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Home | Settlement L | Lefkoniko
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The Greek residents of Lefkoniko fled the 1974 invasion and since then the town has been repopulated by mainly people from Kophinou (the old Geçitkale) in the south, as well as villagers who wholly abandoned their all Turkish village Artemis, north of Lefkoniko. In order to discourage settlers from Turkey, a large number of mud-houses were knocked down by the local village-council between 1975-77. Thus to this day, the village has an odd look, with many concrete houses standing from the early 1970s, with large spaces separating them. Pre-1974 population of the village was around 2500, current population is a little under 1500. The village is a centre of employment, with people engaged in carpentry, masonry, mechanics shops, and retail. Lefkoniko is also the location of Geçitkale airport, with a 3400m run-way, the longest on the island, used mostly for military purposes. The United States also has the right to use this airport to fly over for Middle East operations. Along with Ercan, it is recognized as a legal port of entry only by Turkey. |
