Remembrances of a Greek soldier, 50 years on

With the scars still visible on his body 50 years after Turkey invaded Cyprus, Angelos Vougioukas, a member of the Panhellenic Association of Cyprus Fighters of 1974, looks back on the crucial first hours of the Turkish occupation of Cyprus, and the 99 days he spent as a prisoner of the Turkish forces.

Through a vivid portrayal of events that could fill a book, Vougioukas describes to Kathimerini the torture he suffered at the hands of the Turks, the conditions of detention and the executions of his fellow soldiers.

Vougioukas joined the ranks of the Greek army as a light gunner in October 1972. "After a few months of service on Greek soil, I was posted to Cyprus in January 1974 and transferred with ELDYK," he says, referring to the Hellenic Force in Cyprus, going on to say that he was then assigned to the 182nd Field Artillery Squadron at Agios Epiktitos in Kyrenia,...