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Melouseia or Melousha is a Turkish Cypriot village situated in the south Mesaoria/Mesarya plain, five kilometers northeast of Athienou/Kiracıköy on the northern side of the Cyprus divide. In 1960, it was listed as part of the Larnaca district, but after 1974 Turkish Cypriots began to list Melousha/Kırıkkale as part of the Nicosia district of north Cyprus. The origin of the name is obscure. In 1958, Turkish Cypriots adopted an alternative Turkish name, Kırıkkale, literally meaning “broken castle” or “ruined castle.” Kırıkkale is also a place name in Anatolia. 

 

Since the Ottoman period, Melouseia/Kırıkkale has been inhabited exclusively by Turkish Cypriots. Although the population growth of the village was steady in the first half of the twentieth century, a significant decline was recorded in 1960.

Displacement:

No one was displaced from the village during the intercommunal strife of the 1960s. However, during this period, the village served as a reception center for displaced Turkish Cypriots who fled from nearby villages such as Pyroi/Gaziler(093) and Agios Sozomenos/Arpalık(008). After 1968, many of these displaced families chose to move to larger enclaves with proper refugee housing, although Richard Patrick notes that in 1971 there were still seven displaced Turkish Cypriots residing in the village.

Current Inhabitants:

Melousea/Kırıkkale is currently inhabited only by its original villagers. The last Turkish Cypriot census of 2006 put the village’s population at 398.  

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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)