The right-hand man of Alexandros Simeoforidis, head of the Greek Central Intelligence Service (KYP) unit in Kyrenia during the “Black Summer” of 1974, CIS courier Yiannis Georgiadis, reveals to Alpha the extent of the betrayal.

YIANNIS GEORGIAIDIS-CIS Liaison Officer “We informed
Major Sigalas in Nicosia that the order had been given and the convoy had set out, asking what we should do, and he replied, ‘Wait for orders.’ And then Ensign Semaioridis said, ‘But what is this man saying? The Turks are coming,’ and he told me, ‘Don’t worry.’”
 
The Turkish army’s preparations for the invasion, which had already entered the final stages by July 16, immediately came to the attention of the Greek KYP unit in Kyrenia. The conversations of the Turkish officers and their reports regarding the concentration of the landing fleet in Mersin were intercepted and immediately forwarded to the General Staff in Athens. The Greek team’s warnings fell on deaf ears.

YANNIS GEORGIAIDIS-Intelligence Officer “We were tracking
the movements of the 39th Division from its headquarters in Osmaniye and Kahranmaraş as its troops prepared to board the landing ships bound for Cyprus.”

On July 17, the landing force was assembled with the mission of surveying the area where the landing was to take place for the presence of any mines.
 
The danger signals from the Cyprus Intelligence Service (KYP), based on signals intercepted from communications monitoring, continued to be transmitted unabated. On Friday, July 19, the Kyrenia Military Intelligence Directorate relayed the signal from the Turkish General Staff to Athens, ordering the invasion to begin. At the Greek Ministry of National Defense, everyone was aware of what was about to happen.

YIANNIS GEORGIAIDIS-KYP Messenger: “A report was received
that the units were ready, had embarked, and were awaiting the order for the landing craft to depart; this was received at noon on the 19th. We are reporting that the departure has taken place.”
 
Completely unaware of the conspiracy were not only the ordinary people of Kyrenia and the thousands of vacationers, not only the rank-and-file soldiers and the units in the city of Praxandros, but also the CIPA agents themselves.
 
Yiannis Georgiadis’s shocking testimony on Alpha sheds ample light on the magnitude of the betrayal against Cyprus during the dark summer of 1974.
 
YIANNIS GEORGIAIDIS—CYPA Messenger: “From
Wednesday through the eve of Saturday, I had sent 16 to 18 reports a day, something that had never happened before. What was the response? Nothing came back.”
Yiannis Georgiadis is also
revealing about the failed operation of the Greek F-4 Phantoms on July 22, whose mission was to bomb Turkish forces before they entered Kyrenia. In the end, the Phantoms never arrived, communications were cut off, and the city was captured by 2:00 p.m.

ODYSSEAS CHRISTOU—Historical Researcher“
They had been ordered to reestablish contact with the Armed Forces Headquarters in Athens and to report on the progress of the landing. This activity was linked to the preparation of the Greek Phantoms to depart for Cyprus. “The Turks might have stopped if the Phantoms had carried out their mission.”

YIANNIS GEORGIAIDIS—
KYP Correspondent“I heard Simioforidis say, in an agitated tone, ‘I’m telling you here that the landing craft are disembarking; draw your own conclusions as to whether the waterline has risen or fallen.’ Which officer should I find and inform so that Kyrenia is held until 3 p.m.?”
 
This was preceded by scenes of utter chaos among the personnel as well as on the streets of the city of Praxandros.

YIANNIS GEORGIAIDIS-CYPRUS INTELLIGENCE SERVICE Messenger “Just
as we went downstairs to get the car, we saw four National Guard soldiers taking it and driving away. We saw soldiers falling dead in the street, tanks rolling over corpses, and driving through whatever obstacles had been set up.”

Watch Christoforos Nestoros’s report:

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