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Pyrogi (or Pyroi) is a village situated in the Nicosia district, six kilometers northwest of Athienou/Kiracıköy on the old Nicosia-Larnaca road. Goodwin claims that the name means red soil in ancient Greek. In 1959, Turkish Cypriots adopted the alternative name Gaziler, literally meaning “fighters of Islam.” 

 

 

The village has been a mixed village since the Ottoman period. As can be seen from the chart above, Muslims constituted almost 58% of the population in 1831. On the other hand, 60 years later the population ratio of the village’s communities was almost 50:50. Throughout the British period, while the Greek Cypriot population of the village continued to increase, the Turkish Cypriot population fluctuated. By 1960, the population ratio of the village was almost 1:4. In other words, the Greek Cypriots in the village constituted almost 81% of the population.

Displacement:

All the Turkish Cypriot inhabitants of Pyrogi/Gaziler were displaced in early 1964. Most of the villagers sought refuge in Louroujina/Akıncılar(063) and Melouseia/Kırıkkale(365). Until December 1974 when they were resettled, most of the Turkish Cypriots of Pyrogi/Gaziler remained in those villages where they had earlier sought refuge. Currently, the Turkish Cypriots of Pyrogi are scattered throughout the island’s north, with concentrations in towns.

Current Inhabitants:

The village is used only as a Turkish military camp.

  

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• Fellahoğlu, Esat (2010), “Ulusal Direnişte Baf Köyleri,” İstanbul: Bayrak Matbaacılık.
• Giray, Halil: KKTC Yerleşim Birimleri, Yürürlükteki ve Eski İsimler Listesi KKTC İskân Bakanlığı : KKTC Coğrafi İsimler Kataloğu : (Cilt – I and II), Lefkoşa.
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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.
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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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• 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.
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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)