A new book examining the 1967 bombing of Cyprus Airways flight CY284 has revived questions over the deaths of 66 people and the suspected political motive behind the attack, with its author and researchers questioning why the findings of a British investigation have never prompted a full public inquiry in Cyprus.
Murder in High Places? The secret investigation into the bombing of flight CY284, recently published by Simon Hepworth, revisits the destruction of the aircraft on October 12, 1967, when a bomb exploded aboard a British European Airways Comet flying from Athens to Nicosia.
All 59 passengers and seven crew members died when the aircraft crashed into the Mediterranean Sea.
Investigators found evidence of military-grade explosives in a passenger seat cushion recovered from the sea, undermining an initial theory that the aircraft had collided with another plane.
The new book follows Hepworth’s 2018 publication, Bealine Charlie Oscar – The Mystery of flight CY284.
Earlier research into the disaster, citing material from the British National Archives, was published by researchers Fanoulas Argyrou and Michalis Thomaidis in the London-based Greek community newspaper Eleftheria in 2011.
Bombing had political motive
Argyrou argued that the bombing had a political motive and was intended to assassinate General Georgios Grivas, who was due to be on board but cancelled plans at the last minute.
The only authority that had initially ruled out that it was a bombing, was Cyprus’ special branch, headed by the then minister of both the interior and defence Polykarpos Yiorkadjis.
Yiorkadjis was a former operative who had built extensive intelligence networks and was at one time one of Archbishop Makarios’ staunchest supporters before becoming his political rival after leaving government in 1968.
On March 11,1970, Makarios survived an assassination attempt when gunmen opened fire on his helicopter as it took off from the Archbishopric in Nicosia.
Yiorkadjis came under suspicion and was prevented from leaving Cyprus while attempting to board a flight to Beirut.
He was found shot dead outside Nicosia four days later, on March 15, 1970, with the perpetrators of his killing never identified.
US diplomatic records from the period describe suspicions surrounding both the assassination attempt and Yiorkadjis’ death.
Argyrou has criticised successive Cypriot governments for failing to address the flight bombing, saying copies of the British investigation’s findings were sent to Cyprus and Greece in 1968.
Tabloid report ruled out explosion
He also questions an October 14, 1967 report in the tabloid newspaper Agon, owned by Yiorkadjis’ close associate Constantinos Koshis, which ruled out an explosion less than 48 hours after the disaster.
The British investigation identified a bomb as the cause of the explosion, according to Argyrou, who has repeatedly demanded an explanation for the newspaper’s conclusion.
The government has never opened an investigation into the flight’s crash, while the British home office has refused to declassify its findings until 2067, a century after the event.
The Metropolitan Police has itself previously admitted the case holds political implications which would “potentially harm relations” between Cyprus and the United Kingdom.