COVER N. 249 - CYPRUS  

Postmark: No postmark 26APR23

Posted on ?; Received on the 8th May 2023

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Alex, the wanderer, again surprised me with a cover from the easternmost country of the European Union.

Thanks a great lot, Alex!

It has happened to me also. In Cyprus, it seems that the notion of postmarking a letter or a postcard is vaguely accessory.

When I was there last year, but two of the letters and postcards I sent were cancelled, and only because I expressively requested it at the post office, so it came as no surprise to receive this nice cover from Alex without any postmark on it.

This time the envelope did not even have the fluorescent orange bar code that is now omnipresent in circulated mail, so in spite of my being sure that the envelope did effectively travel from the easternmost country of the EU to the westernmost, I have no means to prove it 😀!

This may, in time, be remedied, though, because Alex has asked me to return the cover so that it travels again to the origin in order to get properly cancelled....

Now this makes for a nice story too.... and as I type the cover is on its way to Alex. let's see how this ends. 😀

On 09JUL2028, Cyprus post issued a 0,64€ stamp celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Orthodox Interparliamentary Assembly.

Quoting directly from the organization's website:

"A main objective of the IAO is to develop a multilevel political and cultural activity to promote the Orthodox heritage and its contribution to the global dialogue for peaceful coexistence among peoples." 

"The IAO was established at the initiative of the Hellenic Parliament, in Halkidiki, Greece, in November 1993. The Assembly consists of Orthodox Christian Members of Parliament, represented either as a national delegation or individually. Moreover, countries with an Orthodox Church, but no elected Orthodox MPs, can also participate as observers."

"Apart from Cyprus, delegations from the Parliaments of the following countries participate in the IAO: Greece, Russia, Albania, Armenia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Georgia, Estonia, Croatia, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Belarus, Lithuania, Moldova, Ukraine, Poland, Romania, Romania, Serbia, Montenegro, Slovakia, Czechia, Finland, Jordan, Lebanon and Palestine participate in the IAO. Occasionally, MPs from Egypt, Ethiopia, Argentina, Australia, United States, Canada, Congo, Mozambique, Uganda, Sudan and Chile also participate."

- As a way to help finance the Refugee Fund created by the Cypriot Government to deal with the problems caused by the Turkish invasion of the island in 1974, a special "Refugee Stamp" was created in 1971, with a value of 10 mils, that was thereafter obligatorily applied to every object to be posted.

From 1984 the refugee stamp started to be denominated in Euro with a value of 1 cent and, from 1989 on, it has become an yearly issue, always with the same design but with a different background colour. Staring in 2008 it's face value was increased to the current 2 cents.

The 2020 stamp on my cover was issued on 18FEB2021.

If i knew where the cover had been posted, I am sure I would let you also know... 😀