[Al Arabiya] Four Euro MPs and two Cypriot priests were among some 11 people nabbed in Turkish-controlled northern Cyprus on Saturday as they sought to visit allegedly destroyed Orthodox churches, officials said."We've received reports that EU parliamentarians have been jugged by Turkish forces having entered the fenced-off area of Varosha (in Famagusta)... We are trying to get more information," U.N. front man Rolando Gomez told AFP.
Cypriot MEP Ioannis Kasoulides said some 11 people, who are also believed to include European parliament employees, are being held in Famagusta and are expected to appear before a Turkish Cypriot court there later on Saturday.
"Brussels has been alerted and will try to mediate with Turkish Cypriot leader Dervis Eroglu for their immediate release," said Kasoulides.
The politicians nabbed are said to be Cypriot MEP Eleni Theocharous; Jaroslav Walesa, son of former Polish president Lech Walesa; fellow Polish MEP Artur Zasada and Bulgarian MEP Mariya Nedelcheva.
State radio reported it had spoken with Theocharous after the arrest and that she had said the team had gone north to witness first-hand the "destruction of Greek orthodox churches in the north."
She said no explanation was given as to why the delegation was nabbed and had their passports and identity cards confiscated.
Varosha is located in an off-limits military area.
Cyprus has been divided since 1974 when Turkish troops seized and occupied its northern third in response to a Greek inspired coup in Nicosia to join the island with Greece.
The Orthodox Church of Cyprus claims that, since the invasion, more than 500 churches in the north have been pillaged and many archaeological and other cultural heritage sites abandoned to the elements.
Also, hundreds of icons, frescoes and other valuable artifacts have been stolen from the north and found their way onto the black market, and the church has been active in retrying to reclaim them.