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Kochati, Kotsiatis or Koçyat (as it is called by Turkish Cypriots), is a village located in the Nicosia district, seven kilometers west of Dali and three kilometers northwest of Agia Varvara. The origin of the name is obscure. However, Goodwin and Menardos both support a possible Turkish origin. Koç means “male sheep” in Turkish. However, the Social Research Centre of the Republic of Cyprus claims that the name derived from Kotsiatis, meaning “a daring person” in Greek. In 1958, Turkish Cypriots slightly changed the name from Koçyat to Koçyatağı, literally meaning “bed of male sheep” or “place of male sheep.”

 

 

The village has always been a Turkish Cypriot village. As can be seen from the chart above, in the Ottoman census of 1831, Muslims (Turkish Cypriots) constituted the sole inhabitants. Throughout the British period, the population of the village showed a steady increase, rising from 51 in 1891 to 262 in 1960.

Displacement:

No one was displaced during the emergency years of the late 1950s or during the inter-communal strife of 1963-64. However, after December 1963, the village served as a reception center for many displaced Turkish Cypriots, mostly from villages such as Mathiatis/Matyat(069) and Agios Sozomenos/Arpalık(008). In 1971, Richard Patrick recorded 108 Turkish Cypriot displaced persons still living in the village. He also estimated the village’s population at 357 (262 in 1960). Although the village never surrendered militarily, the inhabitants moved to the northern part of the divide in September 1975. Many resettled in Dikomo/Dikmen(217), a village in the Kyrenia district, while many more are scattered throughout different villages and towns in the northern part of the divide. The number of displaced Turkish Cypriots from this village can be estimated to be approximately 340 persons, since their population was 333 in 1973.

Current Inhabitants:

Currently, the village is inhabited by displaced persons from north of the divide, who moved into the village immediately after the departure of Turkish Cypriots in September 1975. According to Goodwin almost 40% of the inhabitants in 1976 were Maronites, many originally from Ayia Marina in the Nicosia district. (The 2001 census put the village’s population at only 117, a drop from the 1982 census showing 286 inhabitants. It is believed that many moved to the cities during the 1980s. Today, half of the village’s houses are empty and in ruin.  

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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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• Goodwin, Jack C. (1984), “An Historical Toponymy of Cyprus (Forth edition),” Nicosia (copy number 6).
• 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.
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• Mavrogordato, Alexander (1901), “Report and general abstracts of the census of 1901, taken on the 1st April, 1901,” Nicosia: Government Printing Office.
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• Menardos, Simos (2001), Τοπωνημικαι και Λαογραφικαι Μελεται (Topographical and Folkloric Studies), Nicosia: Centre for Scientific Studies
  Perry, Frederic W., 1884. Report on the Census of Cyprus 1881, Eyre and Spottiswoode, London.
• 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
  TRNC Prime Ministry State Planning Organisation Statistics and Research Department, Census of Population: Social and Economic Characteristics of Population, December 15, 1996, TRNC Prime Ministry, Nicosia, 1999.
• Standing Cypriot Commission for the Standardization of Geographical Names (2007), “Οδηγος Τυποποιησης Ονοματων (Guide to Standardized Names),” Nicosia: Ministry of Education and Culture.
• Ministry of Finance (1973), “Micro-Census (April 1973) Population by Village and Ethnic Group, Volume I.” Nicosia: Department of Statistics and Research.
• Özad, Murat Hüsnü (2002), “Baf ve Mücadele Yılları,” Lefkoşa (Nicosia): Akdeniz Haber Ajansı Yayınları.
• Patrick, Richard (1976), “Political Geography and the Cyprus Conflict: 1963-1971,” Department of Geography, Faculty of Environmental Studies, University of Waterloo.
• Percival, D.A. (1949), “Census of population and agriculture 1946 report,” Nicosia: Cyprus Government Printing Office.
• 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.
• Republic of Cyprus (2003), “Census of population 2001,” Nicosia: Department of Statistics and Research, Ministry of Finance.
• St John-Jones, L. W., 1983. “The Population of Cyprus: Demographic Trends and  Socio-Economic Influences” (with a foreword by W. H. Morris-Jones), Maurice  Temple, Smith Limited, London.
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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)