Tucked into mountains overlooking the shimmering Mediterranean, this tranquil village is in a tug of war between its past and future as Cyprus confronts possible reunification.
The spectacular views and orange blossoms belie Karmi's tortured history. In 1974, its almost entirely Greek Cypriot population fled in terror when Turkish troops invaded after a coup in Nicosia tried, but failed, to unite the island with Greece.
In 1979, the authorities in the Turkish-occupied area began leasing out the dilapidated properties to foreigners at a fraction of their market value in a scheme to attract local investment and encourage tourism.
For as little as 220 Cyprus pounds (330 dollars) a year, scores of expatriates, principally from Britain and Germany, have since made Karmi their home, renovated it to strict aesthetic criteria and helped a Turkish Cypriot economy suffering under an international economic embargo.
But with referendums on each side due this weekend on a UN plan to solve the conflict, people who live here worry they will be evicted by Greek Cypriots wanting to return to their homes.
Ginny Nye sold her newsagent's shop in south London two years ago to run the Crow's Nest pub. Unlike more affluent leaseholders, she and her partner have no property to go back to in Britain.
"If it does all go pear-shaped, we've had two years when we've spent everything we've worked for since we were 16," she said.
But Hanns Peter Bild is more pragmatic. A retired German businessman, he himself fled advancing Soviet forces at the end of World War II, abandoning property that he no longer thinks of as his.
"We lost it because Mr Hitler was a crazy man. Here they lost it because they killed all the Turkish people," he said, referring to Greek Cypriot 'cleansing' of Turkish Cypriot communities in the 1960s.
And although he is relying on the Greek Cypriots to reject the UN plan when they vote on it in the April 24 referendum, leaving the status quo of a Turkish-held north and a Greek south divided by a UN-manned buffer zone, he does not dread leaving the village.
"We had our fun for 22 years. We have a very nice house in Germany," he said.
But neither he nor his 67-year-old wife Erika understood Greek Cypriots who barged into Karmi to see their old homes a year ago after the Turkish Cypriot authorities reopened the crossing points between north and south.
"There were more than 10 of them, walking through our garden, picking our flowers, all without asking. They went everywhere," she said.
"When we came there was no roof, no floor, no windows. We built it up. One lady said it was her home and she shouldn't have to ask."
But Greek Cypriots have no time for such complaints from the residents of Karmi and elsewhere who have leased or purchased land with dubious property deeds.
"These people knew full well that they were buying land at a very cheap price because it was hot property. Now the original owner is coming back to account for it," said human rights lawyer Achilleas Demetriades.
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