Lost Ruins
By Rebecca Park, Contributor
The Hon. Donald K. Bandler, Michael Jansen, Dr. Charalampos Chotzakoglou and Dr. Klaus Gallas at the Hudson Institute's July 23rd event, "Turkish-Occupied Cyprus: The Threat to Religious and Cultural Heritage"
A recent event at the Hudson Institute, “Turkish-Occupied Cyprus: The Threat to Religious and Cultural Heritage,” shed light on the issue of looting and destruction of cultural sites in turbulent regions. A group of three panelists, Michael Jansen, Dr. Klaus Gallas and Dr. Charalampos Chotzakoglou, discussed the example of Cyprus, analyzing the lessons that could be applied to other hot spots. Far from the romantic swash-buckling days of 19th century Western imperialism, today’s Lord Elgins grab what they can in vulnerable areas, dissolving a rich cultural heritage into a black market abyss.
With more immediate, urgent news monopolizing headlines, the question of preserving cultural heritage easily gets lost in the shuffle, rarely topping anyone’s priority list. Yet the seriousness of the little-talked-about subject cannot be denied. The conference’s moderator, former U.S. Ambassador to Cyprus Donald K. Bandler, referred to “conservation diplomacy.” Cultural heritage becomes a political tool as governments overlook, and sometimes encourage, destruction of local landmarks. Cultural cleansing goes hand in hand with ethnic cleansing. In the case of Cyprus, looting also challenges religious freedoms, as most of the looted sites are churches where the faithful once gathered for hundreds of years. Ultimately, a people become disconnected from their past.
What the conference best illustrated was the trouble to be had with addressing such a complicated issue that involves a vast international cast of characters: local looted communities, foreign plunderers, and the black market dealers and recipients of stolen goods, spread out all over the world. It wasn’t just what the panel presented about legal limitations, questions of identity, political organization and international complicity that indicated the intricacy of restoring cultural heritage. Interacting with the audience during the question and answer session revealed more fully how complex an issue, how diverse the groups involved, how far-reaching in its emotional power, the question of cultural heritage and its conservation can be. Especially when political tensions remain high—common in most unstable situations where looting is most rampant, and certainly the case with the day’s subject, Cyprus—effective dialogue is almost an impossible dream. At the event, the opportunity to rationally address the issue at hand was often hijacked with heated debate concerning the proper way to identify the region, fueling tensions between Turks and Cypriots instead of discussing the vulnerability of the region’s art, the powerful tool that can, ideally, lessen this friction.
Both the material represented and the evolution of the ensuing conversation demonstrated how sensitive and demanding the fight against destruction of cultural heritage can be. But somewhat less obvious is the ultimate goal. Yes, proper preservation of cultural heritage is essential if for nothing more than the appreciation to found among present and future generations. More importantly, though, it stands for concepts even vaguer than simple beauty. They are about things like national pride, religious freedom, ethnic identity, historic connections, ties to the land. And the multilateral work needed to save these sites, involving local and international actors brought together out of respect for the talent of the men and women who have preceded us, could only ease long-standing tensions and conflicts. It may be an uphill battle, but that one victory could do a lot towards winning a war.
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