Tasoula Hadjitofi, the Cypriot activist and entrepreneur based in the Netherlands, who became a refugee with her family at the age of 15 during the Turkish invasion of 1974, spoke on Voice of Greece Radio and the program “Our Global Voice” with Dimitris Kontogiannis.
She shared her experiences of displacement and her decision not to accept the status quo but to dedicate her life to the return of Cyprus’ stolen cultural treasures.
Hadjitofi is the author of the book The Icon Hunter, which recounts her personal struggle to dismantle one of the most significant international art-trafficking networks in Europe since World War II, leading to the arrest in Munich of Turkish smuggler Aydin Dikmen, in cooperation with German and Cypriot police and Interpol. The complex and dangerous operation uncovered 5,000 looted cultural treasures from Cyprus and other parts of the world. It became known as “the Munich Operation.” The book was first published in English, later in Greek, and just a few months ago in Turkish.
She is also the founder of the NGO Walk of Truth, which is dedicated to the repatriation of looted cultural heritage worldwide.