Galateia

Galateia
Γαλάτεια (Greek) Mehmetçik (Turkish)
Galateia Location in Cyprus
Coordinates:
Country	Cyprus
• District	Famagusta District
Country (controlled by)	Northern Cyprus
• District	İskele District
Government
• Mayor	Cemil Saricizmeli
Population (2011)
• Total	6,610
Time zone	EET (UTC+2)
• Summer (DST)	EEST (UTC+3)
Website	Turkish Cypriot municipality

Galateia (Greek: Γαλάτεια, Turkish: Mehmetçik) is a village in the Famagusta District of Cyprus, located on the Karpass peninsula. It is under the de facto control of Northern Cyprus.

It is famous for its well-known grape festival during the summer time. From all around Cyprus, people travel to spend time in this festival.

The village and its habitats are also well known for producing Zivania and Sucuk. Village has wine-yards and grapes are one of the largely exported products which villagers export to other areas of Cyprus.

History

This was a Turkish-Cypriot enclave pre-1974 with no Greek-Cypriot inhabitants, unlike the vast majority of the surrounding villages in the Karpas peninsula. It is also believed to have been a hot-bed of Turkish-Cypriot militancy (through membership of paramilitary groups like Volkan and TMT) during the troubled times of the struggle for independence (1955-1959) and post- independence (1963–74) period.

Culture, sports, and tourism

Turkish Cypriot Mehmetçik Sports Club was founded in 1943, and now in Cyprus Turkish Football Association (CTFA) K-PET 2nd League.

International relations

See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in Northern Cyprus

Twin towns – Sister cities

Galateia is twinned with:

• Osmangazi, Bursa Turkey
• Bağcılar, İstanbul Turkey