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Akaki/Akaça is a village located in the Nicosia district, fourteen miles west of the capital city of Nicosia and three miles east of Peristerona. Greek Cypriots always called the village Akaki and Turkish Cypriots called it Akaça (Akacha). While the origin of the Greek Cypriot name is obscure, there are at least two commonly used etymologies for the name. According to some sources, the village was named after a person named Akkakios, who may have been a landlord from the Byzantine or Latin period. Other sources suggest that the name is associated with Saint Akakkios. Turkish Cypriots, on the other hand, claim that the village’s name derives from a nearby river, which the Ottomans named Akarca, or “running stream,” when they first settled in its vicinity. After some time the village, too, began to be called by this name, and eventually Akarca became Akaça.

 

 

The village had always been a mixed village. As can be seen from the chart above, in the Ottoman census of 1831, Christians (Greek Cypriots) constituted the majority of the inhabitants (70%). In 1891 this percentage increased to 87%. By the 1960 census the Greek Cypriot share of the village had risen to 90%.

Displacement:

During the 1930s and 1940s, some Turkish Cypriot families from villages such as Avlona(021) and Menigo moved to and settled in Akaki/Akaça. The factors leading to this movement are unknown. In 1931, before they abandoned these villages, Menigo had nine Turkish Cypriot residents, and Avlona(021) had 19. The first recorded conflict-related displacement in relation to Akaki/Akaça took place in January 1964. It is known that all the Turkish Cypriot inhabitants of Akaki/Akaça were displaced in January 1964 and moved to Turkish Cypriot-controlled settlements such as Lefka/Lefke(060), Kazivera/Gaziveren(049), Angolemi/Taşpınar(018) and Ortaköy(080). The number of those who were displaced was approximately 160 (as there were 156 Turkish Cypriot inhabitants in 1960).

Current Inhabitants:

Currently Akaki/Akaça is mainly inhabited by its original Greek Cypriot villagers and displaced Greek Cypriots from the north. Since 1974, Akaki/Akaça has accommodated many displaced Greek Cypriots, mainly displaced Greek Cypriots from the Morphou area. Most of the empty Turkish houses were allocated for the use of these displaced Greek Cypriots. The last census of 2001 puts the total population of the village at 2,675.  

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• Standing Cypriot Commission for the Standardization of Geographical Names (2007), “Οδηγος Τυποποιησης Ονοματων (Guide to Standardized Names),” Nicosia: Ministry of Education and Culture.
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Websites:

• http://www.cyprus-village.com/ (for the villages)
• http://news.karpasha.com/
• http://human-rights-archaeology.blogspot.com/
• http://kypros.org/Occupied_Cyprus/ (for the villages in the north)