Cape Kormakitis in the context of "Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus"

Northern Cyprus, officially the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), is a de facto state comprising the northern third of the island of Cyprus. It is recognised only by Turkey, with the international community considering it territory of the Republic of Cyprus under Turkish military occupation. It extends from Cape Apostolos Andreas (the tip of the Karpass Peninsula) in the northeast to Morphou Bay in the northwest, with Cape Kormakitis at its westernmost point and the Kokkina exclave west of the mainland. A buffer zone controlled by the UN forms a barrier between both sides of the island and runs through Nicosia, the island's largest city and the capital of both sides.

After gaining independence from the United Kingdom in 1960, Cyprus was dominated by intercommunal violence between the island's Greek and Turkish populations. Greek Cypriots favoured enosis (union with Greece), while Turkish Cypriots favoured taksim (partition of the island). A coup d'état in 1974, performed as part of the Greek military junta's attempt to annex the island, prompted Turkey to invade Cyprus and capture the northern third of the island. This resulted in the eviction of much of the north's Greek Cypriot population and the flight of Turkish Cypriots from the south; the Turkish-occupied north unilaterally declared independence in 1983. UN Security Council Resolution 541 rejected the declaration as illegal and urged UN members not to recognise it. Attempts to resolve the Cyprus problem have been unsuccessful; Northern Cyprus and Turkey favour a two-state solution, while the Republic of Cyprus, the EU, and the UN favour a federalised Cyprus.

Kormakitis (Cypriot Arabic: Kurmajit; Greek: Κορμακίτης, Kormakítis; Turkish: Kormacit or Koruçam) is a small village in Cyprus. It is under the de facto control of Northern Cyprus. Kormakitis is one of four traditionally Maronite villages in Cyprus, the other three being Asomatos, Agia Marina and Karpaseia. The Maronites of Kormakitis traditionally speak their own variety of Arabic called Cypriot Maronite Arabic (CMA) in addition to Greek and recently Turkish and they follow the Catholic Maronite Church. Cape Kormakitis is named after the village.

All of the remaining Maronite villagers are elderly. The Republic of Cyprus government gives those who stayed in the north pensions of $670 a month per couple and around $430 for an individual. It also pays instructors to teach CMA, and funds week-long summer visits by young Maronites to put them in touch with their communal roots. Maronites also receive help from the United Nations. Every two weeks UN troops make the trip from Nicosia to deliver food, water, fuel and medical supplies across the border to the north's Maronite population. The UN aid convoy is manned by soldiers from the 12 Regiment Royal Artillery. Aid is funded by the Republic of Cyprus government but is delivered by the UN.