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Neohorio is a village located in the Nicosia district, only two kilometers south of Kythrea/Değirmenlik in the Nicosia district. Until 1964, the village was mixed, inhabited by Greek and Turkish Cypriots. Neo Chorio means “new village” in Greek. The Turkish name of the village Minareliköy is not new; it has been in use since the Ottoman period. Minareliköy means “village with a minaret.”

 

 

Neo Chorio/Minareliköy was a mixed village at least from the late Ottoman period. As can be seen from the chart above, in the Ottoman census of 1831, Christians (Greek Cypriots) constituted 59% and Muslims constituted 41% of the population of the village. The second British census of 1891, however, shows that the Muslim percentage of the population had dropped to 28%. Throughout the British period the growth rate of the Greek Cypriots continued to be relatively higher than that of the Turkish Cypriots, and by the 1960 census, the Turkish Cypriot’s proportion had declined to 16.5%.

Displacement:

The first conflict-related displacement occurred in January 1964, when all the Turkish Cypriot inhabitants of Neo Chorio/Minareliköy were displaced and moved to the nearby villages of Epicho/Cihangir(030), Mora/Meriç(071) and Beykeuy/Beyköy(022). They remained in those locations until 1974. The total number of displaced Turkish Cypriots from this village was approximately 250 (230 in the 1960 census). The second-conflict related displacement took place in August 1974 when all the Greek Cypriots fled the village from the advancing Turkish army. Currently, like many displaced Greek Cypriots, the Greek Cypriots of Neo Chorio/Minareliköy are scattered around south Cyprus, with large pockets in towns.

Current Inhabitants:

Currently the village is inhabited by its original Turkish Cypriot villagers. There are also many displaced Turkish Cypriots from the southern part of the divide, mainly from Paphos villages such as Vretsia/Dağaşan(342), Kouklia(312) and Istinjo(Kios)/Tabanlı(308), and the towns of Larnaca and Limassol. In addition, some non-displaced Turkish Cypriots from Epicho/Cihangir(030), Beykeuy/Beyköy(022) and Chatos/Serdarlı(135) moved to the village after the war of 1974. There are also some farmers from Turkey who settled in the village during 1975-77, mainly people from the Bulanık, Muş and Adana provinces and districts of Anatolia.  

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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)