MELADEIA

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Meladeia is a village located on the western foothills of the Troodos mountain range, ten kilometers southeast of Polis and almost one kilometer southwest of Lyso. The origin of the name is obscure. However, Jack Goodwin tells us that Meladeia can mean “inky” in Cypriot Greek. In 1958 Turkish Cypriots adopted the alternative name Malatya, after a city in Turkey. Malatya also resembles the original name.
 
 
Historical Population:

According to the Ottoman census of 1831, Meladeia was a mixed village. However, the British censuses report that from 1891 Meladeia was solely inhabited by Turkish Cypriots. During the British period, the total population of the village fluctuated constantly and dropped from 177 persons in 1891 to 134 in 1960.

Displacement:

No one was displaced during either the emergency years of the late 1950s or the intercommunal strife of 1963-64.

After the Turkish Cypriots surrendered their guns to Greek Cypriot forces in 1974, the village was not attacked. However, most of the villagers subsequently fled through the mountains to the north of the divide. The remaining 76 persons were evacuated under UNFICYP escort on 5 September 1975 and transferred to the Turkish-controlled north. They were mainly resettled in Palaiosofos(243), a village in the Kyrenia district. In 1976, they renamed their new village Malatya. Some of the Turkish Cypriots of Meladeia settled elsewhere, including Famagusta(140), Nicosia(074), Sisklipos/Akçiçek(247), Nikitas/Güneşköy(075) and Assia/Paşaköy(131). The total number of Meladeia Turkish Cypriots who were displaced after 1974 is approximately 150 (134 in the 1960 census).

Current Inhabitants:

After the departure of the Turkish Cypriots, only a handful of displaced Greek Cypriots from the north settled in the village. The village is now almost entirely in ruins. The 2001 census put the village’s population at 19.  


 
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