Kofinou ( el, Κοφίνου; tr, Köfünye or ) is a village located in the Larnaca District of

Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is geo ...

. It is situated where the roads from Nicosia, Larnaca and Limassol trisected, prior to the by-pass built in the 1990s.

History

Cyprus was invaded and conquered by Ottoman Turkey in 1570-1 A.D. At that time a small contingent of Turkish forces was stationed there. Their descendants lived in relative peace with the local Greek and Christian population for many years. In the 1950s during the uprising by Greek Cypriots to overthrow British Empire rule the relationship between the Greek and Turkish population worsened and the Greeks left but were replaced by Turkish Cypriots from another village. The village became infamous on 15 November 1967, when some National Guards troops overran the TMT (a Turkish-Cypriot armed group) fighters located at the village, including the neighbouring mixed village of Agios Theodoros. Turkish-Cypriot TMT members stationed at the area were controlling the area and blocking the main road from Nicosia to Limassol, making it impossible for Greek-Cypriots civilians to pass through the area without UN escort. After repeated warnings through the United Nations on 15 November 1967, General Grivas and his National Guard to Turkish Cypriots to stop fire at civilians they attacked. The fighting escalated and some 24 Turkish Cypriots, including unarmed civilians lost their lives in the overnight events; Turkey's ultimatum the following day resulted in the withdrawal of the National Guard from the two villages. This event in particular saw the return of Grivas and his battalion back to Greece. In addition, this event also culminated in the removal of all road blocks upon which Turkish Cypriot buses entering Nicosia were being stopped and by which means the passengers were subjected to a body search. After 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 ...

in 1974, the original Turkish Cypriot population of Kophinou were allocated the village of

Lefkoniko Lefkoniko ( el, Λευκόνοικο; tr, Lefkonuk or ) is a town in the Mesaoria Plain under the ''de facto'' control of Northern Cyprus, claimed by Cyprus. Lefkoniko is the birthplace of Cypriot national poet Vasilis Michaelides and is known ...

- the new Geçitkale - in the north by the Cypriot Turkish administration, to this day where many of them reside, whereas the original Turkish Cypriot population of

Pano Lefkara Pano Lefkara ( el, Πάνω Λεύκαρα) is a village on the island of Cyprus famous for its lace, known as lefkaritika in (Greek: λευκαρίτικα) and silver handicrafts. The village takes its name from the white of its silica and lime ...

are now residing in Agios Theodoros in the north of the island. In Kofinou will be place for big

HVDC converter station An HVDC converter station (or simply converter station) is a specialised type of substation which forms the terminal equipment for a high-voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission line.Arrillaga, Jos; High Voltage Direct Current Transmission, se ...

s for 2,000 MW

EuroAsia Interconnector The EuroAsia Interconnector is a HVDC interconnector between the Greek, Cypriot, and Israeli power grids via the world's longest submarine power cable ( from Israel to Cyprus and from Cyprus to Greece, for a total of ). Connecting Kofinou, Cyp ...

and

EuroAfrica Interconnector EuroAfrica Interconnector is a HVDC interconnector and submarine power cable between the Greek, Cypriot, and Egypt power grids.EuroAsia Interconnector – Official site
/ref>EuroAfrica Interconnector
/ref>

is a 2000 MW electricity interconnector between

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

Cypriot Cypriot (in older sources often "Cypriote") refers to someone or something of, from, or related to the country of Cyprus. * Cypriot people, or of Cypriot descent; this includes: **Armenian Cypriots **Greek Cypriots **Maronite Cypriots **Turkish C ...

, and

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

power grid An electrical grid is an interconnected network for electricity delivery from producers to consumers. Electrical grids vary in size and can cover whole countries or continents. It consists of:Kaplan, S. M. (2009). Smart Grid. Electrical Power ...

s via 1520 km long submarine power cable.

EuroAfrica Interconnector EuroAfrica Interconnector is a HVDC interconnector and submarine power cable between the Greek, Cypriot, and Egypt power grids.Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

, and

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

s via 1710 km long submarine power cable. Converter stations will be near the existing Kofinou 132kV transmission substation of the

Electricity Authority of Cyprus The Electricity Authority of Cyprus (EAC) (Greek: ''Αρχή Ηλεκτρισμού Κύπρου (ΑΗΚ)'') was founded in 1952 by the British colonial government. The 28 private electricity companies of the time were nationalized and absorbed i ...

References

{{Larnaca District Communities in Larnaca District Turkish Cypriot villages depopulated after the 1974 Turkish invasion of Cyprus