Armenians in Cyprus - The Armenian Quarter

The Armenian Quarter

Since the Mediaeval Era and until December 1963, the western part of walled Nicosia formed what was known as the Armenian Quarter, which could be defined as follows: to the north of Paphos Gate, to the east of the moat, to the south of the fountain of Zahra street and to the west of the virtual line that formed the extension of Athanasios Diakos street towards Mula bastion.

Traditionally, the Armenian Quarter had the highest concentration of Armenians in Nicosia, as it encompassed the Armenian compound (Notre Dame de Tyre church, Armenian Prelature of Cyprus, Melikian-Ouzounian School and Armenian Genocide monument), the club houses for the Armenian Club, the AGBU and AYMA, as well as a large number of Armenian homes and shops.

Although the majority of its residents were Armenian-Cypriots, the Armenian Quarter was far from “monochrome”, as many Turkish-Cypriots, as well as some Greek-Cypriots, Maronite-Cypriots, Latin-Cypriots and British used to live there. In fact, until the first years of the British Era, the area was also known as the Latin Quarter; later on it was split between the Karaman Zade and Arab Ahmed quarters. However, as the majority of residents were Armenian-Cypriots, as of 1927 the mukhtar of Karaman Zade quarter has been Armenian-Cypriot: Melik Melikian (1927–1949), Kasbar Delyfer (1949–1956), Vahe Kouyoumdjian (1956–2009) and Mgo Kouyoumdjian (2011–today).

The heart of the Armenian quarter was Victoria street (Վիքթորիա փողոց/Οδός Βικτωρίας), on which the Armenian compound was located, as well as many houses and, at a later time, the AGBU club house; at times, AYMA's club house was there as well. Victoria street was the street that every Armenian-Cypriot would walk on to go to church, to school, to the clubs, to visit family, relatives and friends etc. One could hear Armenian all the time there and see Armenian-Cypriots. The street started from the Latin church of the Holy Cross and ended at the Arab Ahmed Pasha mosque, having Mahmoud Pasha street as its extension. As it was a one-way street, traffic was only allowed from the north to the south.

The other main road of the Armenian Quarter was Tanzimat street (Թանզիմաթ փողոց/Οδός Τανζιμάτ). As it was facing the moat, football matches between Armenian-Cypriot teams and other teams would attract a large number of Armenian-Cypriot spectators on it. At a later time, the AYMA club house was located here. As it was also a one-way street, traffic was only allowed from the north to the south. Various byroads linked Tanzimat street to Victoria street. After the occupation of the area by the Turkish-Cypriot paramilitary organisations, even though Tanzimat street retained its name, Victoria street was illegally re-named into Şehit Salahi Şevket street.

During the 1963–1964 Turkish-Cypriot mutiny, a large part of the Armenian Quarter of Nicosia was gradually taken over by Turkish-Cypriot extremists until 19 January 1964. Ten days later, they pillaged the Notre Dame de Tyre church and held captives for a few hours the Prelate, Senior Archimandrite Yervant Apelian, the parish priest, der Vazken Sandrouni, the Chairman of the Administrative Council of the Armenian Ethnarchy, Vahram Toundjian, and deacon Hrant Mamigonian.

Most Armenian-Cypriots left their houses out of fear and terror: some families fled for 2–3 days to the grounds of the Melikian-Ouzounian school and the church, until these places were also captured, while other families stayed for a longer period at the grounds of the Melkonian Educational Institute. Even though some returned, this was temporary, as on 4 March 1964 extremist Turkish-Cypriots drove them out of their houses, after presenting them with threatening ultimata in their post boxes. In total, 231 Armenian-Cypriot families became victims to the Turks.

Today the Armenian Quarter has changed completely; most houses, if not all, are inhabited by illegal Turkish settlers from Anatolia, just like the majority of the walled city of Nicosia. The only things remaining to remind a visitor that the area used to be inhabited in the past by Armenians can be found in the existence of the Armenian compound on Victoria street, currently undergoing extensive renovation and a plaque on top of the entrance of the old Sinanian house on the corner of Tanzimat street and Dervish pasha street.