Yeni İskele (or Trikomo; ; Turkish: ''İskele'') is a town in North-Eastern

Mesaoria The Mesaoria (, ) is a broad, sweeping plain which makes up the north centre of the island of Cyprus. Geography The Mesaoria is the name given to the broad tract of plain which extends across the island from the Bay of Famagusta in the east to ...

Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

. It is under the de facto control of

Northern Cyprus Northern Cyprus, officially the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), is a ''de facto'' state that comprises the northeastern portion of the Geography of Cyprus, island of Cyprus. It is List of states with limited recognition, recognis ...

and is the administrative center of the

İskele District İskele District () is a district A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, co ...

of Northern Cyprus. It gained municipality status in 1998.

History

Prior to the

Turkish invasion of Cyprus The Turkish invasion of Cyprus began on 20 July 1974 and progressed in two phases over the following month. Taking place upon a background of Cypriot intercommunal violence, intercommunal violence between Greek Cypriots, Greek and Turkish Cy ...

of 1974, the population of Trikomo consisted almost entirely of

Greek Cypriots Greek Cypriots (, ) are the ethnic Greeks, Greek population of Cyprus, forming the island's largest Ethnolinguistic group, ethnolinguistic community. According to the 2023 census, 719,252 respondents recorded their ethnicity as Greek, forming al ...

, most of whom were illegally evicted from their properties during the Turkish invasion on the island in summer 1974. The Greek Cypriots who were evicted are now considered as "refugees" and been displaced to the south of the island. Similarly, in 1974,

Turkish Cypriots Turkish Cypriots or Cypriot Turks ( or ; ) are so called ethnic Turks originating from Cyprus. Turkish Cypriots are mainly Sunni Muslims. Following the Ottoman conquest of the island in 1571, about 30,000 Turkish settlers were given land onc ...

from the Skala neighbourhood of

Larnaca Larnaca, also spelled Larnaka, is a city on the southeast coast of Cyprus and the capital of the Larnaca District, district of the same name. With a district population of 155.000 in 2021, it is the third largest city in the country after Nicosi ...

("İskele" in Turkish) settled in the village, giving it the Turkish translation of the name of the location they were living in before 1974 (lit. "New İskele", later shortened to ''İskele''). Turkish Cypriot Larnaca Municipality that was founded in 1958 moved to Trikomo in 1974.

Culture, sports, and tourism

Turkish Cypriot Larnaka Gençler Birliği or İskele Gençlerbirliği Sports Club was founded in 1934 in Larnaca, and as of the 2018-19 season plays in the

KTFF Süper Lig The KTFF Süper Lig (English: CTFA Super League), officially the AKSA Süper Lig for sponsorship reasons, formerly known as the Birinci Lig ( literally ''First League''), is the top football league in Northern Cyprus. The league was founded in ...

Church of Panagia Theotokos in Iskele Cyprus

Trikomo contains the Panagia Theotokos Church, which hosts an icon museum showcasing rare examples of medieval iconography in Cyprus. The church is a twin church consisting of Orthodox and Catholic sections. Its older Orthodox section dates to the

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...

era while the Catholic section was built in the 12th century during the Lusignan period. The town also annually hosts the İskele Festival, which takes place for ten days in the summer, and is the oldest annual festival in Cyprus, first held in Larnaca in 1968. In 1974, the festival was moved to Trikomo along with the move of the Turkish Cypriot inhabitants. It features an international folk dance festival, concerts by Turkish Cypriot and mainland Turkish musicians, various sports tournaments, food stalls and competitions, as well as other shows and contests highlighting the cultural heritage of the town.

Politics

The current mayor of the town is Hasan Sadıkoğlu. Sadıkoğlu was elected in 2014 as an independent candidate. He was elected once more in 2018 as the candidate of the right-wing

National Unity Party The National Unity Party, National United Party, Party of National Unity or National Unity Front may refer to: * National United Party of Afghanistan (founded 2003) * National Unity Party (Albania) * National United Party (Armenia), defunct * Natio ...

(UBP), winning with 54.6% of the votes. In the local elections of 2018, four members of the UBP, two members of the pro-settler Rebirth Party (YDP) and two members of the left-wing

Republican Turkish Party The Republican Turkish Party (, CTP; ) is a social-democratic political party in Northern Cyprus. The party was founded in 1970 by Ahmet Mithat Berberoğlu, a lawyer, in opposition to the leadership of Fazıl Küçük and Rauf Denktaş. On 30 ...

(CTP) were elected to the eight-member municipal council.

International relations

Twin towns — sister cities

Trikomo is twinned with: *

Beykoz Beykoz () is a municipality and Districts of Turkey, district of Istanbul Province, Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its area is 310 km2, and its population is 247,875 (2022). It lies at the northern end of the Bosphorus on the Anatolian side. The name i ...

, Istanbul, Turkey *

Büyükçekmece Büyükçekmece, historically Athyras (Greek: Αθύρας) is a municipality and district of Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its area is 173 km2, and its population is 277,181 (2022). It is on the Sea of Marmara coast of the European side, west o ...

, Istanbul, Turkey *

Finike Finike (), the ancient Phoenix or Phoinix (), also formerly Phineka, is a municipality and district of Antalya Province, Turkey. Its area is 768 km2, and its population is 49,720 (2022). It lies on the Mediterranean coast of Antalya Provinc ...

, Antalya, Turkey (since 2015) * Mamak, Ankara, Turkey *

Pendik Pendik () is a municipality and district of Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its area is 190 km2, and its population is 750,435 (2022). It is on the Asian side between Kartal and Tuzla, on the Marmara Sea. It also neighbours Sultanbeyli, San ...

, Istanbul, Turkey *

Samsun Samsun is a List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, city on the north coast of Turkey and a major Black Sea port. The urban area recorded a population of 738,692 in 2022. The city is the capital of Samsun Province which has a population of ...

, Turkey (since 2006)

Notable people

*Vassos Karagiorgis (born 1929), archaeologist.Karagiorgis CV
ucy.ac.cy *

Georgios Grivas Georgios Grivas (; 6 June 1897 – 27 January 1974), also known by his nickname Digenis (), was a Greek Cypriot officer of the Hellenic Army and founder and leader of the Greek and Greek Cypriot paramilitary organisations Organization X (1942 ...

(1898-1974), general in the Greek Army, leader of the

EOKA The Ethniki Organosis Kyprion Agoniston (EOKA ; ) was a Greek Cypriot nationalist guerrilla organization that fought a campaign for the end of Cyprus#Cyprus under the British Empire, British rule in Cyprus, and for enosis, eventual union with K ...

guerrilla organisation and

EOKA B EOKA-B or Ethniki Organosis Kyprion Agoniston B (EOKA B ; ) was a Greek Cypriot paramilitary organisation formed in 1971 by General Georgios Grivas. It followed an ultra right-wing nationalistic ideology and had the ultimate goal of achievin ...

paramilitary organisation.

References

{{Authority control Communities in Famagusta District Populated places in İskele District Municipalities of Northern Cyprus