During the mid-war years, Cyprus suffered from poverty, especially in the remote villages. It was then that many Turkish Cypriot families sold their daughters to “rich” Arabs who came to the island seeking brides. Over 2000 young girls, between the ages of 10-14 were sold and taken to the Near East, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria where they became either one of many wives or slaves to their masters.
Some were lucky enough to have a good life but certainly far away from their families. The stories of these girls sold for 10-12 pounds each, are published in a book titled Brides for Sale by Neriman Cahit. A film has been made by Yeliz Shukri and Pembe Mentesh whereby a niece tries to find her missing aunt who was sold years ago. This is a dark side of what happened in Cyprus and yet still happening in some other countries of our world.
Brides for Sale can be found at the CVAR gift shop.
The ‘Did You Know’ series is made possible with the support of OPAP (Cyprus) and the Active Citizens Fund.
