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Epicho, or Abohor, is a Turkish Cypriot village situated in the Kythrea/Değirmenlik region of Nicosia district, sixteen kilometers northeast of the capital city of Nicosia and two kilometers northwest of Exometochi/Düzova. Regarding the origin of the name, currently, there are two scenarios existing: one claims that the name derived from apohorisi, meaning “becoming distant” in Greek and the second one claims that the name derived from Âb- ı hurdenî, meaning “drinkable water” in Persian (Erciyas 2010:56-57). Until 1958, Turkish Cypriots used the name Abohor, but then changed the name to Cihangir, meaning “conqueror of the world.” 

 

Epicho has always been inhabited exclusively by Turkish Cypriots. Although the population of the village fluctuated in the first decades of the 20^th century, it steadily increased from 319 in 1891 to 555 in 1960.

Displacement:

No one was displaced from this village during the intercommunal strife of the 1960s. However, during that period, the village served as an important reception center for many displaced Turkish Cypriots who had fled from nearby villages such as Palaikythro/Balıkesir(081) and Neo Chorio/Minareliköy(073). According to Richard Patrick, in 1971 there were still 109 displaced Turkish Cypriots residing in the village.

Current Inhabitants:

It is currently inhabited only by its original villagers. There are some laborers from Turkey residing in Epicho/Cihangir who work in the newly developed (past decade) industrial area, which is located not far from the village. The last Turkish Cypriot census of 2006 put the village’s population at 929.  

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• TRNC 2006 census preliminary results can be found at:  www.devplan.org
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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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• Republic of Cyprus (1962), “Census of population and agriculture, 1960,” Nicosia: Government Printing Office.
• Republic of Cyprus (1984), “Census of population 1982,” Nicosia: Department of Statistics and Research, Ministry of Finance.
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• Yorgancıoğlu,  Oğuz: Kıbrıs’ta Türkçe Yer Adları ve Veriliş Yöntemleri Üzerine Bir Araştırma Kıbrıs Araştırmaları Dergisi, Cilt : 2, Sayı : 3, Yıl : 96

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)