ARNADI

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Arnadi is a village in the Famagusta district, situated eight kilometers northwest of Salamis and almost two kilometers west of Spathariko/Ötüken(193) village near Famagusta Bay. It is believed that the name of the village is a corruption of “arni,” meaning lamb in Greek. In 1958 Turkish Cypriots adopted an alternative Turkish name, Kuzucuk, which is a translation of the Greek name and means “baby or small lamb” in Turkish
 
 
Historical Population:

As can be seen from the chart above, Arnadi/Kuzucuk had been a mixed village with a Greek Cypriot majority since the Ottoman period. The British period saw a steady increase in the percentage of the Greek Cypriot population, from 54% in 1891 to 75% in 1960. During the same period, the overall population of the village also increased steadily, rising from 126 in 1891 to 408 in 1960.

Displacement:

In late December 1963, as soon as the news of the first Nicosia fighting reached the village, all the Turkish Cypriot inhabitants of the village left Arnadi. They mainly sought refuge in the Turkish Cypriot villages of Agios Iakovos/Altınova(121), Knodara/Gönendere(152), Livadia/Sazlıköy(166), Galateia/Mehmetçik(144) and the town of Famagusta, where they remained until 1974. According to political geographer Richard Patrick, the immediate evacuation of Arnadhi was a result of mistrust arising from events of the EOKA campaign of the late 1950s. Due to the tension caused by the EOKA struggle, Turkish Cypriots left Arnadi in 1958 and they had been only partially resettled by December 1963.

On the other hand, all of the village’s Greek Cypriot inhabitants were displaced in August 1974. They fled 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 Arnadi/Kuzucuk are scattered throughout the island’s south. The displaced population of Arnadi/Kuzucuk could be estimated to be around 360, since its Greek Cypriot population was 355 in 1960.

Current Inhabitants:

Currently the village is mainly inhabited by its original Turkish Cypriot villagers and a few displaced Turkish Cypriots from south of the Green Line. However, in 1976, apart from its original inhabitants and displaced persons from the south, the village was also used for the settlement of some people from Turkey, who came mainly from the Çarşamba district of the middle Black Sea region of Turkey. The 2006 Turkish Cypriot census put the total population of the village at 283.

  


 
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