Click Here for Map

Kokkina (Koççina) is a village in western Tylliria/Dillirga, situated on the coast between Pomos and Limnitis/Yeşilırmak. The meaning of Kokkina in Greek is “red.” Goodwin claims that the village, or the location where the current village stands, used to be called Ayia Eleni (Saint Helen). Kitchener’s map of 1885 shows only one church and a couple of buildings standing in the place where village is located today. Apparently, no one lived there permanently until 1911. Kutlu Adalı claims that in 1936 the Turkish Cypriot villagers of Kokkina/Erenköy were encouraged to move there from another settlement also called Kokkina, near Alevga situated on Karga hill. When they resettled, they immediately renamed the new village after their former village. However, in 1958, Turkish Cypriots renamed the village Erenköy, meaning “saintly village.” 

 

From 1891 to 1960, both the old and new villages of Kokkina were solely inhabited by Turkish Cypriots. Although the growth rate of the population fluctuated in the first decades of the twentieth century, it gradually increased from 151 in 1891 to 299 in 1960.

Displacement:

According to Goodwin, Kokkina/Erenköy was “swollen with Turkish Cypriot refugees during the 1964 intercommunal disturbances.” The Tylliria/Dillirga region, where Kokkina/Erenköy is situated, was the site of harsh confrontation between the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot communities. The Kokkina enclave (comprised of the villages: Kokkina/Erenköy, Mansoura/Mansur(066), Sellain T’api/Selçuklu(095), Agios Theodoros/Bozdağ(009) and Alevga/Alevkaya(014) was also the site of the largest National Guard offensive during the intercommunal conflict that took place between 6 and 9 August 1964. This major attack forced the Turkish Cypriots to evacuate four villages and retreat to a narrow beachhead of Kokkina/Erenköy. They remained there until 1975. In 1971, Richard Patrick recorded 677 displaced Turkish Cypriots who resided in the village. The ultimate success of the above-mentioned National Guard offensive was only prevented by the intervention of Turkish war planes, causing huge military and civilian losses to the Greek Cypriots. Following the 1974 war and the division of the island, Kokkina/Erenköy continued as an enclave, since the Turkish army never reached the village. The village was cut off by the Greek Cypriot village of Pyrgos, which geographically prevented it from uniting with the rest of Turkish-controlled north Cyprus. Eventually, in November 1976, all the villagers from Kokkina and the families displaced in 1964 were transferred to the former Greek Cypriot village of Yialousa/Yeni Erenköy(205) in the Karpasia/Karpaz peninsula, where they currently live.

Current Inhabitants:

The village has remained a Turkish Cypriot military camp since 1976.   

• Colonial Office (1893), “Cyprus: Report on the census of Cyprus, taken 6th April 1891,” Mediterranean, No. 39. London: Colonial Office.
• Department of Statitstics and Research, 1997. Estimates of Turkish Cypriots and Settlers from Turkey, Ministry of Finance [Republic of Cyprus], Nicosia.
• Fehmi, Hasan (2003), “Güney’de Kalan Değerlerimiz,” Lefkoşa (Nicosia): Özyay Matbaacılık.
• Fellahoğlu, Esat (2010), “Ulusal Direnişte Baf Köyleri,” İstanbul: Bayrak Matbaacılık.
• Giray, Halil: KKTC Yerleşim Birimleri, Yürürlükteki ve Eski İsimler Listesi KKTC İskân Bakanlığı : KKTC Coğrafi İsimler Kataloğu : (Cilt – I and II), Lefkoşa.
• Goodwin, Jack C. (1984), “An Historical Toponymy of Cyprus (Forth edition),” Nicosia (copy number 6).
• Hart-Davis, C. H (1922), “Report and general abstracts of the census of 1921, taken on the 24th April, 1921,” London: Waterlow & Sons.
• Hart-Davis, C. H (1932), “Report of the Census of 1931,” Nicosia: Cyprus Government Printing Office.
• Hatay, Mete, (2005). “Beyond Numbers: An Inquiery into the Political Integration of the Turkish ‘Settlers’ in Northern Cyprus,” PRIO/Cyprus Centre Report  4/2005, Nicosia/Oslo, PRIO.
• Hill, Sir George, (1952). A History of Cyprus, Vol. IV., Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
• Ioannides, Christos P., 1991. “In Turkey’s Image: The Transformation of Occupied Cyprus into a Turkish Province,” Aristide D. Caratzas, New York.
• KKTC Başbakanlık Devlet Planlama Örgütü Müsteşarlığı, “15 Aralık 1996 Genel Nüfus Sayımı Sonuçları (Özet), 26, November 1997,” Nicosia.
• Mavrogordato, Alexander (1901), “Report and general abstracts of the census of 1901, taken on the 1st April, 1901,” Nicosia: Government Printing Office.
• Mavrogordato, Alexander (1912), “Report and general abstracts of the census of 1911, taken on the 2nd April, 1911,” London:  Waterlow & Sons.
• Menardos, Simos (2001), Τοπωνημικαι και Λαογραφικαι Μελεται (Topographical and Folkloric Studies), Nicosia: Centre for Scientific Studies
  Perry, Frederic W., 1884. Report on the Census of Cyprus 1881, Eyre and Spottiswoode, London.
• Republic of Cyprus, 1961. “Census of Population and Agriculture, 1960: Volume I: Population by Location, Race, and Sex,” Nicosia
• TRNC 2006 census preliminary results can be found at:  www.devplan.org
  TRNC Prime Ministry State Planning Organisation Statistics and Research Department, Census of Population: Social and Economic Characteristics of Population, December 15, 1996, TRNC Prime Ministry, Nicosia, 1999.
• Standing Cypriot Commission for the Standardization of Geographical Names (2007), “Οδηγος Τυποποιησης Ονοματων (Guide to Standardized Names),” Nicosia: Ministry of Education and Culture.
• Ministry of Finance (1973), “Micro-Census (April 1973) Population by Village and Ethnic Group, Volume I.” Nicosia: Department of Statistics and Research.
• Özad, Murat Hüsnü (2002), “Baf ve Mücadele Yılları,” Lefkoşa (Nicosia): Akdeniz Haber Ajansı Yayınları.
• Patrick, Richard (1976), “Political Geography and the Cyprus Conflict: 1963-1971,” Department of Geography, Faculty of Environmental Studies, University of Waterloo.
• Percival, D.A. (1949), “Census of population and agriculture 1946 report,” Nicosia: Cyprus Government Printing Office.
• 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.
• Republic of Cyprus (2003), “Census of population 2001,” Nicosia: Department of Statistics and Research, Ministry of Finance.
• St John-Jones, L. W., 1983. “The Population of Cyprus: Demographic Trends and  Socio-Economic Influences” (with a foreword by W. H. Morris-Jones), Maurice  Temple, Smith Limited, London.
• T.C. Başbakanlık Devlet Arşivleri Genel Müdürlüğü (2000), “Osmanlı İdaresinde Kıbrıs (Nüfus-Arazi Dağılımı ve Türk Vakıfları),” Ankara: Osmanlı Arşivi Daire Başkanlığı Yayın No: 43.
• 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)