logo
episode-header-image
Jul 2024
9m 55s

The missing people of Cyprus

Bbc World Service
About this episode

Between 1963 and 1974, more than 2,000 people in Cyprus went missing during clashes, a coup and the Turkish invasion.

Only about half of them have been found.

Rachel Naylor speaks to Nick Neokleous, the President of the Organisation of Relatives of Missing Cypriots, whose brother, Pavlos, went missing in 1974.

Eye-witness accounts brought to life by archive. Witness History is for those fascinated by the past. We take you to the events that have shaped our world through the eyes of the people who were there. For nine minutes every day, we take you back in time and all over the world, to examine wars, coups, scientific discoveries, cultural moments and much more.

Recent episodes explore everything from football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.

(Photo: A Cypriot woman holds a picture of her relatives, who went missing in 1974. Credit: Laura Boushnak via Getty Images)

Up next
Today
Ni Una Menos women’s movement in Argentina
On 3 June 2015, tens of thousands of people gathered in the capital, Buenos Aires, and in dozens of cities and towns demanding an end to violence against women. There were demonstrations in Chile and Uruguay in solidarity too. Argentina was reporting a female murder rate of one e ... Show More
9m 31s
Yesterday
Argentina’s national genetics bank created to identify stolen babies
In 1982, Argentine geneticist Victor Penchaszadeh was living in exile in New York when he received a call that would change the course of his career. Two founding members of the campaign group, the Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo, were asking for his help to find their kidnappe ... Show More
10m 41s
Jul 8
The mystery of Evita’s corpse
When Eva Peron, Argentina's most famous First Lady, died in 1952, her body was embalmed. Three years later, her widower, Juan Peron, was deposed in a coup. But military officers feared her corpse would become a rallying point of protest against the new government. So they stole i ... Show More
10m 34s
Recommended Episodes
Jul 2024
Cyprus: Coups and clubbing
We hear Turkish Cypriot and Greek Cypriot perspectives on the island's 1974 coup and subsequent invasion. Bekir Azgun, a Turkish-Cypriot writer, remembers the events. On the 20 July 1974 Captain Adamos Marneros landed the final flight at Nicosia Airport.Nicoletta Demetriou talks ... Show More
51m 5s
Sep 2024
Assignment: The 'ghost city' of Cyprus
The once glamorous Cypriot beach resort of Varosha has stood empty and frozen in time since war divided the island 50 years ago, but it is now partially open to tourists and there are hotly contested plans for its renewal.Maria Margaronis speaks to Varosha's former inhabitants - ... Show More
26m 58s
Sep 2024
244 - The Vanishing of Loy Evitts
When twenty-nine year old Loy Evitts failed to return to her Kansas City, MO office job after taking a late lunch, her co-workers were concerned.  When they found her car, parked in its assigned spot, but could find no trace of the woman, that concern transformed into worry.  The ... Show More
1h 38m
Aug 2024
243- The Murder of Shirley McAvoy
When thirty-two year old Shirley McAvoy didn't show up for her youngest daughter's birthday everyone knew something was wrong.  After being unable to reach her, Shirley's estranged husband, Brian, reported her missing to the Pittsfield Police Department in Maine. Initially, inves ... Show More
1h 14m
Nov 2024
The Siege of Yarmouk and Iran's 'house churches'
Max Pearson presents a collection of the week's Witness History episodes.We hear the story of the pianist who played on when Damascus was bombed and the Christians who met in secret.Plus how William Golding wrote Lord of the Flies, the handover of Macau to China in 1999 and the s ... Show More
50m 43s
Oct 2017
The Sunday Feature: Secret Police Files Opened Up in Albania
In Albania, attempts are now being made to discover the fate of about 6,000 people who went missing during 40 years of Communism. Andrew Hoskens in Tirana speaks to one man whose Catholic priest uncle fell foul of Enver Hoxha's regime. (Photo: Nikolin Kurti at the site of the mas ... Show More
8m 55s
Apr 28
PORTRAIT - Qui est David Campos Da Silva, l'homme qui a fait assassiner sa femme ?
Nous sommes le 28 août 2007, à Alcaçovas, un paisible village portugais, à une centaine de kilomètres de Lisbonne. Ce soir-là, David Campos da Silva pousse la porte de sa maison de vacances et découvre l'horreur : le corps de sa femme, Francisca, 49 ans, gît, inanimé, au milieu d ... Show More
7m 14s
Apr 2024
Returning to Rwanda
Kate Adie introduces stories from Rwanda, Estonia, St Helena and Puerto Rico.This weekend marks the start of the genocide in Rwanda that led to the death of more than 800,000 people – most from the country’s Tutsi minority. Three decades on, Emma Ailes met those who, against the ... Show More
28m 46s
Apr 2024
The history of art heists
Max Pearson presents a collection of this week’s Witness History episodes from the BBC World Service.It's 30 years since Edvard Munch’s painting, The Scream, was stolen from the national gallery in Oslo, Norway. We hear from the man who helped to recover it.Our expert guest is hi ... Show More
50m 59s
Feb 2025
Roberta Michels-Hopkins
In February of 1981, Roberta Michels-Hopkins, a 29-year-old mother of two, disappeared from Camden, New Jersey, without a trace. The story goes that she left her home, heading out to buy a pack of cigarettes, and never returned. Roberta's sister said she received a phone call fro ... Show More
1h 6m