Kanli is a small Turkish community in the occupied part of the Lefkosia district. It lies 11 kilometres north-west of Lefkosia, at an elevation of 160 metres, in the geographical region of Mesaoria, and its northern boundary coincides with the boundary between the Lefkosia and Keryneia districts.¹ In the 1960 census it had 101 inhabitants, all of them Turks.

Name

On the land of the village the official gazetteer of Cyprus notes a chiftlik, that is, a large farm estate, bearing the name of the village. It also records, among others, the place-names Paliokofa, Kofas and Platys Potamos.²

Economy and society

According to the Great Cyprian Encyclopaedia, before 1974 mainly cereals and fodder crops were grown on the land of the village, and in 1973 the village had 1,094 sheep and 449 goats.³

Population

According to the Great Cyprian Encyclopaedia, the official censuses before 1946 record no inhabitants at Kanli.⁴ In 1946 it had 87 inhabitants, all of them Muslims (the 1946 census recorded only religion). In 1960 it had 101 inhabitants, all of them Turks, and in 1973 around 130 Turks (estimate).