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Agios Nikolaos is a small village located in the Famagusta district, eight kilometersnorth of Psyllatos/Sütlüce and one kilometer west of Melounda/Mallıdağ village, on the southern side of the Five Finger mountain range. Agios Nikolaos means “Saint Nicholas” in Greek. In 1975, Turkish Cypriots changed the name to Yamaçköy, literally meaning “village of a slope.”

 

 

As can be seen from the chart above, in the Ottoman census of 1831, Christians (Greek Cypriots) constituted the only inhabitants of the village. Throughout the British period, the village was solely inhabited by Greek Cypriots. Its population steadily increased from 117 in 1891 to 366 in 1946. However, there was a significant drop in 1960 to 309.

Displacement:

All of the village’s inhabitants were displaced in 1974. They fled between July and August 1974 from the advancing Turkish army to the southern part of the island. Currently, like the rest of the displaced Greek Cypriots, the Greek Cypriots of Agios Nikolaos are scattered throughout the island’s south, with large pockets in towns. The number of the Agios Nikolaos Greek Cypriots who were displaced in 1974 was around 250 (244 in the 1960 census).

Current Inhabitants:

Today the village is inhabited by Turkish nationals who settled in the village in 1976. They derive mainly from the Adana, Ağrı, Iğdır, Şırnak and Mersin provinces of Turkey. The 2006 census puts the village’s population at 80.  

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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)