Mr. Kyriakos, Ms. Eleni, Ms. Alexandra, Mr. George, Mr. Andreas, Mrs. Milia, Ms. Panagiota, Mr. Christos, Father Zacharias. They are a few of the hundreds who chose to stay in Karpasia and keep alive the villages of the “mutt” of Cyprus, as shown on the map, despite the fact that the Turkish invaders, in 1974, entered unmolested, grabbed civilians and captured them. They are those people who sacrificed everything, to stay in their place, living as “Free Besieged”, like the Messolongites in the poem of our national poet, Dionysios Solomos. They are the trapped inhabitants of the villages of Karpasia, who for fifty years have been keeping them alive and not handing them over to the conquerors.
It is about those people who live in the villages of Agios Andronikos, Agia Triada, Rizokarpasos and did not leave the village for a minute, so as not to leave the place where they were born and grew up and their home in the hands of the Turkish invaders. Kyriakos Christofis Papagiasoumis is the only young man who stayed in Agia Triada. He was born there, grew up there, lived his whole life there. He was two years old during the invasion, his parents chose to stay in their place and not leave their home.
While other children of his age played with peers and friends, Mr. Kyriakos stayed with the elderly, who raised him and taught him a lot. While other young men of his age went out in the evenings, he lived in his house, under the gaze of the conquerors. While we today move freely, he himself, although with a feeling of freedom, remains trapped in his village.
“We were like siblings to the elderly, we were one family and we were loved. I grew up with them and we were like brothers. I was two years old at the time of the invasion. I grew up under occupation. Things were difficult, finances were small, but thanks to God we got through. I didn't leave at all and that was by choice. I didn't want to leave my house. My parents wanted me to go to the free zones, but I didn't want to. I stayed here”.
Mr. Kyriakos was one of the people who had the luck, amidst the difficulties of the invasion, to be taught by a woman who became a symbol for her struggles and loyalty to the homeland. A woman who associated her name with the struggles for resistance against the invaders. A woman who experienced humiliation from the conquerors, but did not give up for a moment. Eleni Fokas.
“I finished school here. Until Elementary School in Eleni Fokas. She wanted her students to excel and they did. I didn't think for a moment to leave. I went to the free zones for eight days, but I didn't like it. I didn't like the place, the people. I wanted to stay at home. When my father died I stayed with my mother, then I met my girlfriend when the barricades opened and we got married and stayed here and made our lives here.”
At this moment in Agia Triada there are 37 trapped families, those who still keep the village alive and despite the difficulties, do not abandon the streets, alleys, houses and land they loved. “It's hard not to have a job to get money. This is difficult. Also, it is difficult that we cannot sell our products. We sell them to the Turkish Cypriots, but the money is very little. But despite the difficulties, I am 52 years old and I will never leave.
A few kilometers away from Agia Triada is Rizokarpaso, where most of the trapped people live, who for fifty years have been fighting to live under the Turkish yoke. They are those people who, for fifty years, have been fighting to prevent the village from falling into the hands of the invaders and day by day, despite the difficulties, their love for their place grows and as the years pass, their stubbornness and will grow stronger not to let the invaders conquer the land that remained Greek Cypriot.
Among the trapped residents is the 72-year-old today Ms. Alexandra Alexandrou, who because of the love she has for her village, did not leave her village for a moment, despite the fact that there was no fighting in the area, the Turks entered unmolested, grabbed civilians and imprisoned them, while those who stayed had to be locked in the house from 6:00 in the afternoon, so that the soldiers would not see them.
“There is nothing better than your place. Life before the invasion also had poverty but it was better. Now it's hard. When the Turks came, they entered the village, they caught the civilians and we who stayed behind were afraid because we didn't know what they would do to us, regardless of whether they didn't do something in the end”.
Her family did not experience the adventure of one of their members being captured by the Turkish soldiers and taken prisoner, but the abduction of her fellow villagers was quite a heavy blow. “Afterwards, confinement was difficult. We were limited until 6:00. We couldn't go out beyond that. At first we couldn't go out of the house at all. Now it is better, but you fall at night and you are afraid. They show kindness but you never know”.
Despite the difficulties and confinement, Ms. Alexandra would not make a different decision if she could turn back time. “In the free areas we would be strangers among strangers and it would be difficult if you didn't have someone to hold your hand in difficult times, to help you stand on your feet. At least here is our place. We will stay”.
The story of Ms. Elenis, who is a native of Rizokarpasos, who remembers that before the invasion everyone was loved in the village, people had their jobs and they had a great time. And all this changed in a barbaric way, when the Turks entered Cyprus.
“When the invasion took place, few left. The High School was also not functioning due to the situation and people were forced to go to the free areas, in order to go to school in the free areas. My husband and I did not have children and chose to stay here. There were also my parents, who were elderly and could not leave. We also had our shop and we didn't want to leave.”
The carefree moments they lived in the village, Ms. Helen, in one night it was the past. When the invaders took over the village, the dominant feeling was fear. “Fortunately they didn't bother us too much. We heard the shots to be afraid, but we passed. We were scared, but we managed to stay here. I remember an incident, when the Turks entered the village, gathering us all to go to church and it was in the middle of August and it was quite hot. They didn't let us come by car, we had to go on foot and our house was a kilometer away and we walked to get there”.
Wish of Ms. Elenis is to solve the Cyprus problem, with a solution that allows the legal residents of the village to return to their homes, so that the village can be as it was before.
Mr. Giorgos Hailis was a soldier in 1974 and then decided to leave the village. However, his parents lived in the village, whom he visited often. “Before the invasion we were having a great time. As I heard it was very difficult in the village after the occupation. The men had to present themselves daily. Before the barricades opened, as trapped children we used to come for three days and then come back and when the barricades opened it was easier to come.”
Mr. Giorgos chose two years ago to return to the village as a resettled person and as he noted, life is quite different, compared to the first years of the occupation, since the occupying “authorities” no longer cause them enough problems.
READ HERE: Anna Aristotelous saw the trapped people of Karpasia and heard their problems
Tour of the churches of Karpasia
It is noted that a few days ago, Anna Aristotelous, the Head of Humanitarian Issues for the Missing and Trapped, visited the trapped residents of the villages of Karpasia, who was given a tour of the villages' churches. The first stop was at the church of Agia Fotini, located in Agios Andronikos, with the village head, Stella Fysentzou, starting the tour from the cave where the saint practiced.
“Saint Fotini was from Rizokarpasos. She came to Agios Andronikos and took advantage of old caves and did her asceticism. The Saint went to the sleep of one of our villagers and told him that in the cave there was an image of the Holy Light. Then they started digging to find her. In the cave they also found her grave and it was the myrrh, which was taken by those who had problems with their eyes”.
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A few minutes away is the church of Agios Therissos and the cave, where the Saint practiced asceticism when he resigned from the position of Bishop of Karpasia. A small cave, similar to the cave of Agia Fotini. “Saint Therissos was famous for healing the blind (s.s. disease in the eye). Those who came and worshiped, took myrrh and then wiped themselves with a handkerchief, which they left in the place as a souvenir or a blessing”, said Mrs. Physentzou, while she was accompanied by the mayor of Rizokarpasos, Michalis Mikellis.
READ HERE: The Government fulfilled the wish of the students of Rizokarpasos-For the first time an educational trip abroad
