Skylloura (, or ''Şillura'') is a village located in the

Nicosia District The Nicosia District, or simply Nicosia (also Lefkosia and Lefkoşa), is one of the six districts of Cyprus. Its main town is the island country's capital city, Nicosia. The de facto TRNC-controlled northern part of the district is the Lefkoşa ...

of Cyprus, about halfway between the towns of

Morphou Morphou (; ) is a town in the northwestern part of Cyprus, under the '' de facto'' control of Northern Cyprus. Having been a predominantly Greek Cypriot community before the 1974 Turkish invasion of Cyprus, the town is now inhabited by Turkish Cy ...

and

Nicosia Nicosia, also known as Lefkosia and Lefkoşa, is the capital and largest city of Cyprus. It is the southeasternmost of all EU member states' capital cities. Nicosia has been continuously inhabited for over 5,500 years and has been the capi ...

. It is administered by the

Lefkoşa District Lefkoşa District () is a district of Northern Cyprus. It is divided into two sub-districts: Lefkoşa Sub-district and Değirmenlik Sub-district.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 ...

. In the town the two main roads Morphou-Nicosia and

Kyrenia Kyrenia is a city on the northern coast of Cyprus, noted for its historic harbour and castle. It is under the '' de facto'' control of Northern Cyprus. While there is evidence showing that the wider region of Kyrenia has been populated before, ...

Lapithos Lapithos or Lapethos (; ) is a town in Cyprus. ''De facto'', it is under the control of Northern Cyprus. Archeologists claim that Lapithos was founded by the Achean brothers Praxandros and Cepheus. According to Strabo, the ancient settlement o ...

-Skylloura meet.

History

It was a mixed village with a Greek Cypriot majority before the intercommunal violence of 1963-64. In 1958, Skylloura was the location of an incident. The British

Cyprus Police The Cyprus Police (, ''i''), is the national police service of the Republic of Cyprus, falling under the Ministry of Justice and Public Order since 1993. The duties and responsibilities of the Cyprus police are set out in the amended Police La ...

came across 35 armed Greek Cypriots outside the village and arrested them. Instead of taking them to the police station, they were driven ten miles away to the Turkish Cypriot majority

Gönyeli Gönyeli (; ) is a town in Cyprus, near the capital city Nicosia. It is '' de facto'' under the control of Northern Cyprus. Over the years the town has merged with North Nicosia, making it connurbated with the city. Its population is 11,671. H ...

and told by

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

escorts to walk home and forced them to start at bayonet point. This led to them being attacked by Turkish Cypriots and while the British Cyprus Police responded with an armoured car within 5 minutes, eight of the prisoners died. An inquiry was held where it was revealed that the "take a walk" was a common military practice for civilian prisoners in Cyprus, though the police armoured car commanding officer admitted that it was "unlawful". The inquiry held that the police and military's actions were illegal and "unwise" given the status of inter-community relations in Cyprus. A number of Turkish Cypriots were abducted from the village and killed by Greek Cypriot militia, which led to the Turkish Cypriot inhabitants fleeing to Turkish Cypriot villages and Nicosia. In the 1974

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 ...

, the Greek Cypriot inhabitants fled in the wake of the Turkish military advance. The village is currently mainly inhabited by its original Turkish Cypriot inhabitants, however, there is a military camp in the village, and a large segment of the population consists of the family of military personnel.

References

{{Lefkoşa District Communities in Nicosia District Populated places in Lefkoşa District