ASOMATOS

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Asomatos is a village situated in the Limassol district on the Akrotiri peninsula, immediately east of Fasouri farms and approximately two kilometers southwest of Cherkez. The name Asomatos means “without body” in Greek. In 1958 the Turkish Cypriots adopted the alternative name Gözügüzel,, meaning “the one with beautiful eyes.”
 
 
Historical Population

Although the 1831 census shows only Muslims living in the village, throughout the British period the population of the village was mixed. Interestingly, even though Greek Cypriots constituted the majority until 1931, the Turkish Cypriots became the majority after 1931. The Turkish Cypriot proportion of the population increased from 45% in 1891 to 55% in 1960.

Displacement:

No one was displaced during the emergency years of the late 1950s. The first conflict-related displacement took place in February 1964. According to Richard Patrick, all but three of the village’s Turkish Cypriot families fled after a fight on 9 February 1964. He also notes that this move was a second migration for displaced families from Trachoni(281) and Cherkes(261), who had come to Asomatos a few weeks earlier. The majority of the displaced persons from this village sought refuge in Episkopi(262) village. They stayed there until 1969, when they all went back to their village because of the poor living conditions and because the local intercommunal situation had been relatively calm since 1968. The Turkish Cypriots of the village fled again in July 1974, mainly going to the Sovereign British Base Areas. They were eventually transferred to the north of the island in February 1975 via Turkey.

Current Inhabitants:

Currently the village is mainly inhabited by its original Greek Cypriot villagers and some displaced Greek Cypriot families from the north. The last Cypriot census of 2001 put the total population at 335.

  


 
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