ACHNA: The first Christmas in exile

It was Christmas Eve, the winter of 1974 at the refugee camp in the Achna Forest. Her husband, her husband and their three-year-old son had just given them a tent to enter. Since August 28, when the Turks entered Achna, they have been sleeping on her father's bus, which had been forcibly converted into a residence. Somehow tens of thousands of other refugees lived in the largest refugee camp in Cyprus.

Little George was sleeping in the tent. They had nothing to offer him the next day at Christmas morning. Everything was left behind in the newly built house in the village. She thought about it and found a large tin can of those containing canned chicken, distributed by the Red Cross to Greek refugees. He cut a small pine branch, put soil in the tin and fixed the tree. Let's not have ornaments. It was a small Christmas tree in the refuge, in a corner of the small tent that with the campaign divans inside, just fit them. The next day, a group of ladies from a humanitarian organization arrived at the camp carrying gifts for the young children. One of them found himself in front of their tent and made the screen to see if there was a child in it. She saw in front of her Mrs. Giannoula and her three-year-old son. Watch out for that little tree in the corner, fastened in the tin, without ornaments. A pine branch.

For a moment the unknown woman lost them. "But you decorated a tree"? She asked a little puzzled. "Yes, the gift for our son who woke up in the morning and when he saw it he was happy," Ms. Giannoula also chanted. The unknown lady hurriedly gave a gift to the then little George and let the screen of the tent fall. This image, this scene, remains indelible in the memory of 65-year-old Giannoulas Giannaki Mouzourou and is perhaps the most intense Christmas memory she has ever had. It was her first Christmas in exile, as was the case for at least another 250 Greek Cypriots. He recalls today, 45 years later, that the first winter of the refugee camp was very heavy. He tormented the unfortunate refugees living in tents, not only in Dasaki but also in the rest of Cyprus, where makeshift refugee camps had been set up.
As she tells her story to "Phileleftheros", Ms. Giannoula does not hide her emotion.

"It was very difficult. To live in the tent, to bathe a baby. To defeat the cold, the rain, all the elements of nature. But we endured. We were young. But it was not because we endured, we believed, as we were told, that we would soon return to our homes. And so we had hope. And hope gave us strength and we endured the hardships of exile, "he said.

And he goes on to tell us about August 28, 1974, when the Turks entered Achna with tanks. Upon hearing the urge "leave, leave, the Turks are coming", panic was caused and everyone ran out of the village. She confesses that she herself, on her whim (her husband was at war), almost forgot about her mother's house where George lived. She grabbed him as he slept, covering him with a sheet and left running.

More than 45 years have passed. He keeps that sheet as a heirloom. George is now 48 years old. The bitter memories of the events and the sufferings of the refugees in the first years remain, as if they were yesterday.

Source: Liberal