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Mamountali is a village located on the southeast foothills of the Troodos mountain range, immediately north of Panayia Khrysorroyiatissa Monastery and southwest of Pano Panayia village. Goodwin, claims that Mamountali was named after its first owner. One story explaining the origins of the name, tells of a village owner named Ali whose spouse was a midwife (mamou in Greek). Some others claim that the owner’s name was Mahmut Ali. However, although many people believe that the name of the village derives from a Turkish name, Turkish Cypriots nevertheless adopted the alternative Turkish name Soğucak, or “little cool,” in 1958.

 

 

According to the British census reports, Mamountali was a mixed village with a Turkish Cypriot majority until 1946. The reason for the departure from the village of all the Greek Cypriots sometime after 1946 is unknown. The population of the village was stagnant until 1931. However, significant increases were recorded in 1946 and 1960.

Displacement:

No one was displaced during the emergency years of the late 1950s. However, the village was abandoned in February 1964 as a result of the intercommunal conflict that began in late 1963. All the villagers fled to Anadiou/Görmeli(290) village. Although the 1973 census shows some people living in Mamountali, in fact the village was abandoned, and so the census record must have been based on an estimation of the displaced persons of Mamountali rather than the actual population. According to the villagers, after they evacuated their village in February 1964, they stayed in Anadiou(290) until 1975, when they moved to the northern part of the divide. Some did not wait for the organized evacuation and left secretly over the mountains to the north or to the Akrotiri British Base Area, from where they were all transferred to north Cyprus via Turkey. On the other hand, some stayed in Anadiou/Görmeli(290) until 1 September 1975, when they were escorted by UNFICYP to the northern part of the island. They were mainly resettled in Makrasyka/İncirli(169), although some were resettled in other villages, namely Lapithos/Lapta(237) and Palaikythro/Balıkesir(081). The total number of the Mamountali Turkish Cypriots who were displaced after 1974 is approximately 130 (121 in 1960 census).

Current Inhabitants:

This village was offered as a temporary settlement to some displaced Greek Cypriots from the north, but only a handful showed an interest in staying there. According to the 2001 census, there were only 14 persons residing in the village at that time.   

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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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• 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)