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Dyo Potamoi was a small village located in the Nicosia district of Cyprus, five kilometers southwest of Kontemenos/Kılıçarslan. Dyo Potamoi means “two rivers” in Greek. The village was situated at the junction of two branches of the Aloupos stream. In 1958, Turkish Cypriots changed the name to İki Dere, a translation of its Greek name. 

 

 

This hamlet or farm was a mixed village until 1931. As can be seen from the chart above, in the first decades of the British period, Christians (Greek Cypriots) constituted the majority of the inhabitants (55%). In 1911 their percentage decreased to 21%. By 1931, another increase in the Turkish Cypriot population meant a corresponding decline in the Greek Cypriot proportion. By 1946, there were no Greek Cypriots living in the village.

Displacement:

The first conflict-related displacement took place in 1958 during the emergency years. All the Turkish Cypriots who were displaced in that year returned to the village in 1960. In December 1963, all the Turkish Cypriots fled the village again, most taking refuge in Geunyeli/Gönyeli(038) and Kanlıköy(044) and remaining there until 1974. The number of Turkish Cypriots displaced from Dyo Potamoi/İkidere is approximately 40 (40 in 1960). Although after the war the village was north of the Green Line, most of the Dyo Potami Turkish Cypriots never went back to settle there, as all their houses had been destroyed. Instead they settled in the former Greek Cypriot sector of the village of Diorios/Tepebaşı(219), only ten kilometers away from their village.

Current Inhabitants:

Since 1964, the village has been abondened. Only a couple of derelict buildings indicate that a village had ever existed. It should be noted, however, that the land around the village continues to be used for agricultural purposes.

  

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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)