“There may not be another opportunity for me to speak.” That is how he began the interview he gave on the RIK program “Code of Silence” with journalist Petros Melaisis, Achilleas, the son of former President of the Republic Spyros Kyprianou. For the first time, he broke his silence and spoke about the four days he spent in the hands of his kidnappers, the ultimatum they sent to his father, and addressed rumors of a staged kidnapping intended to secure Spyros Kyprianou’s reelection to the presidency.
Referring to a serious health problem he is facing, he explained that for years he chose to keep the painful memories to himself, but now he feels the need to respond to what he considers false and distorted. “For a long time, I’ve wanted to speak out about my kidnapping and the unfair and completely baseless distortion of the facts. I’m tired of hearing slander and lies all these years,” he said.
ΣΧΕΤΙΚΑ ΑΡΘΡΑ
The Night That Changed His Life
He was just 19 years old. In December 1977, he was serving as a second lieutenant in the 32nd Commando Squadron and was stationed at a small reserve camp in Machaira. That night, the camp’s generator had broken down, and the area was in near-total darkness. Shortly afterward, he was summoned to the gate. There he found a man who introduced himself as a taxi driver. He claimed to be transporting a paratrooper who had been injured during a training exercise and asked Achilleas Kyprianou to examine him. But it was a trap. The gate guard later reported to the police that the unknown man had specifically asked to see “Achilleas Kyprianou, the President’s son.” To him, this proves that the kidnappers knew exactly who their target was.
The trap outside the military camp
Achilles Kyprianou got into the passenger seat. He left the door ajar so there would be a little light and he could see the supposedly wounded man. He didn’t have time. “As soon as I sat down, the so-called injured man lunged at me, immobilizing me by pressing a pistol against my temple, while the so-called taxi driver sped off,” he described. The car drove away from the military camp. A short time later, the perpetrators stopped, tied his hands with surgical tape, and blindfolded him. They knew, he believes, that as a Special Forces officer, he was trained to attempt an escape. The drive lasted about an hour and a half. At one point, one of the kidnappers asked him if his father had a particular soft spot for him. The question was meant to serve a purpose. Shortly afterward, the ultimatum would follow.
“If the Central Bank didn’t open, they would have executed me.”
The kidnappers forced Achilleas Kyprianou to read a statement addressed to his father, Spyros Kyprianou. The message was clear. They demanded the release of convicted criminals linked to EOKA B and the coup. Otherwise, they threatened to execute him. “The ultimatum stated that if the Central Prison wasn’t opened to release convicted criminals from EOKA B and the coup, they would execute me and send my head to my father,” he said. His eyes were covered again. The car continued on its way.
Four hours in rough terrain
At some point, the kidnappers took him out of the car. A four- to five-hour trek on foot followed. With his hands tied and his eyes covered, the 19-year-old officer was led through rugged terrain. “I can’t remember how many times I fell and hit my knees and elbows. It was torture,” he said. Eventually, they reached a small underground cave. It was hidden amid dense vegetation, bushes, and thorns. He later learned that the spot was located in a mountainous area near Kyvides. “The cave was so well camouflaged that there was no chance the police would find me,” he said.
“It was as if I were buried alive.”
The hiding place was so small that he couldn’t stand or sit up properly. He remained lying down or propped up on his side. Outside the cave, as he realized, were two armed guards. The possibility of escape was virtually nonexistent. Cold, hunger, thirst, and the constant threat of execution. “The feeling of cold, hunger, and thirst was unbearable. Being confined in a hole in the freezing cold, starving, thirsty, and facing threats of execution was an unbelievable ordeal,” he described. He had no way of knowing whether it was day or night. The only thing he could perceive were the changes in temperature. “It was as if I were buried alive,” he said.
“They said I was in a hotel”
Even today, he said, he is still hurt by the rumors that circulated during the time of his abduction. Among other things, some claimed that he wasn’t being held in a hideout but was staying at a hotel. “It’s particularly sad that some malicious people were spreading rumors back then that I was in a hotel,” he said. Memories that, as he put it, he has never really been able to put behind him.
Vasilis Pavlidis and the “military organization”
In the interview, he also referred to Vasilis Pavlidis, whom he described as the mastermind behind the kidnapping. According to his testimony, Pavlidis told him that he belonged to an organization with a military structure. In fact, as he claimed, Pavlidis told him that this particular organization was far superior to the leadership of the Republic of Cyprus. Achilleas Kyprianou did not provide any further names, noting that he was limiting himself to what he personally knew or had observed during his captivity.
Mediation for the Release
According to his own account, EOKA B officials who knew the kidnappers played a decisive role in the unfolding of the case. As he claimed, they feared that his potential murder would deal a massive blow to their reputation and attempted to mediate. He made special mention of the then-chief of the Cyprus Police (KYP), Kypros Mourouzidis. As he said, a message was conveyed to the kidnappers that, even if they managed to avoid arrest before a possible execution, they would not be able to escape afterward. He further claimed that the kidnappers were promised they would not be prosecuted for the kidnapping, provided they released him and did not commit any further criminal acts. He publicly expressed his gratitude for the role played by Kypros Mourouzidis.
“I felt as if I had been resurrected.”
Four days after the kidnapping, Achilleas Kyprianou was released. His return to freedom was, as he describes it, a second birth. “I felt like I had been resurrected, that I had been dead and was given a second chance at life,” he said. Before returning to his parents, he was taken to the home of a dry-cleaning shop owner in Limassol. The people who took him in did not want—as they explained to him—his family to see him in the condition he was in. When he finally returned home, his father expressed his distress over the fact that his son’s life had been put in danger because he had refused to give in to the ultimatum. Achilles Kyprianou’s response: “I told him he did the right thing.”
The Response to Theories of “Staging”
Achilles Kyprianou’s testimony was not limited to a description of the kidnapping. For the first time, as he said, he wanted to publicly address the theories that had dogged him for decades. One of these theories was that the abduction had been staged to boost Spiros Kyprianou’s political standing. He categorically rejects this claim. He cited the results of the 1976 parliamentary elections, noting that the Democratic Rally had received approximately 27%, while the remaining parties collectively garnered about 73%. He argued that AKEL was already backing Spyros Kyprianou and that EDEK was moving in the same direction. “The question is, how could Glafkos have been elected with 27%?” he asked. At the same time, he referred to Kostis Hatzikostis’s book *Six Presidential Portraits* and to Glafkos Clerides’s decision to withdraw his candidacy on December 16, 1977. He also cited the 1983 presidential election. Glafkos Clerides had received approximately 34%, Vassos Lyssarides 9.5%, while Spyros Kyprianou was elected in the first round with 56.5%. “Glafkos Clerides’ 34% did not defeat Spyros Kyprianou’s 56.5%. Therefore, I will repeat one last time that the claim that Kyprianou took advantage of the kidnapping to be elected President is completely absurd,” he said.
“They even called my mother a liar”
His reference to his mother’s televised appeal to the kidnappers was particularly emotional. As he explained, the appeal was made in a state of great emotional distress, since she knew her son was in danger of being executed. And yet, as he noted, there were people who claimed that even her emotion was feigned—that even the kidnapping itself was staged. “I have very painful memories that I’ve been trying to forget for years,” she said. The memories, as she explained, would come flooding back every time she was called to give a statement to the police, appear in court proceedings, or come face-to-face with the people who had kidnapped her.
“Distorting the facts is a despicable act”
Achilles Kyprianou made it clear that he does not dispute the need for political debate and criticism. However, he distinguishes political disagreement from the distortion of facts and personal attacks. “Every democracy needs a serious opposition. There are always issues open to criticism. The distortion of facts and character assassination by a segment of the political and journalistic world for the sake of opposition are despicable acts,” he said. And he sent his own message regarding a case that, as he said, has haunted him his entire life: “This is my account of the true events surrounding my abduction, the rumors, the smear campaign, and all the incidents intended to harm Spyros Kyprianou.”
Why he chose to speak out now
Achilles Kyprianou also revealed that he himself requested that the interview be broadcast after the 2026 parliamentary elections. He wanted, as he said, to rule out any possibility of his testimony being linked to the pre-election debate or being perceived as an attempt to intervene politically. His health, however, made the decision even more urgent. “Given my extremely serious health problems, it is uncertain how much longer I will be able to speak. This may be my last chance to give my final interview,” he said. And he concluded with a statement that, as he put it, sums up why he chose to speak out after nearly half a century: “I’ve been misunderstood enough in my life and have been dragged through the mud, and I didn’t want this final act of mine to get mixed up in the pre-election debates.”
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