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Agios Epiphanios was a small Turkish Cypriot hamlet situated in the Solea region of Cyprus, eight kilometers south of Lefka/Lefke and one kilometer northwest of Kato Phlasou. Agios Epiphanios means “Saint Epiphany” in Greek. In the past, Turkish Cypriots used the name Aybifan for the village, most likely a corruption of Agios Epiphanios. In 1958, Turkish Cypriots adopted the alternative name Esendağ, meaning “windy mountain.”

 

 

 Historical Population:

Aybifan was a mixed village until 1931. Greek Cypriots left the village sometime before 1946. From 1946 to 1960, the village was solely inhabited by Turkish Cypriots. Although the population fluctuated in the first decades of the 20^th century, it decreased steadily from 74 in 1891 to 66 in 1960.

Displacement:

An unknown number of the Turkish inhabitants of Agios Epiphanios/Esendağ were displaced in 1958, and some returned after 1959. This displacement and only partial return of its inhabitants is the probable reason for the drop in population between 1946 and 1960. All the Agios Epiphanios/Esendağ villagers were displaced in August 1964, when the area was under attack by Greek Cypriot irregulars and the village was evacuated by UNFICYP. Most of the Turkish Cypriots of Agios Epiphanios/Esendağ sought refuge in the Turkish Cypriot enclave of Lefka/Lefke(060) and stayed there until 1974. Interestingly, the 1973 Republic of Cyprus census estimated 85 Turkish Cypriots in this village. Since the village was evacuated and empty in 1973, this number must have been the estimation of how many Turkish Cypriots would have lived there at the time of the census. The geographer Richard Patrick listed the village as abandoned in 1971.

Currently, like many of the displaced Turkish Cypriots of the 1960s, the Turkish Cypriots of Aybifan/Esendağ are scattered throughout the island’s north, with a large pocket in Pendageia/Yeşilyurt(084). The number of the Agios Epiphanios or Aybifan/Esendağ Turkish Cypriots who were displaced in 1964 was around 70 (66 in the 1960 census).

Current Inhabitants:

The village has remained abandoned since 1964; all of its houses and buildings have been razed to the ground. The village was also used as Greek Cypriot military camp for some time.   

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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)