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Angastina is a village in the Famagusta district, located around 20 kilometers east of Nicosia and four kilometers southwest of Marathovounos/Ulukışla village. It is situated on the main road to Famagusta. Goodwin suggests that the name derives from a medieval French word “gastine” (wasteland). It was renamed Aslanköy by Turkish Cypriots in 1975. Aslanköy in Turkish means “lion village.” 

 

Until 1911 the village was mixed. As can be seen from the chart above, in the Ottoman census of 1831, Christians constituted 70% and Muslims 30% of the village’s population. This ratio changed in 1891, when the Muslim percentage dropped to 11.8% and the Greek Cypriot share rose to almost 88%. Due to unknown reasons, the Muslim population continued to decline until 1911, dropping from 58 in 1891 to 26 in 1911. In 1921, there was only one Muslim resident left in the village.

Displacement:

By 1974, Angastina was an entirely Greek Cypriot village, and all of its inhabitants were displaced in August of that year, fleeing from the advancing Turkish army to the southern part of the island. Currently, like the rest of the displaced Greek Cypriots, the Greek Cypriots of Angastina are scattered throughout the island’s south, with small pockets in towns. The number of the Angastina Greek Cypriots who were displaced in 1974 was around 810 (807 in the 1973 census).

Current Inhabitants:

Today the village is mainly inhabited by displaced Turkish Cypriots from the island’s south, especially from the village of Pentakomo/Beşevler(275) in the Limassol district . There are also some families originally from Turkey living in the village. The 2006 Turkish Cypriot census puts Aslanköy’s population at 409. 

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• Fehmi, Hasan (2003), “Güney’de Kalan Değerlerimiz,” Lefkoşa (Nicosia): Özyay Matbaacılık.
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• Hart-Davis, C. H (1922), “Report and general abstracts of the census of 1921, taken on the 24th April, 1921,” London: Waterlow & Sons.
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• 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.
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• Ioannides, Christos P., 1991. “In Turkey’s Image: The Transformation of Occupied Cyprus into a Turkish Province,” Aristide D. Caratzas, New York.
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• 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
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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)