A mystery game of `Matrioshka: A boy from Paphos, a woman named Haysmig, a house at Ledra Palace… 

 

I do not know his name, nor the color of his eyes.

Was he blondish or a brunette? He was said to be young but how young was he? Barely 15-16 or 17-18? Or maybe just a bit older, like 19-20?

I do not know what he wore but only that he came for Christmas to Nicosia from Paphos in the year 1968. At least my `witness` remembers this date quite clearly because he left Cyprus in the year 1969.

He had left a mark on my `witness` and even today, he feels so sad talking about him…

The boy from Paphos was going to have Christmas celebrations with his cousins in Nicosia. Somehow he had lost his way and had passed to the `Turkish side` in the area of Ledra Palace… To be more precise, he had followed the road that passes behind Ledra Palace and goes towards the British High Commission in the northern part of Nicosia. This is the Shakespeare Avenue.

He was `captured` and questioned, later to be killed and buried in the garage at the back of a house, belonging to an Armenian Cypriot family but half of it was occupied by soldiers and in the other half, the Armenian woman, the owner of the house lived… According to my `witness`, his clothes were `shared` amongst those who killed him.

This was the house of the Mangoian family, the doctor and his wife who had no children but a maid, who helped the lady of the house. This was a famous family who came from Adana back in the 1920s and the Mangoian Brothers were very famous photographers of our island.

Dr. Mangoian and  Haysmig Mangoian owned this house but she had separated from her husband or her husband had died so she lived alone in this house… She was a big woman with a big heart who helped everyone coming near her… When Turkish Cypriot soldiers occupied the upstairs of her house after the inter-communal fighting began in 1963, she had not left her house… She would remain and would make them coffee and tea, bring them fruit and cook for them sometimes – she was one of those who would share everything she had… She must not have felt threatened in order not to leave her house… My `witness` remembers her very well and quite fondly, saying that she had given him money to help him buy his ticket to London back in 1969…

The young Greek Cypriot boy who had lost his way was questioned at the `Muharrem Apartment`, a building right behind the Ledra Palace Hotel. And according to my `witness`,  a couple of members of the `Death Squad` of those times had taken him  to the yard of the Mangoian family, to kill him in the garage and bury him somewhere near or in the garage…

One of my readers had gone to London and came back last week with `news` about the killing of this young boy from Paphos.

He called me to say that he had met someone in London who remembered the killing and the possible burial site of this boy. I called the `witness` from London and we spoke at length, him giving me more details… As I started my research, gradually it would develop into a mystery game of `Matrioshka`! It was just like `Matrioshka` because you would think you found the answers and then another `Matrioshka` would appear and then another…

First, I needed to make sure I knew which house  was the Mangoian family house. I needed to check whether in fact this house was occupied by Turkish Cypriot soldiers. I needed to find out who the Mangoian family was and what had happened to them. That’s when the next `Matrioshka` appeared. A story within a story…

Haysmig Mangoian was also killed in this house… She was found hanging from her kitchen window. The date was 9th of January 1970, two years after the young boy from Paphos `disappeared`.

Haysmig, whose name meant `Jasmine` had given all her jewellery to her maid and she had all the gold melted and had bracelets made… The maid would give these bracelets to her daughters-in-law… There were stories that Haysmig had gotten sort of frightened that someone might take her golden liras (bendos as we call them) away so she had given them to her maid…

Why was she killed, this gentle and caring woman who had no harm to anyone and who had very good relations with Turkish Cypriots?

Was the murderer one of the soldiers? Was an order given by authorities to kill her in a bid to chase away the few remaining Armenians from the `Turkish side`? This is hard to believe because they could have chased her years ago – why would they do it now? What’s more, the Turkish Cypriot soldiers were very sad that she was found dead… She had always helped them. This military post was called `Madam` after Haysmig Mangoian – they had called her `Madam`, a way of showing respect to foreigners in the Turkish language. One neighbour told me that, the day she was found dead, an Armenian had visited her… According to this neighbour `Some Armenians were really upset with her because this military post was called after her and that she was helping the soldiers by cooking for them or making them coffee… Haysmig was a real lady, she came from Izmir (Smyrna) and she was a close friend of Ataturk’s wife, Latife. She too was from Izmir… When we sat down to talk, she always talked about Latife…`

There were rumors that a crazy young boy had killed her. He was the son of the maid of a Turkish Cypriot woman living in the same street. He was a strange character, so did he really kill her? There were other rumors saying someone from her own family had killed her. There were even rumors that `ASALA` had her killed!...

Apparently the young crazy boy would kill another woman four years later, in the same street. He would rape her in her bathroom and then kill her and would be caught and sent to prison for 8 years. This woman, Servet was a teacher, living in the same street as Haysmig… Was he really the one who had killed Haysmig as well?

We would never know… Only the killer would know the answer.

As for her house, it stands, just next to Ledra Palace as you enter the Turkish Cypriot checkpoint on your left. It is the premises of the `Foreign Correspondents Association` and a restaurant belonging to them. The building was renovated by Turkish military forces and was given as a gift to the `Foreign Correspondents Association` years ago, after 1974, `foreign correspondents` meaning `correspondents from Turkey`.

My `witness` had told me that the garage would not be visible from here but that I would need to go to the back of the house.

There is no longer any garage – they have removed it and planted grass and turned the place into a restaurant. A small beriftero stands as a place to serve the customers in the summer… But the boy from Paphos must still be here, buried somewhere to the left at the back of the house, towards the road, if my `witness` is right.

It would be very easy for the Cyprus Missing Persons Committee to dig the back of this house because there is nothing except green grass…

I understand now, why I never felt comfortable looking at this house and always I tried to avoid going in this building… Strange, isn’t it, how our senses, sometimes warn us of `negative` energies roaming around!... And strange, how even now, I still feel eerie looking at this house each time I  pass from the Ledra Palace checkpoint… Before, I didn’t know the reason – now I understand why…