Rizokarpaso

north of the town of Rizokarpaso lies the Ayfilon Beach, administered by the municipality as a public beach. The beach takes its name from the Ayios Philon Church in the ancient town of Karpasia, which is away. The beach is a breeding ground for loggerhead sea turtles, and as such is a center of attention for conservationists. It is also billed in tourist guides as a "spot to watch sunsets". It hosts an annual festival dedicated to sea turtles in August featuring concerts, release of turtle hatchlings, beach clean-ups, and other environmental awareness activities on the beach. Climate ==History==

The Rizokarpaso area contains some of the earliest inhabited places in the island. These include the ancient cities of Karpasia and Aphendrika. It was the seat of one of the largest Lusignan baronies. According to Stefano Lusignan, the town of Rizokarpaso became a part of the feudal estate of the de Nores family, until James II of Cyprus revoked Gauthier de Nores's rights due to his support of Queen Charlotte, James's opponent. The town has two churches: St. Synesios and the church of the Holy Trinity. They are examples of the typical Cypriot mixed style, combining features of the late Gothic introduced by the Lusignans with the late Byzantine style of the Orthodox tradition. These are two of the few Christian churches to operate in the northern part of Cyprus, and has allegedly had services stopped by the Turkish Cypriot police. == Demographics ==

Before 1974, the town was predominantly inhabited by Greek Cypriots. During the 1974 Turkish invasion of Cyprus, the peninsula was cut off by Turkish troops, preventing the town's Greek Cypriot inhabitants from fleeing to the south. As a result, with 250 Greek Cypriot inhabitants, Rizokarpaso is the home of the largest Greek population in Northern Cyprus. Between 1974 and 1985, around 2,500 Greek Cypriots left the village. == Politics ==

The town has a Turkish Cypriot municipality, whose current mayor is Suphi Coşkun from the Republican Turkish Party. Coşkun won the post in 2014, with over 50% of the votes, beating his predecessor, Mehmet Demirci of the National Unity Party. ==Culture and tourism==

at sunset Turkish Cypriot Dipkarpaz Sports Club was founded in 1978; its football team in 2015 played in Cyprus Turkish Football Association (CTFA) K-PET 2nd League. Education in the town includes a primary school and the Recep Tayyip Erdogan Secondary School. The town hosts some small tourist facilities. east lies Golden Beach, a pristine long beach, and the Apostolos Andreas Monastery. ==International relations==

Twin towns – sister cities Rizokarpaso is twinned with: • Ankara, Turkey (since 1986) • Pendik, Istanbul, Turkey (since 1986) • Yasamal, Baku, Azerbaijan (since 2005) • Ardeşen, Rize, Turkey • Tatvan, Bitlis, Turkey ==See also==