Boğaztepe / Monarga

Monarga Μοναργά Boğaztepe
Basic data
State :	Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (de facto)
District :	İskele
Geographic coordinates :	35 ° 19 ′  N , 33 ° 57 ′  E Coordinates: 35 ° 19 ′  N , 33 ° 57 ′  E
Residents :	312 (2011)

Monarga ( Greek Μοναργά , Turkish Boğaztepe ) is one of the places on the Karpas peninsula in eastern Cyprus, on the southwestern edge of which it is located, more precisely on the Bay of Famagusta . The origin of the Greek name is unclear. In 1958 the Turkish Cypriots named them Deregeçit, which means 'river passage'. The place has been called Boğaztepe since 1975.

history

As early as the Ottoman census of 1831 it was shown that only Muslims lived there, of whom there were six heads of households in the small village. While the village still had 61 Turkish-speaking residents in 1891, during the British colonial rule, who were referred to as "Turks", the population continued to decline. In 1901 there were only 44 and ten years later only 35 inhabitants, a number that reached its lowest point in 1921 at 31. This year two "Greeks" lived in the village. While ten years later there were no more Greeks with 35 inhabitants, there were three Greek-speaking Cypriots and 56 who spoke Turkish living there in 1946 . In 1960 the village had 75 inhabitants, 18 of whom were considered “Greeks”, which at that time also included all other Christian denominations.

During the civil war-like clashes of 1963 and 1964 , around 60 Turks were driven from the village. They found refuge in Ovgoros / Ergazi, but also in Altınova / Agios Iakovos and Avgolida / Kurtuluş, which were controlled by Turkish units. In 1973 there were only 22 "Greeks" left in the almost extinct village.

In July 1974 the Turkish air force fired at Monarga, which had a small military base with weapons to repel air attacks in the lower area. A fighter plane was shot down, the pilot died. On August 14, 1974, all the Greeks and a Maronite family with their two sons fled the village to the south before the approaching Turkish troops. Their number was estimated at 20 to 25 around 2010. With that the village was depopulated. The house of the Maronites was first taken over by a high-ranking Turkish officer, then a Turkish family from Monarga.

Most of the Turkish residents returned gradually, but they are now a minority among the villagers, as there was a relatively high level of immigration. In 1978 there were 178 inhabitants again, in 1996 there were already 334. This number rose to 444 in the following ten years. Europeans and wealthy Turks from the north of the island who invested in the village were among the immigrants. In 2011, however, there were only 312 residents.

literature

• Yonca Hurol, Guita Farivarsadri: Reading Trails and Inscriptions Around an Old Bus-house in Monarga, North-Cyprus . In: Max O. Stephenson jun., Laura Zanotti (eds.): Building Walls and Dissolving Borders. The Challenges of Alterity, Community and Securitizing Space . Routledge, 2013. 2nd edition 2016, pp. 155-174.

Web links

• Table of population development since 1831 and recent history (English)

Individual evidence

1. ^ Yonca Hurol, Guita Farivarsadri: Reading Trails and Inscriptions Around an Old Bus-house in Monarga, North Cyprus . In: Max O. Stephenson jun., Laura Zanotti (eds.): Building Walls and Dissolving Borders. The Challenges of Alterity, Community and Securitizing Space . Routledge, 2013. 2nd edition 2016, pp. 155–174, here: p. 167.
2. ^ Yonca Hurol, Guita Farivarsadri: Reading Trails and Inscriptions Around an Old Bus-house in Monarga, North Cyprus . In: Max O. Stephenson jun., Laura Zanotti (eds.): Building Walls and Dissolving Borders. The Challenges of Alterity, Community and Securitizing Space . Routledge, 2013. 2nd edition 2016, pp. 155–174, here: p. 155.
3. ↑ KKTC 2011 Nüfus ve Konut Sayımı . (PDF) August 6, 2013.