I fled war-torn Cyprus 50 years ago to make billions in UK – I remember bombs falling & families raped as Turkey invaded
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.
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.”He 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.
My father decided there is no security, no future, so he takes us to the UK.”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.
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.
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.
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.
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.”
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.
