Family photos returned as friends separated by division find each other after 42 years

Greek Cypriot Dinos Kilaniotis and Turkish Cypriot Mehmet Civa, once close friends who were violently separated 42 years ago, reunited on Tuesday when Kilaniotis was finally able to contact his friend through Facebook and return family items Civa had left with him after being taken a prisoner of war in 1974.

Flanked by his wife, Turkish Cypriot University of Cyprus professor Niyazi Kizilyurek, and the editor-in-chief of Yeni Duzen newspaper Cenk Mutluyakali, Civa arrived at his old friend’s Limassol home on Tuesday afternoon.

photos3“A lot has changed since then and I couldn’t easily locate my friend’s house,” Civa told reporters.
Kilaniotis had run to his aid when he was captured by the National Guard in the aftermath of the Turkish invasion in 1974, bringing him milk and bread at the detention centre.

It was at that meeting, he recalled, that he entrusted Kilaniotis with the family items for safe keeping.

“He asked me if I needed anything else, and I asked him to keep some books and other things for me, until the situation was over and we could come back,” Civa said.

But things turned out differently, and the items remained for 42 years in Kilaniotis’ attic, with their keeper having no way of contacting their owner.

Last September, Kilaniotis’ son found the chest containing the items by chance, while looking for his own personal items in the attic.

With the help of their family friend Maro Lysandritou and Kizilyurek, Kilaniotis was able to find Civa’s Facebook page, throughphotos2 which he was informed that his old belongings had been found.

“I feel like I’m living a dream,” Civa said while looking through an old family photo album, as his wife joyfully recognised her school-leaving certificate.

“I am truly moved because I found a friend I thought was lost forever,” Kilaniotis said.

“Unfortunately, war brings many bad things. I hope the Cyprus problem is solved so that Greek Cypriots, Turkish Cypriots, Maronites, Armenians and Latins can all live together.”

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.