Paphos To Rename Kemal Atatürk Avenue

DISY council member Nina Gkaraklidou said her proposal was approved during Thursday’s session and that the street name would be changed in the near future.

According to a report by Cyprus Mail, Gkaraklidou had previously argued in a social media post that the avenue carrying the name of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founding president of the Republic of Turkey, was “painful” for local residents, most of whom are Greek Cypriots displaced from the north in 1974 and their descendants.

In the same post, Gkaraklidou said street names “reflect values, roots, history and choices,” adding that she proposed the change “with awareness of the burden created by reality and responsibility toward future generations.”

The report noted that Moutallos had been the area where Turkish Cypriots lived in Paphos before 1974, reflected in street names such as Namık Kemal, İsmet İnönü and Dr. Fazıl Küçük.

Following 1974, Greek Cypriots displaced from the north were settled in the area, while Pontic Greeks who moved to the island after the collapse of the Soviet Union also began living there.

The report added that initiatives are continuing to rename other streets and avenues considered “disturbing” by some residents.

It also recalled that Talat Paşa Avenue was renamed Justice Avenue in 2021.

Nikos Kapetanidis, after whom the avenue will be renamed, was a journalist in Trabzon who was sentenced to death during proceedings of the Independence Tribunals established in 1921 against Pontic groups and their supporters during Turkey’s War of Independence.