In the southern Cyprus city of Limassol we meet Greek speaking Elena Georgiou and her mother Chrysoulla Georgiou, who invited us to their home for some tea and delicious home-made…
In the southern Cyprus city of Limassol we meet Greek speaking Elena Georgiou and her mother Chrysoulla Georgiou, who invited us to their home for some tea and delicious home-made food.
Elena and her mother fled the city of Morphou in 1974. Both remember the Turkish invasion in detail: “Planes came and dropped bombs”, says Elena, “my grandpa tried to protect me and my brother, it was terrible”. – Greek speaking Cypriots fled northern Cyprus, Turkish speaking Cypriots fled southern Cyprus.
Today, Elena and Chrysoulla stay in the former Turkish neighbourhood of Limassol, in a house where Turkish Cypriots lived, before 1974. Greek speaking Elena tries to learn some Turkish now, to make friends across borders, to rebuild ties with Turkish Cypriots living in Morphou today. Her wish for Cyprus? Reunification, a signed peace agreement including a political settlement of the “Cyprus problem”, a federate State and: “I do not want financial compensation, I want to go back to the house where I was born, I want to go back to Morphou”, she tells Euronews reporter Hans von der Brelie.