SARAMA

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Sarama is a village located in the Stavros tis Psokas valley in Paphos (Ktima) district, fourteen kilometers southeast of Polis and three kilometers south of Istinjo. According to Goodwin, Sarama means “carrying-frame for donkeys.” Turkish Cypriots adopted the alternative Turkish name Kuşluca in 1958. The origin of the name is obscure. 
 
Historical Population:

As may be seen from the chart above, the village was solely inhabited by Muslims (Turkish Cypriots) in 1831. British census reports also show that the village was predominantly inhabited by Turkish Cypriots. The few Greek Cypriots who occasionally appear in the records appear to have been temporary residents. All population records show fluctuation in the village’s population, which eventually declined from 106 in 1891 to 92 in 1960.

Displacement:

No one was displaced from the village, neither during the emergency years of the late 1950s, nor during the intercommunal strife of 1963-64. Most of the villagers stayed in Sarama until 1974. During the intercommunal strife of 1963-64, Sarama received some displaced Turkish Cypriots from the nearby villages of Mamountali(321) and Lapithiou(316). Following the 1974 war and the division of the island, a number of Sarama Turkish Cypriots made their way clandestinely through the mountains to the island’s north. The 71 persons who remained in the village were eventually transferred to the northern part of the divide under UNFICYP escort on 3 September 1975. The Sarama/Kuşluca Turkish Cypriots were mainly resettled in Sysklipos/Akçiçek(247), a village in the Kyrenia district. However, some also chose to settle in places such as Vasileia/Karşıyaka(252), Pendagiea/Yeşilyurt(084) and Nicosia. The total number of Sarama Turkish Cypriots who were displaced after 1974 was approximately 100 (92 in the 1960 census).

Current Inhabitants:

Today the village is empty and in ruins.   


 
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