This Ghost Town was Sealed for 50 Years

Imagine if the history channel replaced the aliens, gold, and scripted drama for this type of content. Absolutely amazing job, Johnny!

Vox : sorry Johnny, we can't continue the Borders series Johnny : fine, i'll do it myself!

I found a postcard from Famagusta a year ago in an abandoned house in my hometown. It said " This is Famagusta, it's really close and we're going to have lots of baths when they return it to us (next year)." It was kinda sad. Knowing he hoped he would return next year but never did..

I was born in Cyprus, Nicosia in 1954, my dad was a civilian working alongside the British forces. We had 3 tours, living on the military base outside famagusta, last tour was 69-72. I can honestly say my time spent on this beautiful island was the happiest of my life, seeing the devastation, especially of famagusta, breaks my heart

"I'm not a tourist. It's my home." I feel so sorry for Mr. Takis.

"I'm not a tourist, it's my home". I have to admit that when Mr. Takis said that, it cut me in half. God Bless him.

My grandma was a refugee and the last thing she wrote in her journal (beofre she died) was that she wished to go back to her home. Makes me tear up every time I think about what she had gone through.

Because of some visa complication, I found myself stuck in Cyprus right now while making my way to Portugal. I knew close to nothing about Cyprus and watching this video from inside the island itself gives me a whole new level of appreciation for what's causing the unique structure of the country. Thank you Johny for your absolutely brilliant work in telling this story that is unbiased, informative, and deeply human. My heart ached as I listened to Mr Takis describe how it feels to be so close yet so far from what he used to call home.

Hey friends. Thanks for being here. You'll notice this is a long video. this is how much time I needed to really unpack the important details and emotional realities of this island and its divisions. I hope you will take the time to stick with it. To absorb. If you do, I promise you will learn and feel something. That's why I make these videos. Also, this was just episode 1 of 4. in the next episode I'll show you want these lines look and feel like today. I'll go inside the buffer zone. In Ep3 I'll focus entirely on life in the occupied north and in episode 4 i will focus on.....donkey. Lots more to come in coming weeks. See you soon! -Johnny Edit: Thomas from yes theory just published his story from this trip. go check it out! https://youtu.be/vdkQWgZLrYA

As a refugee of Famagusta, this has hit me hard. I was 7 when evacuated from my home and have lived in London ever since. There's an irony that I have Turkish Cypriot friends here while my relatives in Cyprus of similar age have never even met any.

I have a good friend from Cyprus. It is just so sad all Cypriots (ethnic Greeks AND ethnic Turks) can't just live over the whole island. Humans are so incredibly cruel to each other. All we can do is pray.

As someone who has grown up in Cyprus (Greek side) I appreciate this so much. The conflict between Greeks and Turks has been very prominent all throughout my childhood. (even though I'm young and didn't live through this time) It always baffled me that outside of cyprus this wasn't known at all. So thank you very much for covering our history... Teaching the world and also us Cypriots about both sides.

As a Cypriot myself, I have to say this has made me cry at least in 3 instances. What a clear video, concise, thought-after, no words, really. Thank you for this. They should show this video in History lessons. Looking forward to the next parts.

beyond proud of you and inspired by you. feeling extra lucky today to be front and center on the sidelines cheering you on ❤

Hi Johnny! I am Turkish Cypriot- my mum’s side of the family, including my mum, grew up in Cyprus during the conflict. This is an amazing piece of work, very well narrated. Although I do wish you had conducted an interview with a Turkish Cypriot as well. It is painful for both sides and it is truly heartbreaking. Keep up the great work.

This is a remarkable peace of history. In fact all of your videos are out of this world. More people should appreciate your tremendous work. Well done, Johnny!

Considering this content is freely available to anyone who can access the internet is utterly mind blowing to me. Credit to you johnny for sharing your knowledge, passion and empathy to the world

As a Cypriot, son of refugee, this video made me cry. Half of my family, including me, is living abroad. We've lost our home, our base. Still 47 years later my father is tight-lipped about that summer. I remember when I was a child I was pushing him to talk about the war and his answer was "what do you want me to say? That I've seen my best friend after he was killed and ran over by a tank?". It still hurts.

I served with the UN in Cyprus in 2014/15. In the build up to going to Nicosia we went through a pre-deployment package which covered the history however I feel like I've learnt more in the 30 minutes watching this Johnny than the hours and weeks of training in the building up to going! and nearly 10 years on since I was there, this video has given me different view. Cheers for creating it!! L

Well done! I was a teenager then and remember hearing about the conflict in Cyprus on the news. I'm 68 now, listening to this now....just wow!