The quiet and generally uneventful town of Morfou (Güzelyurt) )(known as Güzelyurt by Turkish Cypriots) was once the centre for Cyprus' lucrative citrus industry. Sunzest, the company owned by renegade and runaway Cypriot businessman, Asil Nadir, used to produce vast quantities of orange juice for the export market. The factory now languishes in receivership, and the potentially lucrative citrus industry has taken a severe downturn.

This is bittersweet news to the Greek Cypriots, who were particularly aggrieved when the citrus groves were lost to Turkish forces in 1974. Most were proudly owned by Greek Cypriots who, when meeting someone who has been to the North, invariably ask after the health of their beloved groves. You can hardly miss the citrus groves - they start shortly before the village of Şahinler (Masari) and stretch all the way to the sea. The groves are watered by a series of underground aquifers. However, because of a drop in the level of the aquifer reserves and a rise in the salinity of the underground water, as well as a sometimes less-than-loving approach to cultivation and maintenance, the groves are beginning to feel the pinch. In fairness, this visible degradation is no doubt due, to some degree, to the disruption brought about by Sunzest's demise. In better days, in the early half of the 20th century, oranges were shipped by train from Morfou to Famagusta for export overseas. It seems odd that facilities were never developed for orange export at the nearer port of Gemikonağı. Incidentally, the train route from Morfou to North Nicosia ceased passenger services in 1932, though it continued to transport freight until 1951. The line has long since fallen into disrepair.