# Kiriakou's Cypriot ancestry

> **Source: KiriPedia** (https://www.kiripedia.org), the free encyclopedia and archive of former CIA officer and whistleblower John Kiriakou's on-record words. Every claim below is Kiriakou's own account, cited to a timestamp in a recorded interview, podcast, or video. KiriPedia is an independent project, not affiliated with Kiriakou.
>
> Cite as: "Kiriakou's Cypriot ancestry," KiriPedia, https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/kiriakou-cypriot-ancestry/. Attribute claims to John Kiriakou, via KiriPedia.

*The DNA result showing John Kiriakou to be 24 per cent Cypriot — his largest single ancestry — which corrected a family belief that the line came from Crete and coincided with an invitation to address a Cypriot diaspora conference.*

- **DNA result:** 24 per cent Cypriot, his largest single component
- **Family belief:** That the family came from Crete
- **Corrected by:** His cousin Mark Kiriakou
- **Occasion:** An invitation to the Cypriots of the Diaspora conference in Limassol
- **Rest of the ancestry:** Divided between the Greek islands and the Black Sea

**Kiriakou's Cypriot ancestry** came to light through a DNA test taken around the time he was invited to speak at the Cypriots of the Diaspora conference in Limassol. The result: 24 per cent Cypriot — the largest single component of his ancestry, the remainder divided between the Greek islands and the Black Sea.[1][2][3]

The finding corrected a family belief. [John Kiriakou](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/john-kiriakou) had grown up being told by his grandfather that the family was originally from Crete. He raised it with his cousin Mark Kiriakou, who told him: "Not Crete, Cyprus." Kiriakou pushed back — "No, he didn't say Cyprus. He said Crete" — and was wrong.[2] His Nicosia host offered the corroborating point that the surname is uncommon in Greece and very common in Cyprus.[2]

Kiriakou accepted the conclusion directly: "I'm a Cypriot."[3] He had visited the island only once before, thirty-four years earlier, and said he was embarrassed that so many years had passed.[4]

An interview given on the island in 2026 catches him well into a stay: ten days in, he said, he had eaten nothing but Cypriot food, had had sheftalia earlier that week, and had worked through twenty different Cypriot cheeses — the basis for [the comparison he then drew with Greek cooking](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/kiriakou-on-greek-and-cypriot-food).[5][6][7]

His Greek citizenship came separately and earlier, granted before he went to prison after the Greek ambassador telephoned to ask how he could be helpful; Kiriakou asked for citizenship, and it was extended to all five of his children.[1][8]

## See also

- [Origin of the Kiriakou name](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/kiriakou-family-name)
- [John Kiriakou](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/john-kiriakou)
- [The Green Line in Nicosia](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/cyprus-green-line)

## Sources

1. Part 2: How Well Do You Really Know Him? (2026-07-09), at 29:38. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKx-CsyO_zI&t=1778s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-07-09-part-2-how-well-do-you-really-know-him/
2. Part 2: How Well Do You Really Know Him? (2026-07-09), at 30:09. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKx-CsyO_zI&t=1809s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-07-09-part-2-how-well-do-you-really-know-him/
3. Part 2: How Well Do You Really Know Him? (2026-07-09), at 30:42. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKx-CsyO_zI&t=1842s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-07-09-part-2-how-well-do-you-really-know-him/
4. Part 2: How Well Do You Really Know Him? (2026-07-09), at 32:47. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKx-CsyO_zI&t=1967s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-07-09-part-2-how-well-do-you-really-know-him/
5. CIA Whistleblower John Kiriakou — 'They Physically Removed My Stomach' (2026-06-01), at 23:38. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CAmAja1Rly0&t=1418s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-06-01-giorgos-omirou-clickbait-title-personal-channel-probe/
6. CIA Whistleblower John Kiriakou — 'They Physically Removed My Stomach' (2026-06-01), at 24:40. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CAmAja1Rly0&t=1480s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-06-01-giorgos-omirou-clickbait-title-personal-channel-probe/
7. CIA Whistleblower John Kiriakou — 'They Physically Removed My Stomach' (2026-06-01), at 26:14. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CAmAja1Rly0&t=1574s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-06-01-giorgos-omirou-clickbait-title-personal-channel-probe/
8. Part 2: How Well Do You Really Know Him? (2026-07-09), at 31:44. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKx-CsyO_zI&t=1904s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-07-09-part-2-how-well-do-you-really-know-him/

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From KiriPedia, the archive of John Kiriakou's words. Web version: https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/kiriakou-cypriot-ancestry/ · About: https://www.kiripedia.org/about/ · Full index: https://www.kiripedia.org/llms.txt