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The twin villages of Kato and Pano Deftera are located in the Nicosia district, fifteen kilometers south of the capital city of Nicosia. Kato Dheftera is situated almost three kilometers northeast of Pano Dheftera. The Deftera Municipality website gives the following explanation about the origin of its name: “There are several versions in regards to the naming of Deftera.The most possible is that it comes from the name Defteras,,that is, the man who kept the account books (defteria).Another version is that it comes from the Greek word “to defteri” which also means the “defteroma,” that is, the second (deftero) plowing of the fields.The opinion that prevails today amongst the people of Deftera is that it came from the man who kept the books (account books).” Until 1964, the village was mixed, inhabited by Greek and Turkish Cypriots. Unlike for other mixed villages, the Turkish Cypriots never adopted an alternative name for the village. They also claim that the name of the village came from the word “defter,” meaning “notebook,” or “defterdar,” meaning “bookkeeper,” in Turkish.

 

 

 Historical Population:

The village has always been a mixed village. As can be seen from the chart above, in the Ottoman census of 1831, Christians (Greek Cypriots) constituted the majority of the population (61%). In 1891, this percentage increased to 66%. Throughout the British period, while the Greek Cypriot population increased steadily, the Turkish Cypriot population fluctuated and eventually declined. In 1960, four years before the departure of the Turkish Cypriots from the village in 1964, the share of the Greek Cypriot population had risen to 92.6%.

Displacement:

The first conflict-related displacement took place in 1958, when the village’s Turkish Cypriot population abandoned Kato Deftera during the period of intercommunal tensions related to the EOKA struggle. In 1960, half of them returned to the village, only to be displaced a second time during the intercommunal disturbances of 1964. They fled the village in January of that year and moved to the Turkish Cypriot-controlled section of Nicosia(074). None of the Turkish Cypriots from this village ever returned; even after 1974 they remained in the island’s north, where they had earlier sought refuge. Currently, most of the Turkish Cypriots of Deftera are scattered around north Cyprus, with a small pocket in Nicosia.

Current Inhabitants:

Currently the village is mainly inhabited by its original Greek Cypriot villagers and some displaced Greek Cypriots who moved here after 1974. In November 1975, some of these displaced persons were given accommodation in the Turkish sector of the village. The last census of 2001 puts the total population of the village at 1,637  

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• 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.
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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.
• 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.
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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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• 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)