Click Here for Map
Kouklia, or Kukla, is a village, located near the ancient town of Paphos (Palea Paphos). It is situated sixteen kilometers southeast of modern Paphos (Ktima) and immediately north of the Paphos-Limassol highway. According to the villlage’s website, Kouklia was in existence during the Byzantine period. The site also claims that Kouklia was the property of the Byzantine officer Kouvikoularios. The guards of Byzantine emperors who kept watch over the imperial dormitory were called kouvikoularioi and were often rewarded with fiefs or country houses for their services. However Goodwin claims that in Greek kivourka and kouvoklia mean “tombs” or “entombing places.” Turkish Cypriots called the village Kukla until 1958, when they adopted the alternative name Sakarya. This name was given to commemorate the battle of Sakarya, an important three-week encounter in the Greco-Turkish War of 1919-1922 and the Turkish War of Independence.
Historical Population:
Kouklia was a mixed village until 1975. As may be seen from the chart above, in the Ottoman census of 1831, Christians (Greek Cypriots) constituted almost 58% of the population. However, the British censuses show that until 1921 the number of the Muslim (Turkish Cypriot) inhabitants of the village was slightly higher than that of their Greek Cypriot neighbors. From the second quarter of the 20th century, the Greek Cypriot percentage of the population increased more than that of the Turkish Cypriots. The 1960 census put the Greek Cypriot percentage of the village at 60%.
Displacement:
No one was displaced during either the emergency years of the 1950s or the intercommunal strife of the 1960s. However, during the latter period the village’s Turkish sector housed some displaced Turkish Cypriots from Lempa/Çınarlı(317) and from the suburbs of Paphos/Ktima(329).
On 22 July 1974, Greek Cypriot forces attacked the Turkish sector of the village in reaction to the Turkish offensive then taking place in the north of the island and in order to disarm Turkish Cypriot Fighters. During this attack, almost all of the Kouklia Turkish Cypriots fled the village, leaving behind only persons who were too old or ill to travel. The Turkish Cypriots of Kouklia first attempted to seek refuge in Alektora/Gökağaç(256) and Avdimou/Düzkaya(260). However, those villages had already been evacuated and so they moved on to the Akrotiri Sovereign British Base Area, where they remained until January 1975 when they were taken to the north via Turkey. On 16 August 1975, those 28 mostly elderly persons who had been left behind in Kouklia village were evacuated under UNFICYP escort and taken to the north. They were mainly resettled in Karavas/Alsancak(226), Lapithos/Lapta(237), Morphou/Güzelyurt(072), Kythrea/Değirmenlik(056), Kyra/Mevlevi(055), Trachhoni/Demirhan(099), Neo Chorio/Minareliköy(073), Gerolakkos/Alayköy(037), Famagusta(140) and Nicosia(074). The number of Kouklia Turkish Cypriots who were displaced after 1974 was around 450 (419 in 1960 census).
Current Inhabitants: Currently, Kouklia is mainly occupied by its original Greek Cypriot inhabitants and some displaced Greek Cypriots from the island’s north. According to the 2001 census there are 669 persons residing in the village.
REFERENCES
Books and Reports:
-
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:
|
Back to Top