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Gastria/Kalecik is a village located on the Karpasia/Karpaz peninsula. Before 1974, this village was solely inhabited by Greek Cypriots. It lies four miles northeast of Boghaz village and immediately south of the Famagusta-Karpasia road. Gastria means “castles” in Cypriot Greek. Turkish Cypriots renamed the village Kalecik in 1975. Kalecik means “small castle” in Turkish.

 

 

As can be seen from the chart above, Greek Cypriots constituted the only inhabitants of the village, apart from two Turkish Cypriots who appear in the records at the turn of the century. Although the population of the village showed a slight increase during the first half of the 20^th century, a significant drop was recorded after 1946.

Displacement:

Most of the village’s inhabitants were displaced in 1974. In August of that year they fled from the advancing Turkish army to the southern part of the island. There were, however, 29 villagers who attempted to remain in Gastria and were enclaved there until September 1976, when they were transferred to the southern part of the divide. Currently, like the rest of the displaced Greek Cypriots, the Greek Cypriots of Gastria are scattered throughout the island’s south, with small pockets in towns. The number of Gastria Greek Cypriots who were displaced after the 1974 war was approximately 200 (198 in 1973 census).

Current Inhabitants:

This village was mainly used for the settlement of Turkish nationals from Turkey in 1976 and 1977, mostly from Feke and Kozan districts of Adana province of Turkey. According to the 2006 Turkish Cypriot census, the population of the village was 308 in that year.  

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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)