The president of Cyprus today urged Europe to get tough with Turkey, likening the EU's concessions to Ankara to the appeasement of Adolf Hitler in the 1930s, and playing down expectations of any breakthrough in the quest for a settlement of 35 years of partition in Cyprus. Christofias warned that any European concessions to Ankara to keep Turkey on a pro-European path could backfire. "I don't compare Turkey with Nazi Germany," he said. "But it is not reasonable to say don't challenge Turkey because it will get angry. There are rules and unfortunately Turkey does not respect those rules ... This reminds me of the situation before the second world war, appeasing Hitler so he doesn't become more aggressive. The substance of fascism was the substance of fascism. Hitler was Hitler." Demetris Christofias, the Greek Cypriot leader and Cypriot president, said that more than a year of negotiations with his Turkish Cypriot friend and counterpart, Mehmet Ali Talat, were in trouble. "Unfortunately, my expectations have not been justified," he said in an interview. "We have differences and divergences, deep, deep differences." Both leaders, personal friends who are both on the left, have been conducting negotiations for more than a year. Talat, however, is widely tipped to lose power in presidential elections in Turkish-occupied northern Cyprus next April to nationalist hardliners, so the duo may have only months to strike a deal. Cyprus has been divided since a Turkish military invasion in 1974. Christofias rejected talk of a deadline as artificial and suggested the Turkish side was exploiting Talat's electoral problems to blackmail him. If the talks fail, warned Hans Van Den Broek, the former Dutch foreign minister who sits on the Independent Commission on Turkey, "the island will certainly head towards partition. Tensions will rise in the eastern Mediterranean and EU-Turkey tension will deepen."
The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) has vowed to put a halt to illegal excavations at the country’s wealth of archaeological sites, many of which have already been ransacked by savvy smugglers digging up the rich treasures. “The criminals are always a step ahead, they follow our activities and know exactly when to move away,” an official from the special department in charge of archaeological crime, who requested anonymity, told AFP. When archaeologists arrived at Isar Marvinci in southern FYROM, a seat of power in ancient times, they had hoped to begin excavations but instead faced an unpleasant surprise. “They found more than 1,000 open pits, but all the finds were gone, mostly sold to our southern neighbor” Greece, said Pasko Kuzman, head of the state institute for the protection of cultural heritage. Ancient graves were believed to be full of “gold jewelry, silver, bronze and amber pieces, all very light and easy to transport,” Kuzman said. Kuzman noted a case when 230 archaeological findings – hidden in bags full of beans – were discovered by customs officials at the Croatian-Slovenian border in 2006. “Slovenian officials established that the finds were from the territory of Macedonia and returned them to us,” he said. Over the past two years, police have reported 21 cases of cultural heritage theft, with 16 of them solved, Interior Ministry spokesman Ivo Kotevski said. Thieves are mostly interested in smaller pieces like money, silver, copper or ceramic pots and stone figures, he said. According to various estimations, most of FYROM’s territory hides archaeological treasures due to the Balkan state’s central position in ancient times. So far, 10,000 different sites have been registered but at least several more thousand still need to be examined.
Vaclav Klaus, the Czech Republic President, who felt the Lisbon Treaty would infringe on EU member states’ sovereignty, has won the concession he demanded before he would put his crowning signature on the deed. All the other 26 EU countries had finished their ratification. Even after both houses of parliament in Prague approved Lisbon, under pressure from several sides, Klaus held out for an opt-out from the treaty’s Fundamental Rights Charter. He said ethnic Germans might use it to reclaim land they lost in Czechoslovakia after World War II. The Benes Decrees that covered this were a kind of settling of accounts, after the calamity of the war and the country’s desertion by its allies. The Czech government, not very stable lately, under Prime Minister Jan Fisher, had to negotiate with current EU presidency Sweden to try to get Klaus’s presidential demand accommodated. Klaus also has held back signing the Lisbon Treaty until yet another complaint – this one brought by a group of Czech senators – was reviewed by their country’s constitutional court. Its deliberations continue; its next public session is a week away.
Israel remains firm in refusing to support the unilateral declaration of independence of Kosovo. This was confirmed on Tuesday at a meeting between Israeli and Serbian Interior Ministers Eliyahu Yishai and Ivica Dačić in Jerusalem. Pointing to the high level of mutual political understanding, Dačić said he thanked Israel for the country's principled stand on Kosovo and Metohija. "Israeli officials have confirmed that Israel will remain firm in its stand," he told Tanjug. During Dačić's visit to Israel, an agreement was signed between the two governments on cooperation in the fight against crime, illegal trade and abuse of narcotics and psychoactive substances, terrorism and other serious criminal acts. The Serbian delegation also conferred with Israeli Police Commissioner Dudi Cohen and Minister of Public Security Yitzhak Aharonovitch. The delegation also visited the Israeli police which is carrying out difficult tasks, Dačić said. Israeli and Serbian police forces have stood the test of time over the years and have great experience in fighting terrorism, he added. Orthodox Patriarch Theophilos of Jerusalem also expressed support at the meeting with Dačić to Serbia's just endeavors to preserve its sovereignty and territorial integrity. The meeting with Patriarch Theophilos was the last on the program of the Serbian delegation's two-day visit to Israel. While in the Israeli capital, Dačić and Serbian police (MUP) Director Milorad Veljović also visited the Western Wall.
Head of the Moscow Patriarchate Department for External Church Relations Archbishop Ilarion of Volokolamsk is in Gračanica, reports said. The Russian Orthodox Church dignitary said that he had come to pay tribute to one of the oldest cradles of the Orthodox Christianity, where big historic events took place. Ilarion, who is on a several-day visit to the Serbian Orthodox Church (SPC) Eparchy of Raška and Prizren, said that the Russian Church has always stood and always will stand together with the SPC in all its times of troubles. He called on the Gračanica monastery monks and nuns not leave this land and temples, because, as he explained, for as long as they are there, the Orthodox religion will be preserved. The guest from Russia was welcomed in the province by Bishop Artemije. Artemije stated that the visit is evidence of Archbishop Ilarion's "love and care for Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija", and that they will "try to inform him about the true state of affairs in the field, in order for him to be able to inform the Russian patriarch".
As Orthodox Christians in the United States seek a new unity out of ethnic fragmentation, they must grapple with the fact that many who say they cherish the faith nevertheless ignore its teachings and practices. "They see the Orthodox Church in an unorthodox way," said Alexei Krindatch, research director of the Patriarch Athenagoras Orthodox Institute at the University of California-Berkeley, who conducted an in-depth study of Orthodox Christians in the United States. Orthodox Christians have a high sense of identification with their faith, Mr. Krindatch said. Eighty-seven percent said they couldn't imagine being anything but Orthodox, compared to 70 percent of Catholics who felt the same way about their church. But although more than 70 percent of Orthodox identify themselves as conservative or traditional -- wanting no or slow change -- many also consider key teachings of the faith optional. Another study found that 62 percent of Orthodox Christians believed abortion should be legal in all or most cases. Metropolitan Jonah, national leader of the Russian-rooted Orthodox Church in America, reacted strongly to the abortion findings, telling the assembly, "If 60 percent of our people support abortion, then we have failed miserably in our teaching." But he praised a panel of speakers who he said were laying the practical groundwork for unity by bringing people from all jurisdictions together to aid women in crisis pregnancies, assist the poor and start schools. Sister Sarah Elizabeth Oftedel, co-founder of Martha and Mary House in Escondido, Calif., a small home for women who choose adoption over abortion, said her board has members from the Serbian, Antiochian, and Greek jurisdictions and is incorporated in the Orthodox Church in America. "As a convert, I'm blind to the differences. But I do think it would be wonderful if we were all together because it would be a much more powerful witness," she said. The Rev. Justin Mathews, director of FOCUS North America, a pan-Orthodox ministry to aid poor Americans with food, shelter and employment, said global Orthodoxy has a long tradition of social service, but it has been neglected in America. Ministry to the poor "is the responsibility of our church and perhaps the beginning of the tangible fabric of unity," he said. Paying homage to food festivals, he said Orthodox churches in America are ideally suited for soup kitchens because "our churches are full of these commercial kitchens that are used primarily to serve ourselves." Achieving administrative unity would benefit social service ministries because they wouldn't have to approach a half-dozen ethnic bishops for permission each time they wanted to start a project in a given city, he said. Right now "it's just difficult to access the faithful. I can't get the names of everybody. They don't all subscribe to the same magazines. So just in the area of being able to reach people with a vital message, there would be an economy of communication that would be greatly effective," he said.
To commemorate the upcoming U.S. visit of His All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, the American Bible Society will highlight an exhibition of sacred texts and icons celebrating the history of the Orthodox tradition that was organized by the Museum of Biblical Art (MOBIA) opening on Oct. 30 and continuing through Jan. 24, 2010. For more than seven years, the American Bible Society has worked alongside the Orthodox Church, publishing Bible literature consistent with its faith and doctrine, including: The Orthodox Children's Bible Reader, a collection of Bible stories for children with Byzantine illustrations, which has been published in Greek, English and many other languages. Also, the first ever Military New Testament has been developed for the more than 25,000 active Orthodox personnel serving in the United States armed forces around the world. This New Testament includes: prayers and meditations, icons of Christ and the Virgin Mary, daily devotionals and prayers, and an Orthodox Bible reading guide. Honoring His All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew's concern for ecumenism and the environment, the exhibit will feature icons, volumes of sacred Scripture, a liturgical Psalter, maps and rare architectural portraits of Constantinople. The exhibit will also highlight the cultural legacy of the Orthodox Christian Church, as well as a photo and video display of the Ecumenical Patriarch's environmental work. Recognized by TIME magazine as one of "The 2008 Time 100," Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, also known as the "Green Patriarch," has expressed concern for the environment. He has led and organized seminars that convene both religious and scientific leaders to address environmental issues. The Ecumenical Patriarch is in the U.S. to convene the Eighth Religion, Science and the Environment Symposium, and to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the enthronement of Archbishop Demetrios of America as the Primate of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America. To read more about the American Bible Society, click here. To read more about the Museum of Biblical Art (MOBIA), click here.