Paphos, Cyprus. Voters across the Paphos district arrived steadily at polling stations from early morning on Sunday, with some of the highest participation recorded among elderly residents in rural communities.
Kedara polling station
In Kedara, one of the smallest polling stations in Cyprus, 66 registered voters were expected at the community hall where the ballot box was set up for the parliamentary elections. Many of those who voted were elderly villagers who have remained in the mountain community despite decades of depopulation and migration to the cities.
Village changes
Kedara community leader Grigoris Ioannou, 75, said the village has been heavily affected by migration, with most remaining residents now pensioners. He said the youngest permanent resident is 67 and the oldest is 93.
Ioannou recalled a time when Kedara’s school had 120 students and three teachers, and when buses regularly connected the village to Limassol and Paphos. He said his “burning desire” is to support the countryside and preserve village life, adding that he would never leave the community where he was born.
He also welcomed Kedara’s inclusion in a state heating allowance scheme for Troodos communities.
Memories and voting record
Residents also spoke about memories of coexistence with Turkish Cypriots before 1974, expressing hopes for reunification and recalling close personal relationships across communities.
Among those voting was 91-year-old Louis Markantonis, who said he has never missed an election. The retired firefighter, who worked in the British bases, said Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots “lived like brothers” in earlier decades.
