Nicolas Skourides, the first Greek Cypriot to settle in the occupied north of the island, after 1974, passed away according to an announcement of the Turkish-Cypriot daily "Yeni Duzen".
In 2018, the then 78-year-old Skourides, reclaimed the title deed to his 349 square meter plot of land in Larnaca tis Lapithou, on the south side of the Pentadaktylos mountain range towards the west. The land rights were returned to Skourides, after much wrangling, by the immovable property commission in the north.
His ancestral home had been demolished but despite setbacks, Skourides forged ahead with the construction of a home, stating at the time, “I want to die, where I was born.”
According to Yeni Duzen, Skourides told the newspaper in an interview shortly before his death, that he was one of the last to leave the village on August 15, 1974, and that when he returned in 2003 and saw his family home destroyed, he fell ill for months.
Skourides’ family was among the 160,000 Greek Cypriots who left their homes and property behind in the summer of 1974. The invasion split the island in half, and an agreement between the two sides, a year later, saw more than 40,000 Turkish Cypriots relocate to the Turkish-controlled north.
Until 1911, Larnakas of Lapithou had a Muslim minority. They are said to have relocated to nearby Kampyli. In 1973, the village had an estimated population of 873, consisting entirely of Greek Cypriots. All were displaced to the south of Cyprus in 1974. Today, it is inhabited by displaced Turkish Cypriots from various villages in Paphos District.
Skourides’ funeral was held at the Holy Church of Agios Georgios in Agios Dometios on Tuesday, January 17 at 12.00pm.
