Anafotia is a village situated in the Larnaca district, twenty-one kilometers southwest of Larnaca town and four kilometers northwest of Mazotos. Throughout most of its history, this village was inhabited both by Greek and Turkish Cypriots. The name in Greek literally means “without light.” Turkish Cypriots call the village Akkor, meaning “white ember.” In 1994 the official name of the village became Anafotida. However, locally the village is still referred to as Anafotia.
Historical Population
As can be seen in the above chart, the village was a mixed village from the Ottoman period. Muslims were in the majority in 1831, and Goodwin claims that the population of the village consisted of 87 Greek Cypriots and 118 Turkish Cypriots in July 1879. However, the 1891 British census shows that the Turkish Cypriot population was smaller than that of their Greek neighbors. Moreover, throughout the British period, while the Greek Cypriot population of the village increased significantly, the Turkish Cypriot population tended to stagnate somewhat. During the British period, the Greek Cypriot proportion of the population rose from 75% in 1891 to 85% in 1960.
Displacement:
No one was displaced or killed during the intercommunal tensions of the late 1950s. However, the Turkish Cypriot population declined significantly from 148 in 1946 to 94 in 1960. This first exodus needs to be scrutinized further. The first recorded conflict-related displacement took place in 1963, when due to intercommunal strife, most of the Turkish Cypriots of the village sought refuge in Kivisili/Cevizli(358) enclave on 26 December 1963. The second displacement of the villagers took place in 1974 while they were still residing in Kivisil(358). According to Hasan Fehmi, during this period, many Anafotida/Akkor Turkish Cypriots left the island and emigrated to the UK. The majority of the Anafotida/Akkor Turkish Cypriots were resettled in Kythrea/Değirmenlik(056) village.
Current Inhabitants:
Currently the village is mainly inhabited by its original Greek Cypriot villagers, though there is also handful of Greek Cypriot refugees who today reside there. The last Cypriot census of 2001 put the total population at 679.
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