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AP PHOTOS: Cyprus' Maronites fight to stop their Cypriot Maronite Arabic from extinction

Petros Karadjias
Saturday 24 May 2025 07:01 BST

Only about 900 people in the world speak Cypriot Maronite Arabic. The offshoot of Syrian Arabic has been passed on orally over the centuries. Now it is at risk of extinction. That’s according to the Council of Europe’s minority language experts. But the Maronite community in Cyprus is fighting back. It has help from the Cypriot government and the European Union to save the language.

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This is a photo gallery curated by AP photo editors.

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