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Agios Iakovos is a Turkish Cypriot village located in the Famagusta district of Cyprus, nine kilometers northwest of Trikomo/Yeni İskele and three kilometers southeast of Mandres/Ağıllar village. The village is situated on the foothills of the Kyrenia mountain range. The name means “Saint James” in Greek. Turkish Cypriots used to call the village Aynagofo but in 1958 changed the name to Kopuz köy and then to Altınova, meaning “golden plain.”

 

 

As can be seen from the chart above, in the Ottoman census of 1831, Muslims constituted the only inhabitants of the village (apart from one Christian male). Throughout the British period, too, the village was solely inhabited by Turkish Cypriots, although a couple of Greek Cypriot families appear in the records for a short period of time in the 1911 census. The village’s population steadly increased from 135 in 1901 to 365 in 1960.

Displacement:

From its original population no one was displaced; however, the village served as a reception centre for many displaced Turkish Cypriots in 1964. From 1964 to 1974, it was administratively part of the Turkish Cypriot enclave of Famagusta. During this period Agios Iakovos stood as an outpost for the Famagusta enclave. The majority of those displaced people staying in Agios Iakovos during this period came from villages such as Arnadi/Kuzucuk (129), Monarga/Boğaztepe (176), and Sygkrasi/Sınırüstü (196). Political geographer Richard Patrick estimated the village’s population at 400 in 1971, a slight increase from 365 recorded in 1960.

Current Inhabitants:

Currently the village is mainly inhabited by its original villagers. Due to the migration of youth to find jobs in the cities and abroad, the village’s population declined considerably, from 374 in 1978 to 250 in 2006. Some of the villagers also settled in Mandres/Ağıllar (170) after 1974, when the Greek Cypriot inhabitants fled that village.  

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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)