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Episkopi, or Piskobu (in Turkish), is a large village situated in the Limassol district, approximately fourteen kilometers west of the city of Limassol and two kilometers northeast of the ancient Curium Theater. Episkopi means “residence of the Bishop.” In 1958 Turkish Cypriots adopted the alternative name Yalova. Yalova is the name of a small coastal town on the Marmara Sea near Istanbul. 

 

Throughout the Ottoman and British periods, the population of the village was mixed, and Turkish Cypriots always constituted a majority. The population of the village increased significantly from 766 persons in 1891 to 1,963 in 1960.

Displacement:

No one was displaced from this village during the 1950s emergency years, nor during the intercommunal fighting of 1963-64. However, in 1964 the village served as an important reception center for displaced Turkish Cypriots who fled the nearby villages of Kolossi/Yunus(268), Trachoni/Kayakale(281), Malia/Bağlarbaşı(270) and Asomatos/Gözügüzel(259). Richard Patrick recorded 428 displaced Turkish Cypriots still living in the village in 1971.

The first conflict-related displacement from Episkopi/Yalova took place in 1974, when the village’s Turkish Cypriot population fled to the Akrotiri British Base Area. Although some fled clandestinely to the north, most remained in the Base Area until February 1975, when they were transferred to the northern part of the island via Turkey. They were subsequently resettled in the Morphou(072) and Zodeia(083). The total number of displaced Turkish Cypriots from Episkopi/Yalova can be estimated to be 1,200-1,250 (1,144 in the 1960 census).

Current Inhabitants:

Currently the village is mainly inhabited by its original Greek Cypriot villagers and displaced Greek Cypriots from the north. Some of these displaced families now use Turkish Cypriot houses, but much new housing was also constructed for them. The last Cypriot census of 2001 put the total population at 3,076.  

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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)