1977 kaçırılmasının 49 yıl sonra tanığı Achilleas Kyriacou sessizliğini bozdu

Achilleas Kyriacou is talking about his kidnapping in 1977. He was 19 years old, and he was in the Paratroopers. His father, Spyros Kyriacou, was the President. Achilleas has a very serious illness. He says he may not have another chance to speak.

On 14 December, he was at a small post in Machaira. A man said he was a taxi driver. The man asked for help with a hurt soldier. When Achilleas sat in the car, the hurt man jumped up. He put a gun to Achilleas's head. They tied his hands and covered his eyes. Then they made him read a text for his father. They wanted some prisoners to leave prison.

After that, he had to walk for four or five hours. He came to a small cave near Kyvides. He could not stand up in the cave. He stayed there for four days. It was cold, and he had no food or water. After four days, he was free. He said, "I felt alive again." He also says the fake kidnapping story is complete nonsense.

Achilleas Kyriacou has spoken publicly about his kidnapping in 1977. He is the oldest son of Spyros Kyriacou, who was the President at that time. He said that he has been diagnosed with a very serious, rare illness. "Maybe I will not have another chance to speak," he said.

In December 1977, he was 19 and was serving in the Paratroopers. On 14 December, he was called to a small reserve post in Machaira. A man who said he was a taxi driver asked for help with an injured paratrooper. When Achilleas sat in the front seat, the "injured" man held a gun to his head. The kidnappers tied his hands and covered his eyes. He was forced to read a text for his father, the President.

The kidnappers wanted prisoners linked to EOKA B' and the coup to be released. He said they would kill him and send his head to his father if the demands were not met. He walked for four or five hours until he reached an underground cave near Kyvides. The cave was so low and small that he could not stand. He stayed there for four days in cold, hunger and thirst.

He was released after four days. According to him, the government did not accept the main demands. Some people have said for decades that the kidnapping was staged to help his father politically. Achilleas called this claim "complete nonsense" and said it was very painful. He asked for the interview to be shown after the 2026 parliamentary elections.

Nearly half a century after his kidnapping, Achilleas Kyriacou has broken his silence. On the state channel's programme "Code of Silence", the eldest son of the then President Spyros Kyriacou described the kidnapping he suffered in December 1977. He said he had been diagnosed with a very serious, rare illness, so he might not have another chance to speak.

In December 1977 he was 19 and serving in the Paratroopers. On 14 December, a man who introduced himself as a taxi driver called him to the door of a small reserve post in Machaira. The man said he was carrying an injured paratrooper and asked for help. As soon as Kyriacou sat in the front seat to check the supposed casualty, that person jumped up, overpowered him and held a gun to his head. His hands were tied and his eyes were covered with wide surgical tape.

At gunpoint, he was forced to read a text addressed to his father, the President. The kidnappers demanded the release of prison detainees linked to EOKA B' and the coup; otherwise, they would kill him and send his head to his father. He was then forced to walk for four or five hours, blindfolded and bound, until he reached an underground cave near Kyvides. He stayed there for four days in cold, hunger and thirst. "It was as if I had been buried alive," he said.

Kyriacou said that, after consultation with the then Attorney General, the kidnappers were promised they would not be prosecuted for the kidnapping. He added that the government did not accept the main demands. He was released four days later and said he felt as if he had come back to life.

When he got home, his father told him he felt very bad about the decision not to give in. Achilleas Kyriacou's reply was clear: "He did very well." He called the theory that the kidnapping was staged to benefit his father politically "completely absurd". He asked for the interview to be broadcast only after the 2026 parliamentary elections, so that it would not be seen as interference in the campaign.

Almost half a century after one of the most discussed episodes in post-war Cypriot political history, Achilleas Kyriacou has chosen to give his own account in public. On the state broadcaster's programme "Code of Silence", the eldest son of the then President, Spyros Kyriacou, described his abduction in December 1977, from the moment he was lured into a trap until his release four days later. He explained that he had been diagnosed with a rare and extremely serious illness with a very poor prognosis, so this might be his last opportunity to speak.

In December 1977, Kyriacou was 19 and serving in the Paratroopers. On the evening of 14 December, while he was at a small reserve post in Machaira, he was called to the door, where a man posing as a taxi driver said he was carrying an injured paratrooper and needed help. According to his account, the supposed casualty suddenly leapt up the moment he sat in the front seat, overpowered him and held a gun to his head, while the driver sped off. His hands were bound and his eyes covered with wide surgical tape, because the perpetrator knew he might try to escape.

Under threat of a weapon, he was forced to read out a text addressed to his father, the President. His testimony suggests that the kidnappers demanded the release of prisoners linked to EOKA B' and the coup, and that, were the demands not met, they would kill him and send his head to his father. He was then made to walk, blindfolded and bound, for what he estimated to be four to five hours, until he reached a camouflaged underground cave in a mountainous area near Kyvides. The shelter was so low and small that he could not stand, and he said he felt as if he had been buried alive. For four days he endured cold, hunger and thirst under constant threat.

Kyriacou said he was told that Vasilis Pavlidis belonged to "an organisation with a military structure and leadership", and he placed particular emphasis on the word "headquarters", which he heard after the ultimatum was recorded. He also maintained that, following consultation with the then Attorney General, the kidnappers were promised they would not be prosecuted for the abduction, which created an incentive to release him. In his account, the government did not accept the central demands, above all the release of the detainees.

After his release, he was handed over to mediators, and his blindfold was not removed until they had gone far enough. "I hadn't seen the sun for four days," he said, adding that he felt as though he had died and suddenly been given a second chance. When Spyros Kyriacou told him he felt terrible about not yielding to a decision that had endangered his son's life, Achilleas replied simply: "He did very well."

He also addressed the long-standing theory that the abduction was staged to strengthen his father politically before the 1978 presidential election. He dismissed the claim as "utterly absurd" and described it as a painful injustice and a character assassination. Finally, he revealed that he had asked for the interview not to be broadcast before the 2026 parliamentary elections, so that it would not be misread as interference in the campaign.

Almost half a century on, Achilleas Kyriacou has broken his silence about one of the most discussed episodes in Cyprus's post-war political history. On the state broadcaster's programme "Code of Silence", the eldest son of the then President, Spyros Kyriacou, recounted his December 1977 abduction, from the moment he fell into the trap to his release four days later. He also confronted a theory that has dogged him for decades: that the kidnapping was staged to strengthen Spyros Kyriacou politically before the 1978 presidential election.

He explained that he had long wished to speak more fully about the unjust and wholly unfounded distortion of those events, having avoided revisiting them for years. Then came a sobering disclosure: he has been diagnosed with a serious, rare illness with an extremely poor prognosis, so, in his words, "perhaps I will not have another chance to speak".

In December 1977, Kyriacou was 19 and serving in the Paratroopers. On the evening of 14 December, as he stood at a small reserve post in Machaira, he was called to the door, where a man posing as a taxi driver claimed to be carrying an injured paratrooper and asked for help. No sooner had Kyriacou sat in the front seat to check on the supposed casualty than the man leapt up, overpowered him and pressed a gun to his head, as the driver sped off.

At gunpoint, he was forced to read out a text addressed to the President, his father. According to his testimony, the kidnappers demanded the release of prison detainees linked to EOKA B' and the coup; otherwise, they would kill him and send his head to his father. Once the ultimatum had been recorded, he was made to walk for four to five hours, blindfolded and bound, until he reached a camouflaged underground cave near Kyvides. The shelter was so low that he could not stand, and for four days he endured cold, hunger and thirst under constant threat.

Behind the scenes, he said, the Attorney General of the day was consulted, and the kidnappers were promised no prosecution for the abduction, an incentive to free him. In his account, the government never accepted the ultimatum's core demands, above all the release of detainees. He was handed over to mediators after four days, and his blindfold stayed on until they were far enough away. "I felt as though I had died and been given a second chance," he said, recalling that he had not seen the sun for four days.

His father later told him he felt dreadful about having refused to submit to a decision that endangered his son's life, and Achilleas's reply was unequivocal: "He did very well." He called the staged-kidnapping theory "utterly absurd" and insisted that Spyros Kyriacou had no need of such an act. He asked that the interview air only after the 2026 parliamentary elections, lest it be read as meddling in the campaign.