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military intervention 48 . Before the defacto division of the island in 1974 the Church
owned the largest chain of hôtels, with at least a hotel in each town. In 1995 it
reportedly represented a mere 5% of hotel beds as, since 1990, the church has been
withdrawing from direct management of tourist facilities recently managed under
the ñame of Ledra Palace Hotels Ltd. It stili, however, controlied 75% of the
cernent industry (a key export sector in the aftermath of 1974), 5% banking along
with a controlling stake in the largest brewing and distiliing company in Cyprus
(Keo) and more general portfolio investment through the Cypriot stock exchange.
Similarly the Church owns a TV station, Logos, founded in 1992 and the
performance rights for Hollywood films in Cyprus.
The Church, perhaps the largest single private investor, was not allowed to invest
outside Cyprus after 1974 and so had a vested interest in maintaining investment in
the island when more independent private investors may have eut their losses. It is
however difficult to substantiate both the level and the diversity of Church
investment in the immediate post-(74)-war period; nevertheless, five significant
investment / diversifications were made in 1975: the huge (in Cypriot terms) Zygi
cernent factory was opened with a large docking facility that was completed in 1980
(criticai for this then key export); the Hellenic bank, in which the Hellenic mining
company (100% Church owned) had a large stake, began trading; a plastics factory
and a metal pipe factory (industries lost behind Turkish lines) were established in
the depressed Paphos région (where Makarios came from). Also Keo, in which the
Hellenic mining company had a controlling stake, expanded its opérations in 1975.
Ali this evidence suggests that the church is not only a major politicai force but a
48 The Church producers but does not publish accounts, (for fear, it is alleged, that they will be
exploited for politicai reasons), it was revealed that amongst the 185 churches and land assets lost
following the Turkish invasion were 3 hôtels, one The Aspelia Hotel in Faraagusta, which had 500
rooms, and another The Evagoras Court, which had 250 rooms. These were large hôtels by early
1970s Cypriot standards. Earlier, in 1964, the Church had lost another large hotel, The Ledra
Palace, in the Nicosia Buffer Zone, which has since been exclusively used by UNICYP, and for
which it has received no rent. Interview with Elias Pantelides, the Director of the Church of Cyprus
Audit Dept., and Executive Chairman of Ledra Palace Hotels Ltd, (26/9/95).
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