North Nicosia or Northern Nicosia ( ; ) is the largest settlement and the de facto capital of Northern Cyprus. It is the northern part of the divided city of Nicosia, and is governed by the Nicosia Turkish Municipality. , North Nicosia had a population of 61,378 and a metropolitan area with a population of 82,539.
The city is the economic, political and cultural centre of Northern Cyprus, with many shops, restaurants and shopping malls. It is home to a historic walled city, centred on the Sarayönü Square, and a modern metropolitan area, with the Dereboyu region as its centre of business and entertainment. Described as a city with high levels of welfare, it has seen great urban growth and development in the 21st century, including the construction of new highways and high-rises. It hosts a significant number of tourists and a variety of cultural activities, including its international festivals of theatre and music. With a student population over 34,000, North Nicosia is an important centre of education and research and is home to four universities, of which the Near East University is the biggest.
Following the intercommunal violence of the 1960s, the capital of the Republic of Cyprus was divided between the island's Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot communities in the south and north respectively in 1963.indley, Dan. Promoting peace with information: transparency as a tool of security regimes (2007) Princeton University Press, p.87 A coup by the Greek military junta in an attempt to unite the island with Greece in 1974 led to the Turkish invasion of Cyprus, and the international community considers North Nicosia to have been under Turkish occupation since then.
History
During the Cyprus crisis of 1963–64, in the aftermath of unilateral constitutional changes by the Greek Cypriots, intercommunal violence broke out. Nicosia was divided into Greek and Turkish Cypriot quarters by the Green Line, named after the colour of the pen used by the United Nations officer to draw the line on a map of the city. This resulted in the ceasing of Turkish Cypriot participation in the government, and following more intercommunal violence in 1964, a number of Turkish Cypriots moved to the Turkish quarter of Nicosia, causing serious overcrowding.
On 15 July 1974, there was an attempted coup d'état led by the Greek military junta to unite the island with Greece. The coup ousted Archbishop Makarios III as President of Cyprus, replacing him with pro-enosis nationalist Nikos Sampson. In response to the prospect of enosis, on 20 July 1974, the Turkish Army invaded the island, and from then occupied the 37% of the north part of the Republic of Cyprus.Alford, Jonathan. Adelphi papers, Issues 149–164 (1979), International Institute for Strategic Studies, p. 18 . The invasion included two phases. The second phase was performed on 14 August 1974, where the Turkish Army advanced their positions, eventually capturing a total of 37% of Cypriot territory, including the northern part of Nicosia and the cities of Kyrenia and Famagusta.
On 23 April 2003, the Ledra Palace crossing was opened through the Green Line, the first time that crossing was allowed since 1974.Emotion as Cyprus border opens (BBC News) Retrieved on 2012-06-18. This was followed by the opening of Ayios Dometios crossing point on 9 May 2003. On 3 April 2008, the Ledra Street crossing was also reopened.Symbolic Cyprus crossing reopens (BBC News) Retrieved on 2012-06-18.
Administration
As the capital, North Nicosia is Northern Cyprus's political, economic and cultural centre. North Nicosia hosts the ministries of Northern Cyprus. The city is governed by the Nicosia Turkish Municipality, which is recognised by the constitution of the Republic of Cyprus.
The Nicosia Turkish Municipality is headed by the mayor, Mehmet Harmancı from the Communal Democracy Party (TDP). He came to power in the local elections in 2014 with 38% of the popular vote, defeating the candidates of two major parties who were considered to be candidates with the highest chances by the Turkish Cypriot media in a feat that was seen as a major surprise victory. The organisation of the municipality features a 22-member City Council, composed of 8 councillors from the Republican Turkish Party (CTP), 6 from the National Unity Party (UBP), 6 from the Communal Democracy Party, 1 from the Democratic Party (DP-UG) and 1 from the New Cyprus Party (YKP).
Mayors of Nicosia Turkish Municipality Below is a list of mayors of the Nicosia Turkish Municipality since its establishment in 1958: Tahsin Gözmen: 1958–1962 Cevdet Mirata: 1962–1962 Fuat Celalettin: 1962–1968 Ziver Kemal: 1969–1976 Mustafa Akıncı: 1976–1990 Burhan Yetkili: 1990–1994 Şemi Bora: 1994–2002 Kutlay Erk: 2002–2006 Cemal Metin Bulutoğluları: 2006–2013 Kadri Fellahoğlu: 2013–2014 Mehmet Harmancı: 2014–present
Quarters Nicosia is divided into several administrative divisions known as mahalleler (singular: mahalle) or quarters. Each of these quarters are headed by a muhtar, who is elected by the residents in local elections. There are 25 quarters within the jurisdiction of the Nicosia Turkish Municipality, of which 12 are in the walled city and 13 are outside, and below is list of them sorted according to population according to the 2011 census:
Quarter Population Küçük Kaymaklı 10,572 Ortaköy 8,868 Hamitköy 5,338 Haspolat 4,204 Taşkınköy 3,847 Yenişehir 3,715 Kızılay 3,535 Marmara 3,081 Göçmenköy 3,003 Köşklüçiftlik 2,939 Aydemet 2,314 Kumsal 1,855 Yenicami 1,663 Çağlayan 1,307 Selimiye 878 Akkavuk 793 Abdi Çavuş 568 İbrahimpaşa 566 Arabahmet 561 Ayluka 489 Karamanzade 351 Mahmutpaşa 314 Kafesli 233 İplikpazarı 229 Haydarpaşa 155
Cityscape
The walled city
The northern part of the walled city of Nicosia is richer in historical buildings and cultural works than the south, with its Selimiye quarter retaining its complete historical character and atmosphere. The walled city overall has been declared a protected area by the Turkish Cypriot Department of Antiquities, and 672 buildings and places of historical value have been registered in it.
At the centre of the walled city lies the Atatürk Square, widely known as Sarayönü. The square has been dubbed as "the heart of Nicosia" and historically has been the cultural center of the Turkish Cypriot community, with the visiting Turkish prime ministers having delivered speeches before and during the conflict in Cyprus. It still hosts mass rallies during political campaigns and the headquarters of the National Unity Party. In the middle of the square stands the Venetian Column, known simply as "the Obelisk" ("Dikiltaş") to the locals and symbolic of the country's government. The column was brought from the ancient city of Salamis by the Venetians in 1550. The coats of arms of six Italian noble families still remains at the bottom of the column, even though the statue of the lion on it has been replaced with a copper ball. The square used to be the seat of a Lusignan palace, which was replaced with the present-day law courts by the British government.
The Girne Avenue connects Sarayönü to the Kyrenia Gate and the İnönü Square in front of it. The avenue has been described as "the symbol of the walled city", and is filled with numerous shops and restaurants. A project is underway to redesign the area with a better infrastructure, visual quality and accessibility.
Near the entrance of the walled city, to the west of the Girne Avenue, lies the Samanbahçe neighbourhood, built in the 19th century by the government, considered to be the first example of social housing in the island. The houses are uniform and contiguous, and in the center of the neighbourhood is a historic fountain. Still a residential area, the neighbourhood is considered to be one of the best representations of the Cypriot culture.
Further south, next to the Ledra Street checkpoint, is the Arasta area. The area was pedestrianised in 2013 and is home to a network of historic shopping streets, reflecting an eastern shopping tradition with food and traditional items. The area is frequented by tourists.
Nearby Büyük Han, the largest caravanserai in the island and considered to be one of the finest buildings in Cyprus, was built in 1572 by the Ottomans. The building has 68 rooms and a small mosque in the middle, and currently functions as a tourist-frequented cultural centre, with souvenir and handicraft shops, cafés with traditional food and cultural activities such as small-scale opera concerts. Just across from the road is the Kumarcılar Hanı (Gamblers' Inn), built in the 17th century as a typical example of Ottoman trading inns.
Another central point in the walled city is the Selimiye Mosque, originally built as the St. Sophia Cathedral. The mosque is the chief religious centre in Northern Cyprus. It was built between 1209 and 1228 by the Latin Church of Cyprus, in a Gothic style resembling French cathedrals. Its columns are older, from the Roman era, indicating the possible presence of a Byzantine church before its construction. It used to be the place of coronation of Lusignan kings, and was converted to the largest mosque in the island by the Ottomans in 1571. It remains as a chief landmark of the city. Next to the mosque is the Bedesten, a large Greek church in the Byzantine and Gothic styles, built in the 6th and 14th centuries. It was used as a marketplace in the Ottoman era. Today, it is used as a cultural centre where various cultural activities such as concerts and festivals take place. The two buildings overlook a square, named the Selimiye Square, which also hosts cultural activity and occasional dance shows. The Library of Sultan Mahmud II, which hosts manuscripts in Turkish, Arabic and Persian that are over 500 years old and considered fine examples of calligraphy, is also located in the Selimiye Square.
Among the quarters of the old city are Yenicami and Arabahmet. Yenicami hosts the Haydar Pasha Mosque that used to be the second largest church in the city before its conversion by the Ottomans, and with its Gothic architecture, it is home to richly carved doorways. The Arabahmet neighbourhood hosts the Arabahmet Mosque, which was built in 1845.
Metropolitan area
Outside the walled city, North Nicosia has expanded to become a large city, with an urban area that has absorbed the neighbouring town of Gönyeli and the former village of Hamitköy that is part of the Nicosia Turkish Municipality. The larger North Nicosia metropolitan area by definition includes the Haspolat region which is also considered to be a part of the city proper as it is within the Nicosia Turkish Municipality jurisdiction, the municipality of Alayköy and the village of Kanlıköy under the jurisdiction of Gönyeli, where North Nicosia is projected to grow. The metropolitan area has an area of 165.2 square kilometres.
The quarters of Nicosia outside the walled city are more spacious than the walled city, with wider roads and junctions. These areas are characterised by multi-floor concrete buildings. In the outskirts of the city, a number large and imposing villas have been built that belong to the middle and upper-classes. Upper and middle class Turkish Cypriots have left the walled city to settle in areas such as Küçük Kaymaklı and Hamitköy, which have seen a corresponding boom in economic and commercial activity. As the city started to expand out of the walled city in the first half of the city, large and imposing houses were built in the Köşklüçiftlik and Çağlayan areas, which characterise these central quarters today. The Yenişehir quarter was planned by the British administration in the 1940s in an optimal design to minimise distances and allow healthy social interaction, and the quarter is still considered as a masterpiece of city planning in Cyprus.
Demographics