Polish parliamentarians Jaroslaw Leszek Walesa and Artur Zasada were released, but two other Greek Cypriot men who were detained with them will remain in custody until they appear in a court on Sunday, Greek Cypriot EuroMP Eleni Theocharous told the Associated Press.
Theocharous said Zasada and Walesa — who is the son of former Polish President Lech Walesa — have told her they would attend Sunday’s court hearing in support of the two Greek Cypriots.
Theocharous said the two Greek Cypriots, former member of European Parliament Yiannakis Matsis and Loizos Afxentiou are being held at a Turkish Cypriot hospital since they both face chronic health problems.
Cyprus was split into a Greek speaking south and a Turkish speaking north in 1974 when Turkey invaded after a coup by supporters of union with Greece. Turkish Cypriots declared independence in 1983 but only Turkey recognizes the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus and maintains 35,000 troops there. Cyprus joined the European Union in 2004, but only the internationally recognized south enjoys membership benefits.
Theocharous said the four men were part of a larger group that included herself, Bulgarian EuroMP Mariya Nedelcheva and two Orthodox Christian clergymen who crossed into the north on a tour of derelict Orthodox Christian churches and cemeteries there. The trip included a visit to abandoned Varosha, a fenced-off Greek Cypriot suburb of Famagusta on the island’s east coast that is controlled by the Turkish army.
Theocharous told the AP by telephone that the four men had entered the courtyard of a dilapidated Varosha Orthodox Christian church when they were confronted by soldiers who turned them over to arriving police officers.
Cyprus government spokesman Stefanos Stefanou condemned the arrests as an “illegal act” undermining flagging talks to reunify the island. The talks — now in their third year — have produced only limited progress.
