CES: Eyes Wide Open: Mobilizing Citizens Against Cultural Crimes

Mrs. Hadjitofi, a refugee of the 1974 Turkish Invasion of Cyprus, served as Honorary Consul of the Republic of Cyprus in The Netherlands and Representative of the Church of Cyprus, where she sought justice for the looting of Cyprus’ cultural heritage through repatriation of its stolen religious artifacts. Her work culminated in the Munich Operation, which led to the arrest of art trafficker Aydin Dikmen and the recovery of over $60 million dollars of stolen antiquities from Turkish-occupied Cyprus. Walk of Truth (WoT) is an NGO that engages the public about the importance of protecting global heritage. WoT organizes public forums, works with national legislatures, law enforcement entities, museums and cultural organizations, to advocate for global unity in combatting art trafficking and protecting cultural heritage in areas of conflict. Its latest initiative, WoT has developed Cultural Crime Watchers Worldwide (CCWW),which empowers people to leave anonymous tips to do with the destruction and looting of cultural heritage. www.walkoftruth.org .