 1969: 41)
Acquisition 3: no info, inventoried in 1967 (Nikolaou, 1969: 41)
Acquisition 4: no info, inventoried in 1968 (Nikolaou, 1969: 41)
Acquisition 5: no info, inventoried in 1968 (Nikolaou, 1969: 41)
Acquisition 6: no info, inventoried in 1969 (Nikolaou, 1969: 41)
Acquisition 7: no info, accession undated (Nikolaou, 1969: 41)

Middle Cypriote (Middle Bronze Age (MBA)) acquisitions, 1966-1969:

Acquisition 1: no info, inventoried in 1968 (Nikolaou, 1969: 41)
Acquisition 2: 'The Limassol Museum acquired pottery... coming from a looted tomb at the locality Kilades, in the village lands of Evdimou' (so it was looted pottery, then? If they didn't excavate the tomb or clear the exposed site, they acquired it from someone else, either the looter or a collector...), accession undated (Nikolaou, 1969: 41) [Evdimou TC]

Late Cypriote (Late Bronze Age (LBA)) acquisitions, 1966-1969:

Acquisition 1: no info, inventoried in 1967 (Nikolaou, 1969: 42)
Acquisition 2: from Enkomi, inventoried in 1967 (Nikolaou, 1969: 42) [Engomi between GC maj mix Famagusta and GC Agios Sergios, Limnia, Stylloi and Acheritou]
Acquisition 3: from Hala Sultan Tekke, inventoried in 1967 (Nikolaou, 1969: 42-43) [Hala Sultan Tekke between GC maj mix Dromolaksia, Meneou and Larnaca]
Acquisition 4: no info, inventoried in 1967 (Nikolaou, 1969: 43)
Acquisition 5: no info, inventoried in 1967 (Nikolaou, 1969: 43)
Acquisition 6: no info, inventoried in 1967 (Nikolaou, 1969: 43)
Acquisition 7: from Enkomi, inventoried in 1968 (Nikolaou, 1969: 43) [Engomi between GC maj mix Famagusta and GC Agios Sergios, Limnia, Stylloi and Acheritou]
Acquisition 8: from Enkomi, inventoried in 1968 (Nikolaou, 1969: 43) [Engomi between GC maj mix Famagusta and GC Agios Sergios, Limnia, Stylloi and Acheritou]

Cypro-Geometric acquisitions, 1966-1969:

Acquisition 1: no info, inventoried in 1966 (Nikolaou, 1969: 44)
Acquisition 2: no info, inventoried in 1966 (Nikolaou, 1969: 44)
Acquisition 3: no info, accession undated (Nikolaou, 1969: 44)
Acquisition 4: no info, inventoried in 1967 (Nikolaou, 1969: 44)
Acquisition 5: no info, inventoried in 1968 (Nikolaou, 1969: 44)
Acquisition 6: no info, inventoried in 1968 (Nikolaou, 1969: 44)

Cypro-Archaic acquisitions, 1966-1969:

Acquisition 1: no info, inventoried in 1966 (Nikolaou, 1969: 46)
Acquisition 2: no info, inventoried in 1966 (Nikolaou, 1969: 46)
Acquisition 3: no info, inventoried in 1966 (Nikolaou, 1969: 46)
Acquisition 4: no info, inventoried in 1967 (Nikolaou, 1969: 46)
Acquisition 5: no info, inventoried in 1967 (Nikolaou, 1969: 46)
Acquisition 6: from Marion, inventoried in 1967 (Nikolaou, 1969: 46) [Marion/Polis-tis-Chrysochou GC maj mix]
Acquisition 7: no info, inventoried in 1967 (Nikolaou, 1969: 46)
Acquisition 8: no info, inventoried in 1967 (Nikolaou, 1969: 46)
Acquisition 9: no info, inventoried in 1967 (Nikolaou, 1969: 46)
Acquisition 10: no info, inventoried in 1967 (Nikolaou, 1969: 46)
Acquisition 11: from the area of Timi, accession undated (Nikolaou, 1969: 46) [Timi GC maj mix]
Acquisition 12: from Limassol, accession undated (Nikolaou, 1969: 46) [Limassol GC maj mix]
Acquisition 13: from Limassol, accession undated (Nikolaou, 1969: 46) [Limassol GC maj mix]
Acquisition 14: from Troulli-Petres, inventoried in 1968 (Nikolaou, 1969: 46) [Troulli GC]
Acquisition 15: no info, inventoried in 1968 (Nikolaou, 1969: 46)
Acquisition 16: no info, inventoried in 1968 (Nikolaou, 1969: 46)
Acquisition 17: no info, inventoried in 1968 (Nikolaou, 1969: 46)
Acquisition 18: no info, inventoried in 1968 (Nikolaou, 1969: 46)
Acquisition 19: no info, inventoried in 1968 (Nikolaou, 1969: 46)
Acquisition 20: no info, inventoried in 1968 (Nikolaou, 1969: 46)
Acquisition 21: no info, inventoried in 1968 (Nikolaou, 1969: 46)
Acquisition 22: no info, inventoried in 1968 (Nikolaou, 1969: 46)
Acquisition 23: no info, inventoried in 1968 (Nikolaou, 1969: 46)
Acquisition 24: no info, inventoried in 1968 (Nikolaou, 1969: 46)
Acquisition 25: from Sinda, inventoried in 1968 (Nikolaou, 1969: 46) [Sinda TC]
Acquisition 26: no info, inventoried in 1968 (Nikolaou, 1969: 46)
Acquisition 27: no info, inventoried in 1968 (Nikolaou, 1969: 46-47)
Acquisition 28: no info, inventoried in 1968 (Nikolaou, 1969: 47)
Acquisition 29: from Agios Georgios tou Spatharikou, accession undated (Nikolaou, 1969: 47) [Agios Georgios tou Spatharikou GC]
Acquisition 30: from Leonarisso, accession undated (Nikolaou, 1969: 47) [Leonarisso GC]
Acquisition 31: 'found in 1968 in a quarry at the locality Mosphiloudia at Xylophagou village', accession undated (Nikolaou, 1969: 47) [Ksilofagou GC] [incidentally recovered]

Cypro-Classic acquisitions, 1966-1969:

Acquisition 1: no info, inventoried in 1966 (Nikolaou, 1969: 48)
Acquisition 2: no info, inventoried in 1967 (Nikolaou, 1969: 48)
Acquisition 3: no info, inventoried in 1967 (Nikolaou, 1969: 48)
Acquisition 4: from Marion, accession undated (Nikolaou, 1969: 48) [Marion/Polis-tis-Chrysochou GC maj mix]
Acquisition 5: from Marion, accession undated (Nikolaou, 1969: 48) [Marion/Polis-tis-Chrysochou GC maj mix]
Acquisition 6: from Marion, accession undated (Nikolaou, 1969: 48) [Marion/Polis-tis-Chrysochou GC maj mix]
Acquisition 7: from ancient Chytroi, modern Agios Demetrianos, inventoried in 1968 (Nikolaou, 1969: 48) [Agios Dimitrianou-Paphou GC]

Hellenistic acquisitions, 1966-1969:

Acquisition 1: from Nea Paphos, published in 1967 (Nikolaou, 1969: 49) [Nea Paphos, in Kato Paphos: Paphos GC maj mix, but neighbourhoods...?]
Acquisition 2: no info, inventoried in 1967 (Nikolaou, 1969: 49)
Acquisition 3: no info, inventoried in 1967 (Nikolaou, 1969: 49)
Acquisition 4: no info, inventoried in 1967 (Nikolaou, 1969: 49)
Acquisition 5: no info, inventoried in 1967 (Nikolaou, 1969: 49)
Acquisition 6: from Nea Paphos, published in 1968 (Nikolaou, 1969: 49) [Nea Paphos, in Kato Paphos: Paphos GC maj mix, but neighbourhoods...?]
Acquisition 7: no info, inventoried in 1968 (Nikolaou, 1969: 49)
Acquisition 8: from ancient Kition, modern Larnaca, accession undated (Nikolaou, 1969: 49) [Larnaca GC maj mix]

Graeco-Roman acquisitions, 1966-1969:

Acquisition 1: no info, inventoried in 1966 (Nikolaou, 1969: 52)
Acquisition 2: no info, inventoried in 1967 (Nikolaou, 1969: 52)
Acquisition 3: no info, inventoried in 1967 (Nikolaou, 1969: 52)
Acquisition 4: from Amargeti, published in 1968 (Nikolaou, 1969: 52) [Amargeti GC]
Acquisition 5: 'From Karavas village, most likely from the nearby ancient city of Lapithos', inventoried in 1968 (Nikolaou, 1969: 52) [Karavas GC]
Acquisition 6: no info, inventoried in 1968, but reference to (citation of?) 1950 publication, so at least write off as pre-conflict as a precaution (Nikolaou, 1969: 52)
Acquisition 7: no info, inventoried in 1968 (Nikolaou, 1969: 52)
Acquisition 8: no info, inventoried in 1968, but reference to (citation of?) 1889 publication, so at least write off as pre-conflict as a precaution (Nikolaou, 1969: 52)
Acquisition 9: no info, inventoried in 1969 (Nikolaou, 1969: 52)
Acquisition 10: 'From the sanctuary of Zeus Labranios at the village of Phassoula, locality Kastros', accession undated (Nikolaou, 1969: 52) [Fasoula TC]
Acquisition 11: from Xylophagou-Mosphiloudia, accession undated (Nikolaou, 1969: 52) [Ksilofagou GC]
Acquisition 12: from Agios Sergios, accession undated (Nikolaou, 1969: 52) [Agios Sergios GC]
Acquisition 13: 'From a pit by the dig-house at Nea Paphos' (Nikolaou, 1969: 53), accession undated (Nikolaou, 1969: 53-54) [Nea Paphos, in Kato Paphos: Paphos GC maj mix, but neighbourhoods...?]

Byzantine and later acquisitions, 1966-1969:

Acquisition 1: no info, inventoried in 1967 (Nikolaou, 1969: 54)
Acquisition 2: no info, inventoried in 1967 (Nikolaou, 1969: 54)
Acquisition 3: no info, inventoried in 1967 (Nikolaou, 1969: 54)
Acquisition 4: no info, inventoried in 1968 (Nikolaou, 1969: 54)
Acquisition 5: no info, inventoried in 1968 (Nikolaou, 1969: 54)
Acquisition 6: from Kato Paphos, accession undated (Nikolaou, 1969: 54) [Paphos GC maj mix, but neighbourhoods...?]

Neolithic and Chalcolithic acquisitions, 1969-1976:

Acquisition 1: unknown, inventoried in 1973 (Nikolaou, 1977: 77)
Acquisition 2: surveyed (Nikolaou, 1977: 77)
Acquisition 3: 'found accidentally' (Nikolaou, 1977: 77) [incidentally recovered]
Acquisition 4: '[found d]uring building operations' (Nikolaou, 1977: 77) [incidentally recovered]
Acquisition 5: 'found in 1975 at Kato Paphos' (Nikolaou, 1977: 77) [Paphos GC maj mix, but neighbourhoods...?]
Acquisition 6: 'found in 1975 in Lemba' (Nikolaou, 1977: 77) [Lemba TC maj mix]

Early Cypriote (Early Bronze Age (EBA)) acquisitions, 1969-1976:

Acquisition 1: unknown, inventoried in 1969 (Nikolaou, 1977: 77)
Acquisition 2: unknown, inventoried in 1970 (Nikolaou, 1977: 77)
Acquisition 3: from Kotchati, inventoried in 1970 (Nikolaou, 1977: 77) [Kotsiatis TC]
Acquisition 4: 'From Margi(?)', inventoried in 1970 (Nikolaou, 1977: 77) [Marki TC]
Acquisition 5: no info, inventoried in 1970 (Nikolaou, 1977: 77)
Acquisition 6: unknown, inventoried in 1970 (Nikolaou, 1977: 77)
Acquisition 7: unknown, inventoried in 1971 (Nikolaou, 1977: 77-78)
Acquisition 8: unknown, inventoried in 1972 (Nikolaou, 1977: 78)
Acquisition 9: unknown, inventoried in 1972 (Nikolaou, 1977: 78)
Acquisition 10: from Kalopsida, accession undated (Nikolaou, 1977: 78) [Kalopsida GC]
Acquisition 11: no info, accession undated (Nikolaou, 1977: 78)
Acquisition 12: 'Mrs Theodora Pierides presented in 1973 to the Larnaca Museum a number of [40] bronzes', i.e. unknown (Nikolaou, 1977: 78)
Acquisition 13: unknown, inventoried in 1974 (Nikolaou, 1977: 79)
Acquisition 14: no info, inventoried in 1974 (Nikolaou, 1977: 79)
Acquisition 15: unknown, accession undated (Nikolaou, 1977: 79)
Acquisition 16: 'From Agyrta(?)', inventoried in 1975 (Nikolaou, 1977: 79) [Agirda TC]
Acquisition 17: unknown, inventoried in 1975 (Nikolaou, 1977: 79)
Acquisition 18: unknown, inventoried in 1976 (Nikolaou, 1977: 79)

Middle Cypriote (Middle Bronze Age (MBA)) acquisitions, 1969-1976:

Acquisition 1: no info, inventoried in 1970 (Nikolaou, 1977: 80)
Acquisition 2: no info, inventoried in 1972 (Nikolaou, 1977: 80)
Acquisition 3: no info, inventoried in 1972 (Nikolaou, 1977: 80)
Acquisition 4: no info, inventoried in 1972 (Nikolaou, 1977: 80)
Acquisition 5: no info, inventoried in 1973 (Nikolaou, 1977: 80)
Acquisition 6: no info, inventoried in 1974 (Nikolaou, 1977: 80)
Acquisition 7: from Ovgoros, accession undated (Nikolaou, 1977: 80) [Ovgoros TC]
Acquisition 8: unknown, accession undated (Nikolaou, 1977: 80)
Acquisition 9: unknown, inventoried in 1975 (Nikolaou, 1977: 80)

Late Cypriote (Late Bronze Age (LBA)) acquisitions, 1969-1976:

Acquisition 1: unknown, inventoried in 1969 (Nikolaou, 1977: 80)
Acquisition 2: 'From Kourion(?)', inventoried in 1969 (Nikolaou, 1977: 80) [Kourion near Episkopi TC maj mix]
Acquisition 3: unknown, inventoried in 1969 (Nikolaou, 1977: 80)
Acquisition 4: from Kouklia, inventoried in 1969 (Nikolaou, 1977: 80) [Kouklia GC maj mix]
Acquisition 5: from Enkomi, inventoried in 1970 (Nikolaou, 1977: 80) [Engomi between GC maj mix Famagusta and GC Agios Sergios, Limnia, Stylloi and Acheritou]
Acquisition 6: unknown, inventoried in 1970 (Nikolaou, 1977: 80)
Acquisition 7: from Psillatos, inventoried in 1970 (Nikolaou, 1977: 80) [Psyllatos TC]
Acquisition 8: from Limassol, accession undated (Nikolaou, 1977: 80) [Limassol GC maj mix]
Acquisition 9: unknown, inventoried in 1972 (Nikolaou, 1977: 80)
Acquisition 10: 'probably from Palaipaphos', inventoried in 1973 (Nikolaou, 1977: 80) [Palaepaphos near GC maj mix Kouklia]
Acquisition 11: from Enkomi, inventoried in 1973 (Nikolaou, 1977: 80) [Engomi between GC maj mix Famagusta and GC Agios Sergios, Limnia, Stylloi and Acheritou]
Acquisition 12: 'probably from Kourion. CM 1979/VIII-11/6 [sic]', so, inventoried in 1969/1970(?) (Nikolaou, 1977: 80) [Kourion near Episkopi TC maj mix]
Acquisition 13: unknown, inventoried in 1974 (Nikolaou, 1977: 80)
Acquisition 14: unknown, inventoried in 1974 (Nikolaou, 1977: 80)
Acquisition 15: unknown, inventoried in 1974 (Nikolaou, 1977: 80)
Acquisition 16: unknown, inventoried in 1974 (Nikolaou, 1977: 80)
Acquisition 17: unknown, inventoried in 1974 (Nikolaou, 1977: 80)
Acquisition 18: unknown, inventoried in 1974 (Nikolaou, 1977: 80)
Acquisition 19: unknown, inventoried in 1974 (Nikolaou, 1977: 80)
Acquisition 20: from Deneia, inventoried in 1975 (Nikolaou, 1977: 80) [Deneia GC maj mix]
Acquisition 21: no info, inventoried in 1975 (Nikolaou, 1977: 80)

Cypro-Geometric acquisitions, 1969-1976:

Acquisition 1: unknown, inventoried in 1970 (Nikolaou, 1977: 81)
Acquisition 2: unknown, inventoried in 1970 (Nikolaou, 1977: 81)
Acquisition 3: unknown, inventoried in 1970 (Nikolaou, 1977: 81)
Acquisition 4: unknown, inventoried in 1971 (Nikolaou, 1977: 81)
Acquisition 5: from Rizokarpaso, inventoried in 1971 (Nikolaou, 1977: 81) [Rizokarpaso GC]
Acquisition 6: unknown, inventoried in 1972 (Nikolaou, 1977: 81)
Acquisition 7: from Rizokarpaso, inventoried in 1972 (Nikolaou, 1977: 81) [Rizokarpaso GC]
Acquisition 8: unknown, accession undated (Nikolaou, 1977: 81)
Acquisition 9: unknown, accession undated (Nikolaou, 1977: 81)
Acquisition 10: unknown, inventoried in 1973 (Nikolaou, 1977: 81)
Acquisition 11: from Marion, inventoried in 1973 (Nikolaou, 1977: 81) [Marion/Polis-tis-Chrysochou GC maj mix]
Acquisition 12: from Agios Iakovos, inventoried in 1973 (Nikolaou, 1977: 81) [Agios Iakovos-Ammochostou TC]
Acquisition 13: 'Reported found at Koloni', inventoried in 1973 (Nikolaou, 1977: 81) [Koloni TC]
Acquisition 14: no info, inventoried in 1973 (Nikolaou, 1977: 81)
Acquisition 15: from Marion, inventoried in 1973 (Nikolaou, 1977: 81-82) [Marion/Polis-tis-Chrysochou GC maj mix]
Acquisition 16: unknown, inventoried in 1974 (Nikolaou, 1977: 82)
Acquisition 17: unknown, inventoried in 1974 (Nikolaou, 1977: 82)
Acquisition 18: from Marion, inventoried in 1974 (Nikolaou, 1977: 82) [Marion/Polis-tis-Chrysochou GC maj mix]
Acquisition 19: from Marion, inventoried in 1974 (Nikolaou, 1977: 82) [Marion/Polis-tis-Chrysochou GC maj mix]
Acquisition 20: unknown, inventoried in 1974 (Nikolaou, 1977: 82-83)
Acquisition 21: unknown, inventoried in 1975 (Nikolaou, 1977: 83)

Cypro-Archaic acquisitions, 1969-1976:

Acquisition 1: unknown, inventoried in 1969 (Nikolaou, 1977: 83)
Acquisition 2: unknown, inventoried in 1969 (Nikolaou, 1977: 83)
Acquisition 3: from the area of Lefka, inventoried in 1969 (Nikolaou, 1977: 83) [Lefka TC]
Acquisition 4: unknown, inventoried in 1969 (Nikolaou, 1977: 83)
Acquisition 5: unknown, inventoried in 1969 (Nikolaou, 1977: 83-84)
Acquisition 6: from Rizokarpaso, accession undated (Nikolaou, 1977: 84) [Rizokarpaso GC]
Acquisition 7: from Agios Iakovos, accession undated (Nikolaou, 1977: 84) [Agios Iakovos-Ammochostou TC]
Acquisition 8: from Kyrenia, accession undated (Nikolaou, 1977: 84) [Kyrenia GC maj mix]
Acquisition 9: from Kyrenia, accession undated (Nikolaou, 1977: 84) [Kyrenia GC maj mix]
Acquisition 10: from Mandria, inventoried in 1970 (Nikolaou, 1977: 84) [Mandria-Paphou TC]
Acquisition 11: unknown, inventoried in 1970 (Nikolaou, 1977: 84)
Acquisition 12: unknown, inventoried in 1970 (Nikolaou, 1977: 84)
Acquisition 13: unknown, inventoried in 1970 (Nikolaou, 1977: 84)
Acquisition 14: unknown, inventoried in 1970 (Nikolaou, 1977: 84)
Acquisition 15: unknown, inventoried in 1971 (Nikolaou, 1977: 84)
Acquisition 16: unknown, inventoried in 1971 (Nikolaou, 1977: 84)
Acquisition 17: unknown, accession undated (Nikolaou, 1977: 84)
Acquisition 18: unknown, inventoried in 1972 (Nikolaou, 1977: 84)
Acquisition 19: unknown, inventoried in 1972 (Nikolaou, 1977: 84)
Acquisition 20: unknown, inventoried in 1972 (Nikolaou, 1977: 84)
Acquisition 21: unknown, inventoried in 1972 (Nikolaou, 1977: 84)
Acquisition 22: unknown, inventoried in 1972 (Nikolaou, 1977: 84-85)
Acquisition 23: 'probably from Arsos', accession undated (Nikolaou, 1977: 85) [Arsos GC maj mix]
Acquisition 24: from Kantou, inventoried in 1973 (Nikolaou, 1977: 85) [Kandou TC]
Acquisition 25: from Paphos District, inventoried in 1973 (Nikolaou, 1977: 85) [Paphos District GC maj mix]
Acquisition 26: unknown, inventoried in 1973 (Nikolaou, 1977: 85)
Acquisition 27: unknown, inventoried in 1974 (Nikolaou, 1977: 85)
Acquisition 28: unknown, inventoried in 1974 (Nikolaou, 1977: 85)
Acquisition 29: unknown, inventoried in 1974 (Nikolaou, 1977: 85)
Acquisition 30: unknown, inventoried in 1975 (Nikolaou, 1977: 85)
Acquisition 31: unknown, inventoried in 1975 (Nikolaou, 1977: 85)
Acquisition 32: unknown, inventoried in 1976 (Nikolaou, 1977: 85)

Cypro-Classic acquisitions, 1969-1976:

Acquisition 1: unknown, inventoried in 1969 (Nikolaou, 1977: 85)
Acquisition 2: unknown, inventoried in 1969 (Nikolaou, 1977: 85)
Acquisition 3: from Pergamos, inventoried in 1969 (Nikolaou, 1977: 85-86) [Pergamos TC]
Acquisition 4: from Pano Arodes, accession undated (Nikolaou, 1977: 86) [Pano Arodes GC maj mix]
Acquisition 5: 'Found near the church of Panayia Angeloktistos at Kiti village but obviously from Kition', inventoried in 1972 (Nikolaou, 1977: 86) [Kiti GC; ancient Kition, modern Larnaca GC maj mix]
Acquisition 6: from Marion, inventoried in 1972 (Nikolaou, 1977: 86) [Marion/Polis-tis-Chrysochou GC maj mix]
Acquisition 7: from Marion, inventoried in 1972 (Nikolaou, 1977: 86) [Marion/Polis-tis-Chrysochou GC maj mix]
Acquisition 8: from Marion, inventoried in 1972 (Nikolaou, 1977: 86-87) [Marion/Polis-tis-Chrysochou GC maj mix]
Acquisition 9: surveyed (Nikolaou, 1977: 87)
Acquisition 10: 'found in 1972 below the floor of the church of Ayios Lazaros in Larnaca' (Nikolaou, 1977: 87) [incidentally recovered]
Acquisition 11: unknown, inventoried in 1973 (Nikolaou, 1977: 87)
Acquisition 12: 'from the northern necropolis of Kition', accession undated (Nikolaou, 1977: 87) [ancient Kition, modern Larnaca GC maj mix]
Acquisition 13: 'Probably from Marion, it was acquired by the Paphos Museum in 1974', published in 1974 (Nikolaou, 1977: 87-88) [Marion/Polis-tis-Chrysochou GC maj mix]
Acquisition 14: from Marion, accession undated (Nikolaou, 1977: 88) [Marion/Polis-tis-Chrysochou GC maj mix]
Acquisition 15: 'Said to come from Ayios Nicolaos in the Paphos District', inventoried in 1975 (Nikolaou, 1977: 88) [Agios Nikolaos-Paphou TC]
Acquisition 16: from Chlorakas, accession undated (Nikolaou, 1977: 88) [Chlorakas GC]
Acquisition 17: from Paphos District, accession undated (Nikolaou, 1977: 88) [Paphos District GC maj mix]
Acquisition 18: from Kourion, accession undated (Nikolaou, 1977: 88) [Kourion near Episkopi TC maj mix]

Hellenistic acquisitions, 1969-1976:

Acquisition 1: unknown, inventoried and published in 1969 (Nikolaou, 1977: 89)
Acquisition 2: 'probably from Kourion', inventoried and published in 1969 (Nikolaou, 1977: 89) [Kourion near Episkopi TC maj mix]
Acquisition 3: 'unknown provenance: from J. S. Last's bequest', inventoried in 1969 (Nikolaou, 1977: 89) [but as precaution must be presumed to be pre-conflict]
Acquisition 4: 'from the sea off the Kleides islands', accession undated (Nikolaou, 1977: 89) [Kleides Islands off GC Cape Apostolos Andreas]
Acquisition 5: from Arsos, inventoried in 1970 (Nikolaou, 1977: 89) [Arsos GC maj mix]
Acquisition 6: from Karpasia, inventoried in 1970 (Nikolaou, 1977: 89) [either GC Karpasia-Keryneias or GC maj mix Karpasia-Ammochostou; if this were Karpasia-Keryneias (Karpashia), it would be an example of probable Maronite looting]
Acquisition 7: 'found in the churchyard of Ayios Theodosios at Achelia', published in 1971 (Nikolaou, 1977: 89) [benefit of the doubt]
Acquisition 8: from Marion, inventoried in 1971 (Nikolaou, 1977: 89) [Marion/Polis-tis-Chrysochou GC maj mix]
Acquisition 9: unknown, inventoried and published in 1971 (Nikolaou, 1977: 89)
Acquisition 10: from Mandres, accession undated (Nikolaou, 1977: 89) [Mandres-Ammochostou GC]
Acquisition 11: surveyed (Nikolaou, 1977: 89)
Acquisition 12: surveyed (Nikolaou, 1977: 89)
Acquisition 13: from Soloi, inventoried in 1972 (Nikolaou, 1977: 89) [Soloi near larger GC maj mix Kseros-Karavostasi and smaller TC Ambelikou]
Acquisition 14: unknown, inventoried in 1973 (Nikolaou, 1977: 89)
Acquisition 15: unknown, inventoried in 1973 (Nikolaou, 1977: 89)
Acquisition 16: from Larnaca, accession undated (Nikolaou, 1977: 89) [Larnaca GC maj mix]
Acquisition 17: 'said to have been found at Amathous', published in 1975 (Nikolaou, 1977: 89) [Amathus near GC Agios Tychon and GC maj mix Limassol]
Acquisition 18: 'said to have been found at Amathous', accession undated (Nikolaou, 1977: 89) [Amathus near GC Agios Tychon and GC maj mix Limassol]
Acquisition 19: from Anogyra, accession undated (Nikolaou, 1977: 89) [Anogyra GC maj mix]
Acquisition 20: from Kato Paphos, published in 1976 (Nikolaou, 1977: 89) [Paphos GC maj mix, but neighbourhoods...?]
Acquisition 21: from Kouklia, published in 1976 (Nikolaou, 1977: 89) [Kouklia GC maj mix]
Acquisition 22: from Kouklia, published in 1976 (Nikolaou, 1977: 89) [Kouklia GC maj mix]

Graeco-Roman acquisitions, 1969-1976:

Acquisition 1: unknown, inventoried in 1969 (Nikolaou, 1977: 90)
Acquisition 2: 'from a tomb at Kato Paphos', accession undated (Nikolaou, 1977: 90) [Paphos GC maj mix, but neighbourhoods...?]
Acquisition 3: from Kato Paphos, published in 1970 (Nikolaou, 1977: 90) [Paphos GC maj mix, but neighbourhoods...?]
Acquisition 4: from Armou, accession undated (Nikolaou, 1977: 90) [Armou GC]
Acquisition 5: unknown, inventoried in 1970 (Nikolaou, 1977: 90)
Acquisition 6: from Kyrenia, inventoried in 1971 (Nikolaou, 1977: 90) [Kyrenia GC maj mix]
Acquisition 7: 'acquired in 1971 by the Limassol Museum' (Nikolaou, 1977: 90) [Limassol GC maj mix]
Acquisition 8: 'from below the floor of the church of Ayios Lazaros, Larnaca', published in 1973 (Nikolaou, 1977: 90) [incidentally recovered]
Acquisition 9: from Spitali, published in 1972 (Nikolaou, 1977: 90) [Spitali GC]
Acquisition 10[a]: from Kivides, published in 1973 (Nikolaou, 1977: 90) [Kivides GC maj mix] [N.B. listed together with five other artefacts, not all of them from one place: 'One from Kivides..., one more from Spitali... and four from Limassol town', published in 1973 (Nikolaou, 1977: 90)]
Acquisition 10[b]: from Spitali, published in 1973 (Nikolaou, 1977: 90) [Spitali GC] [N.B. listed together with five other artefacts, not all of them from one place: 'One from Kivides..., one more from Spitali... and four from Limassol town', published in 1973 (Nikolaou, 1977: 90)]
Acquisition 10[c]: from Limassol, published in 1973 (Nikolaou, 1977: 90) [Limassol GC maj mix] [N.B. listed together with five other artefacts, not all of them from one place: 'One from Kivides..., one more from Spitali... and four from Limassol town', published in 1973 (Nikolaou, 1977: 90)]
Acquisition 10[d]: from Limassol, published in 1973 (Nikolaou, 1977: 90) [Limassol GC maj mix] [N.B. listed together with five other artefacts, not all of them from one place: 'One from Kivides..., one more from Spitali... and four from Limassol town', published in 1973 (Nikolaou, 1977: 90)]
Acquisition 10[e]: from Limassol, published in 1973 (Nikolaou, 1977: 90) [Limassol GC maj mix] [N.B. listed together with five other artefacts, not all of them from one place: 'One from Kivides..., one more from Spitali... and four from Limassol town', published in 1973 (Nikolaou, 1977: 90)]
Acquisition 10[f]: from Limassol, published in 1973 (Nikolaou, 1977: 90) [Limassol GC maj mix] [N.B. listed together with five other artefacts, not all of them from one place: 'One from Kivides..., one more from Spitali... and four from Limassol town', published in 1973 (Nikolaou, 1977: 90)]
Acquisition 11: from Kissonerga, published in 1973 (Nikolaou, 1977: 90) [Kissonerga GC]
Acquisition 12: no info, accession undated (Nikolaou, 1977: 90)
Acquisition 13: from Limassol, published in 1974 (Nikolaou, 1977: 90) [Limassol GC maj mix]
Acquisition 14: from Amathous, published in 1974 (Nikolaou, 1977: 90) [Amathus near GC Agios Tychon and GC maj mix Limassol]
Acquisition 15: 'Found in 1974 at Arpera, but obviously from Kition' (Nikolaou, 1977: 90), published in 1975 (Nikolaou, 1977: 90-91) [Tersephanou-Arpera Çiftlik GC; ancient Kition, modern Larnaca GC maj mix]
Acquisition 16: from Limassol, published in 1975 (Nikolaou, 1977: 91) [Limassol GC maj mix]
Acquisition 17: unknown, inventoried in 1975 (Nikolaou, 1977: 91)
Acquisition 18: from Idalion, published in 1976 (Nikolaou, 1977: 91) [ancient Idalion, modern Dali GC maj mix]
Acquisition 19: from Gerasa, published in 1976 (Nikolaou, 1977: 91) [Gerasa GC]
Acquisition 20: from Kourion, published in 1976 (Nikolaou, 1977: 91) [Kourion near Episkopi TC maj mix]
Greek Cypriots (and Armenians, Latins and Maronites) were 77.1% and Turkish Cypriots (and Roma and Linobambakoi) were 18.2% of the total population (Cucó, 1992: 17). But the non-Cypriots (e.g. British) generally collected rather than looted (which made them more responsible for the problem, not less). So, excluding them (thus, as percentages of their 95.3% of the total population), Greek Cypriots were 80.90% and Turkish Cypriots were 19.10%.

[This footnote was extended on the 25th July 2009]

Armenians, Latins and Maronites were counted as "Greek" Cypriot in the census - but those minorities formed only 1.78% of the Greek Cypriot community. Roma and Linobambakoi were counted as "Turkish" Cypriot - but the Linobambakoi were not counted (or legally recognised), and the Roma formed only 0.48% of the Turkish Cypriot community.

In 1960, there were around 4,000 Armenians, 1,100 Latins and 2,752 Maronites; Protestants were not legally recognised in the 1960 Constitution of Cyprus. So the 7,852 Christian religious minority Cypriots were about 1.78% of the "Greek" Cypriots, and about 1.37% of all Cypriots.

Also in 1960, there were about 502 Roma and an unknown number of Linobambakoi ("Linen-Cottons", syncretic Christian-Muslims). So the Roma were about 0.48% of the "Turkish" Cypriots, and about 0.09% of all Cypriots.

Thus, all known minorities were about 1.46% of all Cypriots, and insignificant participants in the looting.
Probably looted acquisitions inventoried (or published) after 1974:

Neolithic and Chalcolithic:

Acquisition 5: 'found in 1975 at Kato Paphos' (Nikolaou, 1977: 77) [by 1960 census, Paphos GC maj mix; but after 1974, GC]
Acquisition 6: 'found in 1975 in Lemba' (Nikolaou, 1977: 77) [by 1960 census, Lemba TC maj mix; but after 1974, GC]

Early Cypriote (Early Bronze Age (EBA)):

Acquisition 16: 'From Agyrta(?)', inventoried in 1975 (Nikolaou, 1977: 79) [by 1960 census and after 1974, Agirda TC]
Acquisition 17: unknown, inventoried in 1975 (Nikolaou, 1977: 79)
Acquisition 18: unknown, inventoried in 1976 (Nikolaou, 1977: 79)

Middle Cypriote (Middle Bronze Age (MBA)):

Acquisition 9: unknown, inventoried in 1975 (Nikolaou, 1977: 80)

Late Cypriote (Late Bronze Age (LBA)):

Acquisition 20: from Deneia, inventoried in 1975 (Nikolaou, 1977: 80) [by 1960 census, Deneia GC maj mix; after 1974, GC]
Acquisition 21: no info, inventoried in 1975 (Nikolaou, 1977: 80)

Cypro-Geometric:

Acquisition 21: unknown, inventoried in 1975 (Nikolaou, 1977: 83)

Cypro-Archaic:

Acquisition 30: unknown, inventoried in 1975 (Nikolaou, 1977: 85)
Acquisition 31: unknown, inventoried in 1975 (Nikolaou, 1977: 85)
Acquisition 32: unknown, inventoried in 1976 (Nikolaou, 1977: 85)

Cypro-Classic:

Acquisition 15: 'Said to come from Ayios Nicolaos in the Paphos District', inventoried in 1975 (Nikolaou, 1977: 88) [by 1960 census, Agios Nikolaos-Paphou TC; after 1974, GC]

Hellenistic:

Acquisition 17: 'said to have been found at Amathous', published in 1975 (Nikolaou, 1977: 89) [by 1960 census and after 1974, Amathus near GC Agios Tychon and GC maj mix Limassol]
Acquisition 20: from Kato Paphos, published in 1976 (Nikolaou, 1977: 89) [by 1960 census, Paphos GC maj mix; after 1974, GC]
Acquisition 21: from Kouklia, published in 1976 (Nikolaou, 1977: 89) [by 1960 census, Kouklia GC maj mix; after 1974, GC]
Acquisition 22: from Kouklia, published in 1976 (Nikolaou, 1977: 89) [by 1960 census, Kouklia GC maj mix; after 1974, GC]

Graeco-Roman:

Acquisition 16: from Limassol, published in 1975 (Nikolaou, 1977: 91) [by 1960 census, Limassol GC maj mix; after 1974, GC]
Acquisition 17: unknown, inventoried in 1975 (Nikolaou, 1977: 91)
Acquisition 18: from Idalion, published in 1976 (Nikolaou, 1977: 91) [by 1960 census, ancient Idalion, modern Dali GC maj mix; after 1974, GC]
Acquisition 19: from Gerasa, published in 1976 (Nikolaou, 1977: 91) [by 1960 census and after 1974, Gerasa GC]
Acquisition 20: from Kourion, published in 1976 (Nikolaou, 1977: 91) [by 1960 census, Kourion near Episkopi TC maj mix; after 1974, GC]

Cypriot antiquities: Severis - salvage or sale?

2009-06-26T06:00:00.003+01:00

Public and private Greek Cypriot collecting of looted antiquities has been defended as 'rescue', 'salvation' (Anagnostopoulou, 2000b: 25; 37), 'salvage' (Karageorghis, 2000b: 217), a way 'to curb the illegal exports of antiquities' (Hadjiprodromou, 2000: 141). But the sale and export of antiquities from the Severis Collection may undermine that defence.

Leto Severis's collection is in Cyprus; but some of its artefacts have been sold to antiquities dealer Eftis Paraskevaides, in Britain, and he has put them up for sale online - on either ArtAncient or BidAncient - on a first-come-first-served basis.

As I explained in an earlier post on collecting looted antiquities,

the Department of Antiquities at that time [1963/1964] decided to follow a policy of "silent accord", allowing Cypriots who had access to the Turkish enclaves to buy the "spoils" of looting so that these should remain in the country and not be exported abroad.

And as I mentioned in a previous post on large private collections,

in his catalogue of 257 artefacts in the Severis Collection (Karageorghis, 1999a), [then Greek Cypriot antiquities director Vassos] Karageorghis stated that the whole collection of more than 2,500 artefacts 'was formed mainly during the.... "silent accord"' (1999b: 17).

Now, I do not know whether the antiquities for sale on Paraskevaides's websites are ones Severis collected before 1963-1964. I am not accusing Paraskevaides of trading in illicit antiquities.

Marc Fehlmann worked out that '98.4% of the objects' in the Severis Collection 'have no provenance or previous owner at all'; Paraskevaides may have bought objects from the other 1.6%. But if he did, he chose to exclude the evidence of the artefacts' origins and previous ownerships.

The first Paraskevaides antiquity from the Severis Collection is for sale on ArtAncient (see fig. 1); the second and third are for sale on BidAncient (see figs. 2 and 3). The first, a "Cypriot Bronze age vessel", was 'Ex English Private Collection. Ex Christies London 2000. Ex. Leto Severis Collection, inventory number on the underside of the bowl.'

The second, an "Early Iron Age Cypriot Peace Bowl", was 'from the collection of Mrs Lito Severis.... English private collection; ex Christie's UK'. And the third, a "Large Early Bronze Age Burnished Olpe Jug", 'was from the collection of Mrs Lito Severis - no. LS 1061 written on the base.... English private collection; ex Christie's UK - lot 251 25 October 2007.'

There was no information about who found the objects where; no information suggested Severis bought any of the three from another collector. Apparently, when the objects first came to public knowledge, they were already in Severis's collection. That suggests that they had had no previous owners, and that they may have been looted.

Last year, informed by Paul Barford, David Gill listed four antiquities for sale on Eftis Paraskevaides's BidAncient website, which were 'from the collection of Mrs Lito Severis'. Now, the first three say only

Product Not Found
The product page you are looking for might have been removed, had its name changed, or is temporarily unavailable.

Not even a Google cache copy is available.

At least David Gill's descriptions remain:

* jug. $590. Lable: LS N140. Stated to be from an English private collection: Christie's (King Street), October 25, 2007, lot 251.
* olpe. $220. Stated to be from an English private collection: Christie's (King Street), October 25, 2007, lot 251.
* olpe. $250. LS 2001. Stated to be from an English private collection: Christie's (King Street), October 25, 2007, lot 251.

(The fourth antiquity David Gill listed was the third one I discussed above, an 'olpe. $580. Label LS 1061. Stated to be from an English private collection: Christie's (King Street), October 25, 2007, lot 251.')

None of the three antiquities David Gill listed had any information about their discovery, or previous owners, either. Again, that suggests that those artefacts may have been looted. And if they were looted, their sale would undermine the defence for legalising collecting looted antiquities. The antiquities collectors would not have 'discharge[d] their duty to the homeland' (Karageorghis, 2000: 218).

Archaeologists let private collectors buy looted antiquities to "rescue", to "salvage" them for Cyprus. If those private collectors sold them abroad, to a private dealer, for that dealer to sell on to anyone, the private collectors would have betrayed the principles of the silent accord; they would have been in the same business that the archaeologists entrusted them to help to stop. The private collectors would not have "rescued" or "salvaged" ~~anything~~ [the sold antiquities].

They would have ~~feigned patriotism to get the opportunity to collect looted antiquities, and~~ funded the looting of Cypriot cultural heritage with their purchases, then profited from the looted antiquities' sale (making a greater profit, because the Department of Antiquities had legalised their collections); they would also have denied other Cypriots access to their own inheritance.

And the entire process would have been enabled by the policy of the Department of Antiquities.

[I edited this post on the 10th of July 2009: I crossed-out judgemental language.]

Fig. 1: "Cypriot Bronze age vessel 2300 BC"

Ancient Cypriot Early Bronze Age red burnished ware hemispherical bowl, dating to approximately 2300 BC.

A striking piece of ancient Cypriot art, the heavy hand-made ceramic with perforated lug handle. Such pottery is characteristic of the Mediterranean island of Cyprus, whose bronze age potters, widely believed to be female, produced some of the most imaginative ceramics of antiquity.

Height: 4 inches.

Diameter: 6 1/4 inches.

Condition: Unrestored.

Provenance: Ex English Private Collection. Ex Christies London 2000. Ex. Leto Severis Collection, inventory number on the underside of the bowl. Severis was prolific collector of Cypriot antiquities whose collection numbered in the thousands.

$600.00

Fig. 2: "Early Iron Age Cypriot Peace Bowl 1000 BC"

You are considering a very attractive and rare Cypriot early Iron age round based Chalice or Bowl dating to around 1000 BC.

This outstanding iron age ceramic has an everted round mouth and a circular footbase.

Internally the vessel is painted with olive branches symbolizing Victory; the rim is also painted in black.

The Cypriot ancient ceramics showed immense diversity and style; their potters were probably the best in the world at that time.

This ancient ceramic originates from the collection of Mrs Lito Severis. Lito Severis was an amateur archaeologist and a prolific writer of childrens' books.

A charming momento from early antiquity.

English private collection; ex Christie's UK - lot 251 25 October 2007.

Intact; minor restoration to lip.

Height: 2 1/8 inches.

Diameter: 3 7/8 inches.

For similar example please see "Art Of Ancient Cyprus" by the well known Anthropologist and Author, Desmond Morris.

We only sell genuine guaranteed ancient art. If an expert or a TL test disputes this ceramic's authenticity, we will return your money and the cost of any TL test.

Our Price: $165.00

Fig. 3: "Large Early Bronze Age Burnished Olpe Jug 1800 BC: Ex Severis Ex Christies UK"

You are considering a large and very attractive Cypriot early bronze age burnished Jug with a stylized looped handle, dating to around 1800 BC.

This outstanding bronze age ceramic has an everted round mouth and a circular base which would have once stood in the sand; may well have served in a Temple as a votive vessel.

The Cypriot bronze age ceramics showed immense diversity and style; their potters were probably the best in the world at that time.

This ancient ceramic originates from the collection of Mrs Lito Severis - no. LS 1061 written on the base. Lito Severis was an amateur archaeologist and a prolific writer of childrens' books.

A charming momento from early antiquity.

English private collection; ex Christie's UK - lot 251 25 October 2007.

Intact; minor restoration to lip.

Height: 7 1/2 inches.

Diameter: 5 inches.

For similar example please see "Art Of Ancient Cyprus" by the well known Anthropologist and Author, Desmond Morris.

We only sell genuine guaranteed ancient art. If an expert or a TL test disputes this ceramic's authenticity, we will return your money and the cost of any TL test.

Our Price: $400.00

Karageorghis, V, (Ed.). 1999a: Ancient Cypriote art in the Severis Collection. Athens: Costakis and Leto Severis Foundation.

Karageorghis, V. 1999b: "The Severis Collection of Cypriote antiquities". In Karageorghis, V, (Ed.). Ancient Cypriote art in the Severis Collection, 17-18. Athens: Costakis and Leto Severis Foundation.

Karageorghis, V. 2000: "The repatriation of Cypriot antiquities (1974-1997)". In CPCHC (Committee for the Protection of the Cultural Heritage of Cyprus), (Ed.). Cyprus: A civilization plundered, 214-221. Athens: The Hellenic Parliament.

UN poisoned, crippled and killed Kosovo Roma

2009-06-21T09:00:00.001+01:00

I am absolutely appalled that this has continued. The Guardian has just reported a forthcoming Human Rights Watch report that will document Kosovo Roma crippled in the UN refugee camp in Mitrovica. Yet it is even worse than that: the BBC reported that, already in 2005, the World Health Organisation (WHO) had concluded that 'at least one child ha[d] died from lead poisoning', and the Kosovo Roma Refugee Foundation (KRRF) believed 27 had been killed.

In 2005, I had detailed the horrific story so far in a post on the Roma Mahalla/Fabricka Mahalla - the refugees' home neighbourhood, which Kosovo Albanian nationalist extremists burned in 1999 - on the Mitrovicë/Mitrovica: cultural heritage and community photo blog.

In case saying the UN poisoned, crippled and killed the Kosovo Roma refugees of Roma Mahalla sounds unfair, what follows is a repost from the 2005 Mitrovicë blog post, the development of the situation:

for a long time, lead pollution had been an open secret;
in 1997, there was a public report of lead poisoning;
(therefore) in 1999, when the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) chose the site, it knew it was contaminated;
(in fact) also in 1999, the United Nations itself, in the form of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (UNCHS), noted that Kosovo's mining industry had caused "serious environmental degradation and impacts on the health of the local population";
the UNHCR insisted on placing the camp there despite protests by its own Romani affairs advisor;
in 2000, the United Nations Interim Administration Mission In Kosovo (UNMIK) found "blood lead concentrations exceeding the permissive limits" and recommended relocation;
also in 2000, the then UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General (SRSG) Bernard Kouchner stated that, "the people of Mitrovica are at risk because of this [Zvecan] smelter" and that, "as a doctor, as well as chief administrator of Kosovo, I would be derelict if I let this threat to the health of children and pregnant women continue for one more day"; and
in 2004, the World Health Organisation insisted the situation was "urgent";
and in 2005, the BBC reported that the World Health Organisation (WHO) had concluded that 'at least one child ha[d] died from lead poisoning', while the Kosovo Roma Refugee Foundation (KRRF) believed 27 had been killed.

The Albanian nationalist extremists' collective punishment of the Mitrovicë Roma community was criminal, but grimly predictable. But whether direct, active verbs, or more polite, indirect, passive ones, are used to describe what has happened since, it was criminal.

The UN was responsible for the ravaged and vulnerable community's protection and rehabilitation; but instead, it has poisoned, crippled and killed them.
[This note was also posted over on samarkeolog.]

Cyprus, 1963-1974: large private collections of looted antiquities

2009-06-19T21:11:00.006+01:00

This is a supplement to the previous, more important post, which was an estimate of the total number of looted antiquities collected between 1963 and 1974.

Those numbers may seem inconceivable, but it must be remembered that the large private collections had thousands of artefacts each. As previously mentioned, Karageorghis (1999b: 17) recognised the Pierides Collection, the Hadjiprodromou Collection and the Severis Collection as the most important ones formed through the silent accord and amnesty [during which, private collection of looted antiquities was first encouraged, then legalised].

It has not been possible to determine how many of the Pierides Collection's around 2,500 artefacts were looted antiquities, and how many of those were collected through the silent accord or legalised through the amnesty, because the collection has been built up by generations of the family, over the course of two hundred years.

But Hadjiprodromou (2000: 141) stated that his 2,000 artefacts were all collected during the silent accord (although he may have acquired some legal antiquities at the same time).

And in his catalogue of 257 artefacts in the Severis Collection (Karageorghis, 1999a), Karageorghis stated that the whole collection of more than 2,500 artefacts 'was formed mainly during the.... "silent accord"' (1999b: 17).

Corroborating the expectation that the vast majority of the artefacts collected during the silent accord were looted antiquities, archaeologist Marc Fehlmann (2008) used Gill and Chippindale's (1993) method for assessing Cycladic collections to assess Cypriot collections.

Fehlmann (2008) found that '98.4% of the objects' in Karageorghis's (1999a) catalogue of the Severis Collection had 'no provenance [find-spot] or previous owner at all'. Given the impact of the silent accord upon Cypriot cultural heritage, some might think it ironic that Leto Severis was the founder of the (Cypriot) Friends of Archaeology (Herscher, 1974: 2).

Bibliography

Fehlmann, M. 2008: "Cyprus: Further looting – comment". Looting Matters [weblog], 21st August. Available at: http://lootingmatters.blogspot.com/2008/08/cyprus-further-looting.html?showComment=1219316580000#c1061419035593363467

Gill, D W J and Chippindale, C. 1993: "Material and intellectual consequences of esteem for Cycladic figures". American Journal of Archaeology, Volume 97, Number 4, 601-659.

Hadjiprodromou, C. 2000: "The looting of private collections". In CPCHC (Committee for the Protection of the Cultural Heritage of Cyprus), (Ed.). Cyprus: A civilization plundered, 141-144. Athens: The Hellenic Parliament.

Herscher, E. 1974: Antiquities of Cyprus: The Severis Collection. Nicosia: Zavallis Press Ltd.

Karageorghis, V, (Ed.). 1999a: Ancient Cypriote art in the Severis Collection. Athens: Costakis and Leto Severis Foundation.

Karageorghis, V. 1999b: "The Severis Collection of Cypriote antiquities". In Karageorghis, V, (Ed.). Ancient Cypriote art in the Severis Collection, 17-18. Athens: Costakis and Leto Severis Foundation.

[The brief explanation of the silent accord and amnesty was added on the 22nd of June 2009; but it was already properly explained in the previous post on the estimate.]

Cyprus, 1963-1974: looted antiquities collected - estimate

2009-06-19T21:09:00.012+01:00

Here, I want to try to estimate the total number of looted antiquities collected in Cyprus between 1963 and 1974. It's important to do, first, simply, because it's been neglected until now; but second, because it warns of the dangers of the rhetoric and policy of the Department of Antiquities of the Republic of Cyprus.

Then Director of the Department of Antiquities, Sophocles Hadjisavvas estimated that the 'most serious disaster' for Cypriot cultural heritage was the Turkish invasion and occupation (2001: 135), in which, over the course of 25 years or so, 'more than 60,000 ancient artefacts' had been stolen in 'systematic and to some extent "official" looting, with the "blessing" of the occupation army' (2001: 136).

I believe my low estimate suggests that, in the course of the 10 years of intercommunal conflict, just the registered private antiquities collectors bought somewhere around 58,750 looted artefacts.

If the unregistered private antiquities collections were included, I believe an estimate of the total number of looted antiquities collected during the Troubles could be somewhere around 205,625.

If this is correct, the greatest disaster to strike Cypriot cultural heritage may have been between 1963 and 1974, and it may have been caused by the policies of the Department of Antiquities itself.

I'll briefly summarise the background of the illicit antiquities trade and more fully explain the method of estimating the number of looted antiquities collected, then present my best estimate; but any of the sections can be missed. (This is largely taken from the first draft of my thesis.)

Background of the illicit antiquities trade

In my research, examining the illicit antiquities trade in Cyprus, I have broken it into three main periods - looting between 1869 and 1958, looting between 1958 and 1974, and looting since 1974.

1958 was the first time the intercommunal conflict directly contributed to the illicit antiquities trade, but it was only with the explosion of violence in December 1963 that the conflict and the trade became one problem.

The intercommunal conflict and the antiquities trade changed again (together) in 1974, after the Greek coup and the Turkish invasion and occupation of northern Cyprus; but the structure of the antiquities trade since 1974 was established during the intercommunal conflict between 1963 and 1974.

When the intercommunal conflict exploded in December 1963, it prevented the authorities suppressing the illicit antiquities trade. 25,000 Turkish Cypriots retreated into enclaves, guarded by the paramilitary TMT, and surrounded by Greek Cypriot National Guard or paramilitaries.

The poverty-stricken enclaved Turkish Cypriots made some money by looting antiquities in the enclaves and selling them into the free areas, either to Greek Cypriot or international collectors. Whether TMT passively "taxed" the sale of looted antiquities, or actively smuggled and sold antiquities, it profited from the illicit antiquities trade.

The Greek Cypriot administration claimed that it "rescued" Cypriot cultural heritage by buying the looted antiquities and reaching a "silent accord" with private Greek Cypriot collectors, through which they were allowed to collect looted antiquities (Karageorghis, 1999b: 17); but the silent accord incidentally funded TMT, and actually fuelled and funded increased looting and destruction of Cypriot cultural heritage.

The total number of looted antiquities collected between 1963 and 1974 may be staggering. On top of the established antiquities collectors, who used the amnesty to build their collections with looted antiquities, there were the more than 1,250 greedy people who only registered as private antiquities collectors in order to collect looted antiquities (Hadjisavvas, 2001: 135).

One private antiquities collector who created his (albeit exceptionally large) collection through the silent accord and the amnesty, Christakis Hadjiprodromou (2000: 141), collected more than 2,000 archaeological artefacts - and, as Hadjisavvas (2001: 135) reminded, 'all antiquities acquired [through the amnesty] were illegal' because 'all came from illicit excavations'.

Method of the estimation

Luckily, there is one source of information that enables an estimate of the number of looted antiquities collected between 1963 and 1974: after the Turkish invasion, the Turkish Cypriot administration took private antiquities collections into protective custody.

The Turkish Cypriot administration published a 1975 inventory of private antiquities collections found in the Greek Cypriot Varosha/Maraş suburb of Famagusta town; it listed 5,903 archaeological and ethnological artefacts in 56 collections, 'of which only 15 were registered by the Greek Cypriot Administration' (TRNCMFADSCS and TRNCMNECDAM, 1986: 5).

It is important to be careful with the numbers. (As a basic, preliminary precaution, I will round down any fraction in any calculation to the nearest 0.5.)

Some of the collections, or some of the antiquities in them, would have been acquired before 1963, so not all of the artefacts in the Turkish Cypriot inventory of Varosha collections had been collected under the silent accord or the amnesty. Yet Hadjisavvas (2001: 135) dismissed the number of collections begun before 1963 (across the island) as 'insignificant'.

Those previously collected artefacts that were accidentally included in the inventory would have been more than compensated for by the 'many' artefacts that disappeared from the collections before the making of the inventory, some 'illegally exported abroad', and some taken 'south with the Greek Cypriot refugees' (van der Werff, 1989: 12).

Moreover, I will exclude the 874 inventoried artefacts of Christakis Hadjiprodromou's collection (Cormack, 1989: 30) – which was even larger, but was partly looted – so that the estimate will be a low estimate, based upon only the small collections.

(And the theft of more than half of Hadjiprodromou's collection is indicative of how low the estimate from the small collections' remaining artefacts will be.)

In addition, there were not separate counts of the archaeological and ethnological objects in the collections; but I will work upon the assumption of a half-and-half split between archaeological and ethnological objects, and base my estimate upon half of the total number of objects in the Turkish Cypriot inventory of Varosha collections.

Despite the unscientific nature of the presumption of a 50:50 split, it again lowers the estimate for the number of looted antiquities collected: for example, Hadjiprodromou (2000: 141) counted his archaeological and his ethnological objects separately, and had 2,000 archaeological artefacts, but just 250 ethnological objects, so he had 89 archaeological artefacts for every 11 ethnological objects.(1)

Also, there were not separate counts of the numbers of antiquities in registered collections and in unregistered collections, and the unregistered collections might have artificially increased or decreased the average, depending upon whether the unregistered collections were commercial or hobby; the existence of both types of collection may cancel out each type's influence.

Despite these caveats, there is one basic, good reason to accept the estimates of looted antiquities collected: the registered collections had been established solely to collect as many looted antiquities as possible in the time available.

So, even if all of the unregistered collections had been commercial ones, they would probably not have been able to increase significantly the total average number of artefacts in each collection above the average number of artefacts in each registered collection.

Estimate of the total number of looted antiquities collected between 1963 and 1974

Even if the 874 inventoried artefacts of Christakis Hadjiprodromou's (even larger, but partly looted) collection were excluded from the total of 5,903 artefacts in 56 collections in Varosha (leaving 5,209 in 55), and even if half of the remaining artefacts were excluded as ethnological (leaving 2,604.5 in 55), the average collection would have had about 47 archaeological artefacts in it.(2)

From the Turkish Cypriot inventory, it appears that there were 2.73 unregistered collections for every registered one (so, in calculations of estimates, just 2.5; thus, 3,125 unregistered collections, and a total of 4,375 registered and unregistered collections).

Nevertheless, even if only the 1,250 registered private antiquities collections were used, an estimate for the number of looted antiquities collected between 1963 and 1974 would be about 58,750.

If the unregistered private antiquities collections were included, an estimate of the total number of looted antiquities collected during the Troubles would be 205,625.

These numbers are based on a sample of 55 from a population of 1,250. According to a sample size calculator, even if I only had a sample of 41, there would be a 95% probability of these estimates being true, to within 15%.

So, if I didn't make any mistakes in my method (and rounding down fractions to a number of "whole" artefacts), there's a 95% chance that registered collectors bought between 49,937 and 67,562 looted antiquities; and there's a 95% chance that together, registered and unregistered collectors bought between 174,781 and 236,468 looted antiquities.

I've also written a (far shorter) follow-up post on the large private collections of looted Cypriot antiquities.

So, if all of the 55 small collections' 5,209 artefacts had been Hadjiprodromou's:
- about 4,636 of them would have been archaeological artefacts, rather than my working assumption of about 2,604.5;
- the average number of artefacts per small collector would have been about 84, rather than 47;
- the number of looted antiquities in registered collections would have been about 105,000 (89,250-120,750), rather than 58,750; and
- the total number of looted antiquities in registered and unregistered collections would have been about 367,500 (312,375-422,625), rather than 205,625.
Possibly reassuringly, a Turkish Cypriot inventory of Turkish Cypriot collections registered in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus recorded 64 '[a]ntique [c]ollectors' having 2,423 'artefacts' altogether, or about 38 artefacts each, which is quite similar to the average of the Turkish Cypriot inventory of the Varosha collections (TRNCMFADSCS and TRNCMNECDAM, 1986: 14).

But it is not clear whether they were only archaeological artefacts, or whether they were archaeological and ethnological, in which case the unscientific assumption of a 50:50 split in the collections would give an estimate of just 19 archaeological artefacts each.

Furthermore, that Turkish Cypriot inventory listed its data by district, revealing that, while there had been 15 registered Greek Cypriot antiquities collectors in Varosha suburb of Famagusta town, there were only 12 registered Turkish Cypriot antiquities collectors in all of Famagusta district (TRNCMFADSCS and TRNCMNECDAM, 1986: 14).

This appears to affirm Turkish Cypriots' relative exclusion from the culture of antiquarianism and archaeology, which began with British colonial antiquarianism and archaeology's institutionalisation of Philhellenism.

Bibliography

Cormack, R. 1989: "Appendix II: Report". In Van der Werff, Y, (Ed.). 1989: Information report on the cultural heritage of Cyprus (Doc. 6079), 20-34. Brussels: Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.

Gill, D W J and Chippindale, C. 1993: "Material and intellectual consequences of esteem for Cycladic figures". American Journal of Archaeology, Volume 97, Number 4, 601-659.

Hadjiprodromou, C. 2000: "The looting of private collections". In CPCHC (Committee for the Protection of the Cultural Heritage of Cyprus), (Ed.). Cyprus: A civilization plundered, 141-144. Athens: The Hellenic Parliament.

Hadjisavvas, S. 2001: "The destruction of the archaeological heritage of Cyprus". In Brodie, N J, Doole, J and Renfrew, C, (Eds.). Trade in illicit antiquities: The destruction of the world's archaeological heritage, 133-139. Cambridge: McDonald Institute.

Karageorghis, V, (Ed.). 1999a: Ancient Cypriote art in the Severis Collection. Athens: Costakis and Leto Severis Foundation.

Karageorghis, V. 1999b: "The Severis Collection of Cypriote antiquities". In Karageorghis, V, (Ed.). Ancient Cypriote art in the Severis Collection, 17-18. Athens: Costakis and Leto Severis Foundation.

TRNCMFADSCS and TRNCMNECDAM (Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Defence Social and Cultural Section and Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus Ministry of National Education and Culture Department of Antiquities and Museums). 1986: Cultural heritage of northern Cyprus: Its protection and preservation. Lefkoşa: TRNCPIO (Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus Public Information Office).

Van der Werff, Y. 1989: Information report on the cultural heritage of Cyprus (Doc. 6079). Brussels: Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.

Goshi: abandoned village, destroyed

2009-06-15T08:00:00.001+01:00

During a visit to a church in northern Cyprus, I met a refugee from the abandoned village of Goshi/Koşşi. He told me how 'Goshi was emptied. It was destroyed'(1) in 1974, by 'Makarios's [soldiers]' (2008: Pers. Comm.). Greek Cypriot National Guard laid waste to the place.

Later, I visited and photographed it, before the Greek Cypriot National Guard base near the village called the police. Greek Cypriot police took me away to the local police station, under threat of false charges.

They immediately gave up any pretence of having a just cause for my detention. They questioned me, searched me and my car, searched my research materials, and questioned me again; then they searched my camera, and warned me not to return to Goshi.

Luckily, they didn't recognise some of the photos, dismissing them as 'ancient stuff'(2), and they scanned through some others too quickly for the digital camera's preview screen to display them properly.

It's now used as a farm, but it's a Greek Cypriot refugee family's farm, and they are utterly blameless. The village had already been destroyed when they arrived, and since then, they have used corrugated iron goat pens. Generally, they do not use the ruins of the Turkish Cypriot homes, and when they do, it's because it's unavoidable in the village. The farmers are other victims of the conflict.

Cynics might wonder whether the guilty parties in the conflict wanted to keep the refugee farmers in Goshi, and elsewhere, economically dependent - and economically dependent upon the reuse of the abandoned villages - so that their activities contributed to the decay and disappearance of the destroyed places, the destruction of the evidence of the guilty parties' crimes.

I've finally got round to posting them on a photo blog, Goshi: cultural heritage and community.

'Koşşi boşaltın. Yıkıldı.'
'Τα αρχαία'. I think that's the translation anyway; maybe it's 'ancient places'.

Khochinskiy's competitors? Armenian antiquities smugglers

2009-06-14T06:30:00.001+01:00

I wanted to find out more about Alexander Khochinskiy's antiquities dealing, so I put off work and searched for clues (unsuccessfully). I think there might be some insights into his activities through Misha Glenny's (2009) McMafia; but I'll have to re-read it to rediscover them. Certainly, I believe there are clues to Khochinskiy's operation in the operation of Khochinskiy's competitors, Armenian antiquities smugglers.

Between 1988 and 1991, the ethnic cleansing of the Armenian community in Azerbaijan caused an exodus of the Armenian community from the Soviet Union (Melkonian, 2004).

In his (1993) confessional/(self-)promotional Hot Art, Cold Cash, Dutch art and antiquities dealer and smuggler Michel van Rijn (PDF) explained that he 'had been able to go seriously into the smuggling business: not merely works of art but also men and women who had to get out of the Soviet Union' (1993: 31).

The Armenian mafia had a dual human-and-antiquities trade, and van Rijn worked in it; he compared the human trade to the eighteenth-to-nineteenth-century Underground Railroad, a people smuggling network through which runaway slaves in the South of the United States escaped to freedom in the North, or in Canada.

In fact, it seems antiquities smuggler van Rijn first worked with the Armenian mafia in people trafficking; van Rijn won the Armenian mafia's trust through human trafficking, and thereby won access to 'a whole network of black market dealers who bought from the ordinary Russians' (1993: 33).

Van Rijn revealed that he and the Armenian mafia had 'an unexpected ally' in the antiquities trade: the Soviet Union itself - 'they knew there was a steady stream of goods leaving the country and they could always do with hard currency' (1993: 33). So, the Soviet government established Novo-Export. Was that how Alexander Khochinskiy established Bohemia antiquities gallery?

The Soviet Union's Novo-Export sold worthless antiquities to Western collectors, so van Rijn bought worthless licensed antiquities and valuable illicit antiquities, then exported the illicit antiquities with the legal antiquities' export licences. Was that how Alexander Khochinskiy could guarantee permission to export antiquities?

With this appropriation of state enterprise, '[their] "underground railway" was active, running refugees as well as relics out of the Soviet Union' (1993: 40). And when Novo-Export opened a department store in Amsterdam, it employed van Rijn and his colleague, religious art collector Robert Roozemond, to run it. Van Rijn and Roozemond subverted Novo-Export's business, and used it as both a cover and a platform for 'selling black-market icons smuggled out of the USSR [in] a department store owned by the Soviet government' (1993: 42).

Glenny, M. 2009: McMafia: Seriously organised crime. London: Vintage.

Melkonian, E. 2004: "The Armenian Diaspora (Spyurk)". The Embassy of the Republic of Armenia in Washington, D.C., 5th May. Available at: http://www.armeniaemb.org/DiscoverArmenia/Diaspora/HistoryofDiaspora.htm

Van Rijn, M. 1993: Hot art, cold cash. London: Little, Brown and Company. Available at: http://web.archive.org/web/20050306012116/http://www.michelvanrijn.nl/artnews/mvrhotartcoldcash.pdf

Stolen Cypriot icons in Russian collection in Switzerland

2009-06-12T06:00:00.003+01:00

A friend sent me a link to an article in the Cypriot Financial Mirror. It reported that Swiss police confiscated stolen icons of Christ and the Virgin Mary.(1) The seventeenth-century icons were from the fourteenth-century Chapel of Agios Iakovos(2) in Trikomo/İskele.

According to the Cyprus Weekly, the icons have been 'missing since the Turkish invasion of 1974'. They were confiscated from Russian collector Alexander Khochinskiy's apartment in Zurich.(3) (Similar reports are available in Greek in Phileleftheros, and in Turkish in Kıbrıs.)

As is clear on the Russian audit/estimate/appraisal website Appraiser.ru, Alexander Yakovlevich Khochinskiy (Александр Яковлевич Хочинский) runs an antique gallery in Russia, Bohemia (Богема). (I couldn't see Khochinskiy's name on the Bohemia website itself.) And Bohemia has been running for 37 years - that is, since 1972; so, apparently it even operated under Soviet rule.

'[P]robably the largest private gallery in Moscow' (4), Bohemia explains that

The main sources for exhibitions are the purchases of art objects from private individuals, including those from the heirs of famous people and collectors. We pay more than others!... We guarantee full verification of the authenticity and the lowest prices. All items [antiques] purchased by us for you can be guaranteed permission to export from the Russian Federation.(5)

Were the icons family heirlooms? Were the icons the property of a Swiss gentleman (or a Russian one)?

Particularly given the antique gallery's apparent operation during Soviet rule, some might think that Khochinskiy had the backing of the Russian state. When he was asked whether he had purchased letters between Voltaire and Catherine the Second for the Russian state (in 2006), he made 'no comment [Без комментариев]'.

The article relayed that the Office of Monuments and Art of the Church of Cyprus noted that 'the illegal Turkish Cypriot regime [was] using the chapel as a tourist office'. I don't know whether the Church was simply trying to complain about Turkish Cypriot reuse of Greek Cypriot religious buildings, or whether it was trying to imply the Turkish Cypriot administration's complicity, negligence or incompetence.
Also known as: Αγιος Ιακοβος; Agios Iacovos; Ayios Iacovos; Ayios Iakovos; Saint James; St. James.
I haven't been able to find much information about Alexander Khochinskiy online: apart from offers and requests on antique websites, about the only thing I've found was an article about Sloan's auction house's bankruptcy,in which Khochinskiy was a victim. Khochinskiy paid for items before Sloan's filed for bankruptcy, then the consignor withdrew the items after Sloan's filing, but Khochinskiy didn't get his money back.
является, пожалуй, самой большой частной галереей города Москвы
Основным источником пополнения экспозиции является покупка предметов искусства у частных лиц, в том числе у наследников знаменитых людей и коллекционеров. Мы платим больше других!... Гарантируем полнейшую проверку на подлинность и самые низкие цены. Все приобретенные нами для Вас предметы могут быть обеспечены разрешениями на вывоз из РФ.

Bulgarian Multiart, Kintex: illicit antiquities, arms trade

2009-06-09T12:30:00.000+01:00

I'm reading Misha Glenny's fascinating, fantastically-written book, McMafia: seriously organised crime, at the moment. One tiny but, here, key detail was the operation of Bulgarian illicit antiquities smuggling business Multiart, and its connection to arms trade company Kintex.

There isn't much information about Ilya Pavlov's Multiart online. Tom Flynn seems to be about the only other person who's mentioned Ilya Pavlov and Multiart, and he did it as an aside. (Didier Cardon has translated Glenny's note into French (or copied it out from a French edition).) Like Flynn, I was disappointed that Glenny said so little about the illicit antiquities trade; but it was probably right for Glenny to concentrate on the others.

Glenny stated that '[t]he most important and lucrative trade of the Bulgarian secret service [DS] was smuggling - in drugs, in arms and in high tech'. (Obviously, I was pleased to read that a leading Bulgarian political scientist, Ivan Krastev, told Glenny that '[s]muggling is our cultural heritage'.)

Glenny (2009: 16) told how, armed with totalitarian state power, Communist Bulgarian intelligence (DS) appropriated the 'romantic tradition' of activity against the state (authorities or empires). The DS's monopoly-holding arms export company, Kintex, targeted conflict zones as markets.

At the end of the 1970s, the DS expanded Kintex by setting up the 'Covert Transit' Directorate. Its primary role was to smuggle weapons to African insurgent groups, but soon the channels were also being used for illegal people-trafficking, for drugs and even for the smuggling of works of art and antiquities.
.... In the other direction, some 80 per cent of heroin destined for the Western European market would cross into Bulgaria from Turkey... into the hands of the DS.

Bulgarian Military Counter-Intelligence ran the smuggling, General Petur Chergelanov ran military counter-intelligence, and Chergelanov's son-in-law was entrepreneur Ilya Pavlov.

Glenny (2009: 18) went on to explain:

In 1988, a year before the collapse of communism, Ilya Pavlov himself registered Multiart, a company dedicated to the import and export of antiques and high art (using the secret channels established by the DS for selling arms through Kintex's Covert Transit Directorate). Business flourished...

He also affirmed nationalist Balkan gangs' and paramilitaries' cooperation across ethnic boundaries. And there are continuing revelations about interconnections between the Turkish Deep State and Turkish nationalist paramilitaries, and the Kurdish nationalist paramilitary PKK.

These may undermine my attempts to find out the illicit antiquities trade's role in conflict(s) by planning antiquities smugglers' alliances and their smuggling routes (because at least some factions within all groups appear to cooperate with all other, even "enemy", groups). But confused and confusing horror is better than confident but inaccurate horror.

I'll keep digging.

Glenny, M. 2009: McMafia: Seriously organised crime. London: Vintage.

Not plagiarism 'per se'

2009-05-29T21:30:00.003+01:00

As I mentioned before, my (2008) work and others' works were plagiarised at an international conference. I have now been reassured that it was not plagiarism 'per se'. [Someone else at UNICRI has now accepted that 'all what you claimed is true'.]

In 2008, the Director of the United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute (UNICRI) presented a paper on frequency and figures..., at the United Nations' International Scientific and Professional Advisory Council's (ISPAC's) International Conference on Organised Crime in Art and Antiquities.

But the paper was nearly all other people's work, nearly all copied and pasted in paragraphs or even pages; nearly the only new words were the ones used to connect the copied and pasted paragraphs together. And none of the original authors were cited. (One was "cited" by job title, and another by article title, but otherwise, nothing.)

Someone at UNICRI reassured me:

I have checked with the colleague who prepared the speech... and who unfortunately is no longer with UNICRI. I would like to reassure you that there was no intention of plagiarism whatsoever on our part.
[The] speech was meant to be a broad presentation accompanied by power point slides, and not an article or a scholar essay with references: being such a document just an outline for a speech it cannot per se be claimed a plagiary.

I agree. It is very unfortunate, very inconvenient, that the anonymous colleague UNICRI is blaming just so happened to leave UNICRI in precisely the months between when the speech was presented at the conference and when the copying and pasting was discovered.

It is difficult to imagine who could have 'no intention of plagiarism whatsoever' when copying and pasting (maybe more than) 90% of their "work" from other people's (and it is certainly uncomfortable to imagine what a person would be like if he or she genuinely could not understand that was plagiarism). But it is noticeable that something written with 'no intention of plagiarism whatsoever' quickly became something that couldn't be claimed as plagiarism 'per se'.

As for the logic that the speech could not be claimed as plagiarism 'per se' because it 'was meant to be a broad presentation', indeed that it was meant not to be 'a scholar[ly] essay with references', plagiarism is not only committed by 'scholar[s]', or by people writing 'essay[s] with references'.

As examples: an American newspaper journalist's stories were plagiarised; a Canadian prime minister's parliamentary speech was plagiarised (and a staffer was 'scapegoat[ed]' for it); and an American politician's dinner speech was plagiarised.

It seems disingenuous to dismiss the published speech as 'just an outline', when the "outline" was a complete speech, as long or longer than an average conference paper. It seems insultingly lazily disingenuous to dismiss the published speech as 'just an outline' when the "colleague" went to the effort of editing the opening and closing sentences of some of the plagiarised passages, or writing complete new sentences to join one cut and shut piece with another, so that it read fluidly, precisely as a complete speech.

Hardy, S A. 2008: "Illicit antiquities trade: Source, transit, market, mafia". Human rights archaeology: Cultural heritage and community [weblog], 20th May. Available at: http://human-rights-archaeology.blogspot.com/2008/05/illicit-antiquities-trade-source.html

UNICRI. 2008: "Frequency and figures of organised crime in art and antiquities". Paper presented at the ISPAC International Conference on Organised Crime in Art and Antiquities, Courmayeur Mont Blanc, Italy, 12th-14th December. Available at: http://www.sandrocalvani.com/docs/20081221_Speeches_081212.pdf

[I edited this post on 3rd July 2009, after I got more information.]

Rizokarpaso/Dipkarpaz: cultural heritage and community

2009-05-23T22:10:00.001+01:00

I've just posted photos of destroyed Greek Cypriot homes on Rizokarpaso: cultural heritage and community.

The ruins were not propaganda. UNFICYP 'confirmed... and protested' against the demolition (UNSG, 2007: 6 – Para. 28), and the New Cyprus Party defined it as a 'destruction policy' (Kanatlı, 2007). I cannot explain better than Turkish Cypriot Afrika journalist Murat Kanatlı (2007):

If the Maronites and Greek Cypriots did not return to their homes after a certain period (this was 6 months) their houses would be taken over. This is a big violation of human rights and this procedure is still continuing....

Under the pretext of renovation and cleaning up in the village, with the help of the military, some Greek Cypriot houses which have historical and cultural value are being destroyed or damaged severely. Permission was not given to 8 families who wanted to return....

[T]he aim is for Greek Cypriots from Rizokarpaso to be chased away from Rizokarpaso completely and their marks to be wiped out completely.

Recording Greek Cypriot 'marks', and the attempt to destroy them and the memory of them, is all I can do to help to preserve Cypriot memory and community.

Kanatlı, M. 2007: "YKP: 'We are worried about developments in Rizokarpaso (Dipkarpaz)'". Yeni Kıbrıs Partisi, 20th May. Available at: http://www.ykp.org.cy/index_eng.php?subaction=showfull&id=1179675986&archive=&start_from=&ucat=6&

UNSG (United Nations Secretary-General). 2007: Report of the Secretary-General on the peacekeeping operation in Cyprus [S/2007/328, 4th June 2007]. New York: United Nations Security Council. Available at: http://www.securitycouncilreport.org/atf/cf/%7B65BFCF9B-6D27-4E9C-8CD3-CF6E4FF96FF9%7D/Cyprus%20S2007%20328.pdf

[This note was also posted over on samarkeolog.]

Illicit antiquities TinEye mash-up

2009-05-22T14:20:00.001+01:00

Bizarrely, my USB modem's content control bans me from opening TinEye, so I'll flesh out the idea when I find some wifi to borrow, but I think a mash-up between illicit antiquities databases and TinEye could help counter online illicit antiquities trading.

According to TinEye's Google strapline, 'TinEye is a [free] reverse image search engine built by Idée currently in beta. Give it an image and it will tell you where the image appears on the web.' (Idée also have a commercial automated image monitoring service, PixID.) TinEye's Wikipedia page explains:

A image which a user uploads to the Web application search engine or provides a URL with an image will be looked up for other usage in the internet including their time of appearance and including modified images based upon that image. Idée Inc. says that "TinEye does for images what Google does for text".

I'm not sure if it would work or not, as different images of the same object might be too different for it to recognise, but someone more techy might be able to make this work...

Goosed by UNICRI

2009-05-18T06:00:00.010+01:00

If to steal a book is an elegant offense, and imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then I have just been goosed in public by UNICRI.

Looking for estimates of the value of the global illicit antiquities market, I found a paper presented by the Director of the United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute (UNICRI), in Turin, Italy. The Director presented a UNICRI paper on frequency and figures... (also published on the director's website), at a UN-run, international conference on organised crime in art and antiquities(1). Then I found out that the junior speech writer had plagiarised work I had published in a post on this research blog.

I thought it was a strange quirk of grammar or style when the speech writer (2008: 1) noted that,

Quoting the Director of the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research: "The single largest source of destruction of the archaeological heritage today is through looting - the illicit, unrecorded and unpublished excavation to provide antiquities for commercial profit",

without giving the full citation for Colin Renfrew's observation.

When I checked, however, I realised that she was not quoting Renfrew's oft-quoted book:

The most significant cause of destruction of the archaeological heritage today is looting: the illicit, unrecorded and unpublished excavation of ancient sites to provide antiquities for commercial profit (Renfrew, 2000: 15).

She was copying and pasting, probably from either Saving Antiquities For Everyone (SAFE) or the BBC (but definitely not from the University of Cambridge's press release, because that contained a typo ('the most single source...')). Still, at least that was a limited quotation, presented as such, and the speech writer cited his/her source (albeit poorly); that would have been perfectly fine as a verbal citation in a speech (where allowances must be made for smooth, engaging speaking).

Unfortunately, there was worse to come. I knew some of the speech writer's (2008: 2) lines were eerily familiar, but I couldn't quite place them when I read them.

During the past several decades, however, the illegal market in art and antiquities has become transnational in organization. There are a number of major transnational markets in illegal goods, including drugs, weapons, sex slaves, illegal immigrants, precious gems, and automobiles.... For example, according to the U.S. Customs Service, the dollar value of time crime theft is exceeded only by drug sales; Scotland Yard in London estimated art theft around the world at £3 billion in the early 1990s; the Federal Bureau of Investigation which calculated the size of the illegal art market (including both art and antiquities) at about $5 billion in the 1990s, currently gauges the art theft market at about $6 billion.

They had been hiding in the light. When I checked, I confirmed that those words were copied and pasted from David Lane et al's (2008: 243-244) article on the transnational organization of art and antiquities theft, which I had been reading shortly before I found the UNICRI speech and, indeed, still had open in Adobe Acrobat. We might judge the speech writer lazy for copying and pasting that much material from other people's work, but we should acknowledge the effort she made to delete Lane et al's own citations from the passage. There was no hint that these were not her own findings, in her own words.

Yet it was only when I read her (2008: 9-10) exploration of the links between the illicit antiquities trade and terrorism that I was certain that something was very much amiss (and went back and checked the passages cited above):

In some places, however, at the higher levels, the illicit antiquities trade funds war, oppression and terrorism directly, through its own profits, and indirectly, through its facilitation of drug smuggling and its laundering of money from drug smuggling, gun running and people trafficking. Looting and smuggling are run by paramilitaries, militias and extremists, allied with elements within states' bureaucracy and military, and it will not be stopped by rescuing the looters from poverty, because the paramilitaries' and extremist groups' illicit activities require illicit funding. They cannot practically or morally be provided with an economic alternative and they will continue to supply the antiquities market as long as there is a demand....

U.S. investigator Colonel Matthew Bogdanos had already explained that 'as we pursue leads specific to the trail of terrorists, we find antiquities', but recently reiterated that the Iraqi illicit antiquities trade funded extremists, that 'the link between extremist groups and antiquities smuggling in Iraq was "undeniable"': "The Taliban are using opium to finance their activities in Afghanistan.... Well, they don't have opium in Iraq," he said. "What they have is an almost limitless supply of... antiquities. And so they're using antiquities." Antiquities smuggling is necessarily a secretive business, all the more so at the higher levels, where the smugglers are paramilitaries, militias and extremists, so finding out who is smuggling what, where and how is obviously very difficult. The antiquities trade, however, is tied to the drugs trade, so if we can identify the drug traffickers and follow them, we can identify the antiquities' routes and the antiquities trade's contribution to war, oppression and terrorism.

The primary transit-and-market countries 'laundering' illicit antiquities and receiving the stolen goods, thus ultimately funding the entire process are the United States of America, the United Kingdom and Switzerland; moreover, because they provide tax deductions for donations of private objects to state collections, the states themselves subsidise and underwrite the market with public money.

It was copied and pasted from my blog post on the illicit antiquities trade: source, transit, market, mafia.

As for the paragraph I cut out in the middle, the speech writer had copied and pasted that from an article I had cited elsewhere in my post. I would say that it had been cited (albeit very poorly, by title alone), but for the fact that she cut off the end of the sentence that revealed the source of the quote, '[blah blah blah], experts have told GSN [Government Security News]' (de la Torre, 2006: 1; 10).

Googling various passages, it is apparent she also copied from Alex Barker, Blythe Bowman (repeatedly), the Illicit Antiquities Research Centre (IARC) (repeatedly), INTERPOL, Lisa Jardine, SAFE, UNESCO (repeatedly). In fact, "her" paper (more than 4,300 words long, perhaps taking half-an-hour to read to an audience) was effectively entirely other people's work, her words only joining together other people's paragraphs and pages.

What can I say? I'm honoured to have my work so highly valued by such a distinguished authority? At least, I am honoured to be in such distinguished (if numerous) company.

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has a Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Programme (CCPCJP), which has an International Scientific and Professional Advisory Council (ISPAC), based in Milan, Italy.

De la Torre, L. 2006: "Terrorists raise cash selling antiquities". Government Security News, Volume 4, Number 3, 1; 10; 15. Available at: http://www.savingantiquities.org/pdf/GSNarticle.pdf

Hardy, S A. 2008: "Illicit antiquities trade: Source, transit, market, mafia". Human rights archaeology: Cultural heritage and community [weblog], 20th May. Available at: http://human-rights-archaeology.blogspot.com/2008/05/illicit-antiquities-trade-source.html

Lane, D C, Bromley, D G, Hicks, R D, Mahoney, R S. 2008: "Time crime: The transnational organization of art and antiquities theft". Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice, Volume 24, Number 3, 243-262.

Renfrew, C. 2000: Loot, legitimacy and ownership: The ethical crisis in archaeology. London: Gerald Duckworth and Co. Ltd.

UNICRI. 2008: "Frequency and figures of organised crime in art and antiquities". Paper presented at the ISPAC International Conference on Organised Crime in Art and Antiquities, Courmayeur Mont Blanc, Italy, 12th-14th December. Available at: http://www.sandrocalvani.com/docs/20081221_Speeches_081212.pdf

[This post replaced another (on the 3rd of July 2009), after I got more information.]

Nationalist, commercial, spyware or virus spam?

2009-05-11T05:15:00.002+01:00

I really don't know what this rubbish was. Was it nationalist spam, commercial spam, spyware spam or virus spam? (By commercial, spyware or virus spam, I mean, spam that tricks someone into visiting a site, where it advertises something commercial, or installs spyware or a virus.)

I can't be bothered to read it, and I recommend you not to either. "Jill Starr" may have simply republished other people's true work (which I really can't be bothered to find out); but "her" profile, the blogs, and the differences between the blog titles and the blog addresses show "she"'s a spammer. I initially included her spam text, but now I've cut it out; if you're a masochist, you can always see screen capture image 1 below.

Still, screen capture image 2 could not have shown the problems with the hyperlinks (into which, peculiarly, the spammer had already inserted rel nofollow code). So, here is commentator "Jill Starr"'s blogger profile:

My Blogs
Team Members
http://usarendit...

Jill Starr Testifies She Felt Many Times More Safe

US tried to assassinate me': Karadzic to UN court

Indian National Project: Successes and Failures (1

JIll Starr Why She Felt So Safe on a Tivat Ferry

My Daughter Finally Contacted Me: I Thank Instablo

In What Manner Liberalism in Both Germany and Fran

Peace-Reconcilia...

Former United States CIA Assassins Confess To Jill

Visit the Law Projects Center New York Offices

War Crimes Investigator Confirmed ARound Time of M

JIll Starr Confesses Her Cousin "Gay Rosenblum Kum

erbia & Montenegro on Anti- Counterfieting Lws &

Jill Starr Confesses Her Dreams Of Living Here Whe

Bloomingdale New Jersey Police Officer's Come in m

#What It’s Like to Chill with Most Ruthless Men

Some argue that multilateralism in trade and free

Intelligence Office Sources Confirm Mladic Life in

Repairing the International Economy Is Not Only

Bloomingdale NJ Police Fail To Take Assassination

Hague's Highest Court & Its Confusing Verdicts

On the NASA Mission: TDRS-2; SPARTAN-203 Satellite

What It’s Like to Chill with the Most Ruthless Men

Read Bill Clinton's Dodging the VIetnam Draft Lett

The Original Information on KAL Flight 007 1983

Professor Addie Pollis at New School in Manhattan'

Jill Starr Urges Greater Diplomacy Between Mexico

New Evidence Pops Up In Karadzic Case

President Obama and the Geneva Convention (1949)

Diplomatic Diversity (My Personal Experiences)

First United States Citizen to File Genocide Case

Bloomningdale New Jersey Police Department Condone

UN NGO In NYC Confirms United States Used Psychait

UN NGO In NYC Confirms United States Used Psychait

Poetry By Radovan Karadzic irv in California

Military History Agha H Amin

Impediments to Peace: United States Political & Mo

Engaging In International Diplomacy With Moderate Al Qaeda Members; Let's Do It !

Jill Starr on Warning Local Passaic County Reside

French Goverenment Threatens Democratically Electe

The Mystery of Russian Downed KAL Flight 007 (1983

Jill Starr Testifies Senator John Mc Cain Ignores

ALl About War Crimes Around Kosovo (?) Any?

New School for Social Research Landmark Disability

Kridel Lawfirm (Clifton, New Jersey) Bribes Andre

Interviews Agha H Amin

Buy Books From My Half.Com Bookstore - Click on Th

Information on 9/11 & Professor Danko in NJ

Mysterious Spooks/ Spirits From My Past Scare Me A

More Psychiatrist Letters To The New School

Robert Latham at New School Allowed Ethnic Albania

United States Citizen To File Genocide Complaint

Law Projects Center Emergency Global Alerts

Discovery Channel Iraqi Spiders Paterson NJ

Understanding Each Other, Diversity and Dissent Andrea
rasphila
CR Meyer

Aisha Sarwari and Yasser Hamdani
Jim Rafferty
Manik
James
Brigadier (retired) Samson Simon Sharaf
ErwinF

Robert Maier
exMI
Wil
ENNYMAN
MASOOD SHARIF KHAN KHATTAK
classical one

Johann and Michele Hamman
ahmedmadani
GLENN
vania
Agha H Amin

28 more

Middle Ground On Gay Marriage

COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS: WHEREBY MLADIC & KARADZIC TR

New School Professor Louise Tilly Fails Russian

On School Vouchers, Charter Schools and/or Public

President Obama and the Geneva Convention (1949) L

Columbia University Press CIAO Criminal Complicity

Repairing the International Economy

Bill Clinton’s Rape & Penetration Theory as a Pres

Cocaine, Pot, Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide...Al

lout With Karadzic & Mladic On My Summer Vacation

US Intelligence Office in New York Area Confirms H

I Eye Wintessed Harry Shortway Forced Minor Child

How I found Bones Buried in My Backyard & Blooming

PEN (CZ) Magazine vs. Karadzic Poetry Case

Columbia University Press CIAO Publishes & Profits

Disability Discrimination Under Hillary CLinton's

I, Jill Starr, Am A Witness in Karadzic trial

Evidence United States Tortured Its Own Citizen

The Importance of Understanding Mr. Charles Taylor

Jill Starr Confesses Her Dreams Of Living Here

Racial Profiling & Physical Police Abuse Dominican

View Photos of the Jugoslavia Air Travel Magazine

My Blogs	Team Members
http://usarendit...
Jill Starr Testifies She Felt Many Times More Safe
US tried to assassinate me': Karadzic to UN court
Indian National Project: Successes and Failures (1
JIll Starr Why She Felt So Safe on a Tivat Ferry
My Daughter Finally Contacted Me: I Thank Instablo
In What Manner Liberalism in Both Germany and Fran
Peace-Reconcilia...
Former United States CIA Assassins Confess To Jill
Visit the Law Projects Center New York Offices
War Crimes Investigator Confirmed ARound Time of M
JIll Starr Confesses Her Cousin "Gay Rosenblum Kum
erbia & Montenegro on Anti- Counterfieting Lws &
Jill Starr Confesses Her Dreams Of Living Here Whe
Bloomingdale New Jersey Police Officer's Come in m
#What It’s Like to Chill with Most Ruthless Men
Some argue that multilateralism in trade and free
Intelligence Office Sources Confirm Mladic Life in
Repairing the International Economy Is Not Only
Bloomingdale NJ Police Fail To Take Assassination
Hague's Highest Court & Its Confusing Verdicts
On the NASA Mission: TDRS-2; SPARTAN-203 Satellite
What It’s Like to Chill with the Most Ruthless Men
Read Bill Clinton's Dodging the VIetnam Draft Lett
The Original Information on KAL Flight 007 1983
Professor Addie Pollis at New School in Manhattan'
Jill Starr Urges Greater Diplomacy Between Mexico
New Evidence Pops Up In Karadzic Case
President Obama and the Geneva Convention (1949)
Diplomatic Diversity (My Personal Experiences)
First United States Citizen to File Genocide Case
Bloomningdale New Jersey Police Department Condone
UN NGO In NYC Confirms United States Used Psychait
UN NGO In NYC Confirms United States Used Psychait
Poetry By Radovan Karadzic	irv in California
Military History	Agha H Amin
Impediments to Peace: United States Political & Mo
Engaging In International Diplomacy With Moderate Al Qaeda Members; Let's Do It !
Jill Starr on Warning Local Passaic County Reside
French Goverenment Threatens Democratically Electe
The Mystery of Russian Downed KAL Flight 007 (1983
Jill Starr Testifies Senator John Mc Cain Ignores
ALl About War Crimes Around Kosovo (?) Any?
New School for Social Research Landmark Disability
Kridel Lawfirm (Clifton, New Jersey) Bribes Andre
Interviews	Agha H Amin
Buy Books From My Half.Com Bookstore - Click on Th
Information on 9/11 & Professor Danko in NJ
Mysterious Spooks/ Spirits From My Past Scare Me A
More Psychiatrist Letters To The New School
Robert Latham at New School Allowed Ethnic Albania
United States Citizen To File Genocide Complaint
Law Projects Center Emergency Global Alerts
Discovery Channel Iraqi Spiders Paterson NJ
Understanding Each Other, Diversity and Dissent	Andrea rasphila CR Meyer Aisha Sarwari and Yasser Hamdani Jim Rafferty Manik James Brigadier (retired) Samson Simon Sharaf ErwinF Robert Maier exMI Wil ENNYMAN MASOOD SHARIF KHAN KHATTAK classical one Johann and Michele Hamman ahmedmadani GLENN vania Agha H Amin 28 more
Middle Ground On Gay Marriage
COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS: WHEREBY MLADIC & KARADZIC TR
New School Professor Louise Tilly Fails Russian
On School Vouchers, Charter Schools and/or Public
President Obama and the Geneva Convention (1949) L
Columbia University Press CIAO Criminal Complicity
Repairing the International Economy
Bill Clinton’s Rape & Penetration Theory as a Pres
Cocaine, Pot, Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide...Al
lout With Karadzic & Mladic On My Summer Vacation
US Intelligence Office in New York Area Confirms H
I Eye Wintessed Harry Shortway Forced Minor Child
How I found Bones Buried in My Backyard & Blooming
PEN (CZ) Magazine vs. Karadzic Poetry Case
Columbia University Press CIAO Publishes & Profits
Disability Discrimination Under Hillary CLinton's
I, Jill Starr, Am A Witness in Karadzic trial
Evidence United States Tortured Its Own Citizen
The Importance of Understanding Mr. Charles Taylor
Jill Starr Confesses Her Dreams Of Living Here
Racial Profiling & Physical Police Abuse Dominican
View Photos of the Jugoslavia Air Travel Magazine

(The profile can also be seen in screen capture image 2 below.)

Cyprus-Conflict sites: balanced website dead, propaganda site live

2009-05-06T06:00:00.000+01:00

There used to be a website at the address http://www.cyprus-conflict.net, which the Guardian regarded as '[t]he best of its kind on the Web.... exhaustive and balanced'. It presented reliable academic and journalistic accounts of the modern history and politics of Cyprus; it had opinion pieces too, but there were warnings of their possible biases and they were paired with sources with opposite possible biases. Thankfully, at least some of the corpse of the balanced website is still twitching at the Internet Archive's copy of http://www.cyprus-conflict.net.

But now, there is the Greek Cypriot propaganda site Cyprus-Dispute.org, (also) live at a very similar address, http://cyprus-conflict.org/, where it can only exist to attract and exploit traffic to the dead balanced website. Cyprus-Conflict.net was last updated on 30th September 2007, and last accessible around 12th January 2008. Cyprus-Dispute.org was registered on 18th January 2008 (though it's not clear when it acquired the cyprus-conflict.org domain).

It is clever and cunning, publishing only genuine documents and impartial judgements, but carefully selecting which documents and which judgements to publish. So, it published the Kutchuk/Denktash Plan but not the Makarios Plan; it published the European Commission of Human Rights' report on the Turkish invasion of Cyprus, but not the United Nations' resolutions on the Greek coup in Cyprus. It may be more intelligent and less extreme than some other material, but it is still propaganda.

(On 22nd December 2007) the contents of Cyprus-Conflict.net had been:

The Main Narratives

Cyprus, by Keith Kyle (pages 1-5) and
by William Hale (page 6)

Historical Background

Turkey & Greece: A History of Colliding by Robert Stephens

The Example of Crete

Treaty of Lausanne, 1924

Turkey: Early Years of the Republic

The Greek Cypriot Debate on Enosis, 1929, by G.S. Georghallides

Turkish Cypriot Reaction to the Campaign for Enosis, 1930s

Analyses, Narratives, Polemics, Documents

The Colonial Period

Toward Violence, 1953, by Ioannis Stefanidis

Kuçuk on Turkish Cypriot Demands, 1954

The Feast of Unreason, by Lawrence Durrell

Menderes' Speech, 1955

Menderes' Fate

Zorlu in London, 1955

Outbreak of Violence, 1955, by Nancy Crawshaw

London Conference, 1955, by Robert Holland

Istanbul Riots, 1955, by Robert Holland

Reaction to the 1955 London Conference by Nancy Crawshaw

MacMillan Plan, 1957, by Robert Stephens

Renewal of EOKA Violence, 1957-58, Nancy Crawshaw

Guerrilla Warfare in Cyprus, by George Grivas

Communal Strife, 1958, by Nancy Crawshaw

Treaties of 1959

Analysis of the Treaties, U.S. State Department

The Municipalities Issue, 1957-63, by Diana Markides

The Rise and Fall of a Unified Republic

Clerides-Denktash Letters, 1962

The Thirteen Points, 1963

Inter-Communal Violence, 1963-64, by Richard Patrick

Akritas Plan

George Ball in Cyprus, 1964, by George Ball

Subversion of a Mission, 1964, by Martin Packard

The U.N. & a Divided Island, 1964, by Michael Moran

The Disloyal Opposition and the Fall of the Republic, by Kyriacos Markides

Coup in Athens, 1967, by Richard Clogg

Acheson Plan

A U.S. newspaper regards its failure

Galo Plaza Report

Turkish Politics in the 1970s, U.S. Library of Congress

Clerides-Denktash Letters, 1971, and Makarios' instructions

Makarios' Letter to Greek Junta, 1974

The Coup d'Etat of 1974, by Peter Loizos

30 Hot Days, by Mehmet Ali Birand

London and Geneva, July-August 1974, by James Callaghan

Negotiating Positions at Geneva, 1974

Greek Cypriot v. Turkish Cypriot Renditions of the Events of 1974

War, 1974, by Peter Loizos

Turkish-Cypriot Narratives, 1974

Consequences of the 1974 Invasion, U.S. Senate

Interview with Makarios, 1974

Economic Consequences of 1974, by Keith Kyle

U.S. Role in 1974 - a comment

After the Deluge: Turkish Cypriot Views, 1976, by Latife Birgen

The Negotiating Positions, 1976

Makarios-Denktash Talks, 1977

Aftermath of the Intervention, 1974-77, by Vamik Volkan

After Makarios

Military Coup in Turkey, 1980, by John Tirman

Party Politics, North & South, by Keith Kyle

One Diplomat's Frustration, by Giandomenico Picco

International Peacemaking in Cyprus, 1980-1986, by Farid Mirbagheri

The Draft Framework Agreement, 1986

Turkish Settlers in Northern Cyprus, 1991

The Second "Set of Ideas" -- 1994

The Case for Confederation, by Peter Pernthaler

Denktash Looks Back, 1999

Clerides on Cyprus at the end of the century, 2000

European Court Ruling against Turkey, 2001

The E.U. Ascension: Official Views and Comment, 2001

The Annan Plan and its Fate:
The Annan Plan,* 2002-03
Alvaro DeSoto on the Annan Plan, May 2003 (pdf file)*
The Green Line is Opened, 2003
Cyprus President Urges "No"
An Ironic Result in Cyprus, by Rebecca Bryant
The People Deliver Their Verdict*, by Ann-Sofi Jakobsson Hatay
Rejecting its Way into a Turkish Cyprus, by John Tirman
World press reactions *

A Long Journey Into Night: The Cyprus Republic’s Pursuit Of A ‘European’ Solution To The Cyprus Problem, 2005 by Zenon Stavrinides

A Dangerous Trend in Cyprus,* 2005 Rebecca Bryant

Turkey's Candidacy and the Dispute over Cyprus 2006
EU Document (Nov 8, 2006)
Press release from EU (Nov. 29, 2006)*
Pressure on Turkey's EU bid over Cyprus, news reports, 2006

Historiography & Nationalism

Introduction

Conflict Between the States of Cyprus, 1963-1974, Zenon Stavrinides

The Church's Message, in the Jubilee Year 2000, Deconstructed

Turkish Nationalism, Then and Now, by Dogu Ergil

Greek Irredentism in Asia Minor and Cyprus, by Paschalis Kitromilides

Greek-Cypriot Nationalism and Cypriotism 1974-1995, by Caesar Mavratsas

The Politics of Memory and Forgetting, by Yiannis Papadakis

Nationalist Imaginings of War in Cyprus, by Yiannis Papadakis

Communal Memory and Turkish Cypriot National History, by Nergis Canefe

On Nationalism: Isaiah Berlin, George Orwell, and Others

Psychohistory and Cyprus, by John Mack

Chronology

Conflict Resolution

An Assessment "Working Toward a Just Peace," by John Tirman

The Genesis of Bicommunalism, by Benjamin Broome

The Bicommunal Experience, by Canan Oztoprak

Evaluation of Conflict Resolution Training, by Marion Peters Angelica

Across the Green Line: Problems of "Recognition", by Costas Constantinou
and Yiannis Papadakis

Dynamics of Partition, Philippos Savvides

Conflict Resolution Resources & Reading

(See screen capture image 1 below.)

(On 30th April 2009) the contents of Cyprus-Conflict.org were only:

The Turkish Invasion of 1974

European Commission of Human Rights - Cyprus v. Turkey - Commission Report (10 July 1976)

The Sunday Times on the 1976 European Commission of Human Rights Report on the Turkish Invasion of Cyprus (23rd January 1977)

From Independence to the Turkish Invasion

Report of the United Nations Mediator Galo Plaza to the Secretary-General (1965)

Letter to Prime Minister Inonu from President Johnson (5 June 1964)

Turkish Cypriot Separatism and Partitionism

The "Plumer Letter" (October-November 1960)

The "Kutchuk/Denktash Plan" (14 September 1963)

From the EOKA Revolt to Independence

EOKA's Preparatory General Plan (1953)

EOKA's First Revolutionary Leaflet Distributed (1 April 1955)

The Constitutional Proposals for Cyprus submitted by Lord Radcliffe (December 1956)

The McMillan Plan and the Response of the Kingdom of Greece (1958)

EOKA leaflet ordering a cease-fire (9 March 1959)

Letter sent by General Grivas to the EOKA fighters on the declaration of a cease-fire (9 March 1959)

(See screen capture image 2 below.)