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A CHILD who fled Cyprus 50 years ago as a refugee and came to Britain has shared he is still haunted by the ordeal he suffered back home.
Property developer John Christodoulou, 59, became a billionaire – but says he would give it all up to get his country back.
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John (left) and his father in Cyprus before the 1974 invasion
Getty
A Greek tank manoeuvres on the streets of Nicosia
AFP - Getty
John lived in the capital Nicosia until he was nine years old.
But his family fled in 1974 when Turkey attacked the eastern Mediterranean island.
Today marks the 50th anniversary of the start of an invasion which created 160,000 other Greek Cypriot refugees.
Cyprus is now a holiday hot spot with beautiful beaches and cheap beer.
But the conflict has frozen and left the island scarred with a buffer zone down its middle and different governments in control on either side.
Everything from new cars to dishes in the sink lie abandoned in an eerie 118-mile-stretch of land that divides the north and south of Cyprus.
Mogul John said he remembers bombs falling and seeing parachutes in the sky as he was with his mother and sister after school on July 20, 1974.
He told The Sun: “My mother was holding me and my sister. We were walking home and the sirens came out really loud.
“All of a sudden bombs are dropping. You’ve got the parachutes coming out of the big planes.
“And as a kid of 8 years old, you couldn’t believe what was going on.
“My mother pretty much pulled us towards the tree that we could take refuge.
“The house right next to where I lived was bombed, just next door.
“It is a day very hard to forget.”
AP
AFP
Dan CharityHe said his family had to shelter with 40 others in a small, cramped basement for a day.
Turkey seized control of the northern third of the island over the space of a month, causing the Greek Cypriots there to flee to the south.
Thousands of Greek Cypriots went missing as Turkey as prisoners of war and victims of the invasion.
Homes once lived in by Greek Cypriots were eventually given away to migrating Turks and whole villages became abandoned.
John said: “People don’t know where their parents are, people don’t know where their kids are… the worst bit is not knowing. I know guys whose families were raped during this.”
John said that his father’s appliance store was broken into by Turkish soldiers and robbed.
His family, from north of Nicosia, then fled to the southern city of Larnaca where they stayed a year before moving to Britain.
Why did the 1974 war happen in Cyprus?
Cyprus has been controlled by a number of different empires since about 1000BC.
Those include the Phoenicians, ancient Greeks, the Romans, the Venetians, the Ottomans, and the British.
Cyprus received its independence from Britain in 1959, but ethnic violence then erupted between Greek Cypriots and the Turkish Cypriots on the island.
On top of the violence were geopolitical tensions between Aegean rivals Greece and Turkey.
The Republic of Cyprus was established in 1960 with representation of both Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots built into the highest levels of government.
But, President Makarios introduced amendments to the constitution in 1963 which would have favoured the Greeks.
In response, Turkish Cypriots began to withdraw from the decision-making process with violence subsequently increasing.
That crisis forced 25,000 Turkish Cypriots out of their homes and into enclaves while 364 were killed. 174 Greek Cypriots were also killed.
A buffer zone was drawn down the island in 1964 to prevent more violence, known as the ‘Green Line’, with a deployment of UN troops.
Over the next decade fighting regularly broke out with Turkey threatening to invade the island.
In 1974, a coup was staged by Greek Cypriot nationalists who wanted make Cyprus part of Greece, at that time under a dictatorship.
In response, Turkey occupied the island up to the Green Line, where the country remains divided to this day.
Both sides frame the war differently, with Greek Cypriots describing Turkey’s actions as an ‘invasion’ while Turkish Cypriots say it is an “intervention” following the ethnic conflict over the previous decade.
“My father decided there is no security, no future, so he takes us to the UK.”
But it wasn’t easy for the family, with John’s dad having to do what he could to make end’s meet.
John said: “It was very difficult for my mum, she’s lost her sisters, her relatives, she’s gone to a strange place.
“I’m a nine-year-old kid, I only know so much, but my eyes opened up at how everyone [in the UK] was happy, how they lived together, how chilled out they were, how safe they felt.
“The UK opened their arms to us, big respect to that.
All of a sudden bombs are dropping. You’ve got the parachutes coming out of the big planes
John Christodoulou“To give back, I’ve worked with King Charles, Prince William, Queen Elizabeth, there is a lot of stuff I have done because of the gratitude, because the UK opened their arms when I came as a refugee.
“I know what it is like to leave your home and have nothing else.
“What made me the man I am today is going through the experience of a war and being insecure.”
John is able to go back to the places his family is from, but he says the island being divided remains difficult for him.
He added: “I’d give everything up to give Cyprus back.
“Having to go back, I’ve been there three times, I try to overcome it, but I can’t its difficult.
AFP
AFP“Imagine you’ve got a house you go back to that somebody has invaded, and you can’t do anything about it.
“It’s so depressing… It’s just not fair.”
As the businessman knows what it is like to be a refugee, he is now helping Ukrainians fleeing Russia’s invasion of their country.
He offered around 1,000 refugees accommodation for a year after they fled to Britain.
“What these guys are going through, I can sympathise with big time.”
The house right next to where I lived was bombed, just next door… It is a day very hard to forget
John ChristodoulouA whopping 40,000 Turkish troops remain deployed to the island and experts believe the divides are becoming more entrenched after peace talks failed in the 2010s.
The only country that officially recognises Northern Cyprus is Turkey.
But John hasn’t given up hope on the island being reunified.
He said: “I want all the refugees to be able to go back to their properties without the presence of Turkish troops.
“You just have to find a way, like anything.”
Dan CharityFreedom Day
Aysan Mullahasan Atılgan said the 50th anniversary was remembered as a liberation day in North Cyprus.
The Director of Political Affairs at the TRNC (Turkish Republic of North Cyprus) Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the “intervention” by Turkey stopped horrific ethnic violence.
Atılgan said: “This historic and glorious occasion symbolizes freedom from persecution at the hands of aggressive forces who wish to rid the island of Cyprus from any ethnic Turks.”
Turkish Cypriots will celebrate the anniversary with parades and high level visitors from Turkey are making the trip over.
She said the years leading up to the 1974 invasion were “the darkest years in the history of Cyprus” due to “a systematic and ethnic cleansing campaign” against Turkish Cypriots.
“Many men, women, and children were killed, maimed, or forced to migrate by armed Greek civil paramilitaries.
“Turkey’s intervention was inevitable in the wake of this coup d’etat, which brought the Turkish Cypriot people to the brink of total annihilation.”
Awkward split
The Republic of Cyprus High Commissioner to London Dr Kyriacos Kouros said his country treated the 50th anniversary as a sad commemoration.
He said: “Of course, it is awkward our Turkish Cypriot compatriots are doing the opposite, they are celebrating what transpired in that month.
“What makes it more traumatic is that the other side is celebrating, it gives it a sense of joy, it adds to the contradictions to the island.
“Both sides had victims, both sides has missing people, both sides had loss – it’s the way they choose to depict the event.”
The diplomat said that the major sticking point between the two sides in negotiating out of the situation was security issues.
“What is missing is the necessary trust between the communities that we can coexist without problems.
“Unfortunately after 50 years, we are still unable to address this particular issue.”
Dan Charity
Alamy
English (US)