Call for register to support 1974 invasion sexual abuse survivors

Nicosia, Cyprus. A register of people who suffered sexual abuse during the Turkish invasion in 1974 is urgently needed to ensure elderly survivors receive financial and psychological support, prisoners of war association chief Vasos Christou said on Wednesday.

He said many potential beneficiaries are now over 70 and could die without receiving assistance.

Testimony and stigma

Speaking on Alpha TV, Christou said he was holding a letter from a former prisoner of war describing “every tragic detail” of sexual abuse he said he suffered while in captivity.

The former prisoner had entrusted the letter to Christou with instructions that it be made public after his death because he feared being stigmatised.

In the letter, the former prisoner described the stigma he faced after returning from captivity.

“Many accuse us of being scoundrels, that we raised our hands up to be captured and come after 50 years to ask for benefits from the state,” the letter said.

Request for support

Christou said he had raised with Deputy Social Welfare Minister Tina Pavlou the case of another man who was raped by Turkish soldiers as a young boy during the war.

He said he had asked Pavlou to “let him have the benefits that we POWs have”.

“The state has a duty to make us live as people with psychological and physical problems,” Christou said.

Christou told the House refugee committee on Tuesday that a former prisoner of war had disclosed to his wife shortly before his death that he had been raped during captivity.