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Turkish Cypriots

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Turkish Cypriots
Kıbrıs Türkleri
File:Famous Turkish Cypriot people.png
1st row: Fazıl Küçük · Kıbrıslı Mehmed Kamil Pasha · Kaytazzade Mehmet Nazım · Mehmet Veis · Rauf Denktaş
2nd row: Ziynet Sali · Billy Mehmet · Işın Karaca · Leon Osman · Eylem
Total population
est. 1,000,000 (see also Turkish Cypriot diaspora)
Regions with significant populations
 Northern Cyprus198,500 a[1]
 Turkey500,000[2]
 United Kingdom200,000-250,000[3][2][4][5]
 Australia25,000-40,000[6][2]
 Germany10,000
 Canada5,000
 United States5,000[7]
 Cyprus2,000[8]
Languages
Turkish  · Cypriot Turkish
Religion
Predominantly Islam
a This figure does not include Turkish settlors from Turkey.

Turkish Cypriots (Template:Lang-tr Template:Lang-el) are the ethnic Turks and members of the Turkish-speaking ethnolinguistic community of the Eastern Mediterranean island of Cyprus. The term is used to refer explicitly to the indigenous Turkish Cypriots, whose Ottoman Turkish forbears colonised the island in 1571. About 30,000 Turkish soldiers were given land once they settled in Cyprus[9][10], which bequeathed a significant Turkish community; today's Turkish Cypriots.[11]

History

An old Turkish Cypriot quarters in Paphos (1969).
A Turkish Cypriot man at the opening of the mass grave containing the bodies of the former Turkish inhabitants of the village of Sandallar in North Cyprus.[12]

Ottoman troops landed in Cyprus in mid-May 1570 and conquered it within a year from Venetian rule.[13] At first the Turkish arrival to the island was welcomed by the Greek Cypriots as it was an improvement on Catholic domination and on the principle that anybody was better than the Venetians.[13][14][15] After the defeat of the Venetians in 1571, the Turkish commander, Lala Mustafa Paşa, chose 12,000 infantry and 4,000 cavalrymen to stay behind as colonists.[16] Furthermore, a substantial number of Turkish soldiers and their families from the Mediterranean region of Turkey, approximately 30,000, went to Cyprus and were given fiefs on the island. A fief was a parcel of real estate given by Sultan Selim II to his soldiers in return for their service to him.[10] By the late sixteenth century there was an estimated 40,000-60,000 Turks in Cyprus.[17]

Throughout the Ottoman rule, the demographic ratio between Christian Greeks and Muslim Turks fluctuated constantly.[18] By 1777-1788 the Turkish Muslim population constituted the majority on the island, with 47,000 Muslim Turks and 37,000 Christian Greeks.[19] In 1788-1792 the Turkish Cypriot population was estimated at 60,000 compared to 20,000 Greek Cypriots.[19] However, by 1841, Turks made up 31% of the island's population.[20] The reason for this decline is because the Turkish Cypriot community were obliged to serve in the Ottoman army for years, usually away from home, very often losing their lives in the endless wars of the Ottoman Empire.[21]

By 1878, during the Congress of Berlin, Cyprus was 'rented' to the British with the condition that Britain would come to the Ottoman Empire's aid in case of a Russian attack. However, in 1914, the Ottoman Empire established an alliance with Germany, Britain annexed Cyprus, and the island became a British colony.[22] At this time, Cyprus' Muslim inhabitants were asked to choose between adopting British nationality and retaining their Ottoman subject status; this resulted in 4,000-8,500 Muslim Turks choosing to leave the island and move to Turkey.[23] By July 1923, Turkey accepted that Cyprus had become a British territory under the Treaty of Lausanne and almost 15% of the Turkish Cypriot community, approximately 15,000, immigrated to Turkey.[24] Furthermore, the Great Depression of 1929 brought economic depression to Cyprus with unemployment and low wages.[25] Thus, Turkish Cypriots started to immigrate in small numbers to the United Kingdom and the United States during the 1930s for economic reasons.[26]

In 1950 a referendum was held by the Greek Cypriots in which 95.7% of eligible Greek Cypriot voters cast their ballots in supporting a fight aimed at enosis, the union of Cyprus with Greece.[27] By 1955, the Greek Cypriot fight for enosis was led by an armed organisation called EOKA by Archbishop Makarios III and Georgios Grivas which aimed at bringing down British rule and uniting the island of Cyprus with Greece. Turkish Cypriots had always reacted immediately against the objective of enosis; thus, the 1950s saw many Turkish Cypriots who were fleeing the EOKA terrorists.[28] By 1958, Turkish Cypriots set up their own armed group called TMT and by early 1958, the first wave of armed conflict between the two communities began, a few hundred Turkish Cypriots left their villages and quarters in the mixed towns and never returned.[29]

Turkish flag (left) and Turkish Cypriot flag (right) on the Beşparmak mountains.

By 16 August 1960, the island of Cyprus became an independent state, the Republic of Cyprus, with power sharing between the two communities under the 1960 Zurich agreements, with Britain, Greece and Turkey as Guarantor Powers. Archbishop Makarios III was elected as president by the Greek Cypriots and Dr. Fazıl Küçük was elected as vice-president by the Turkish Cypriots. In December 1963, the events known as Bloody Christmas (tr:Kanlı Noel)[30] was were Greek Cypriots initiated a military campaign against the Turkish Cypriots which led to the beginning of intercommoned clashes that continued until 1974.[31] Both ethnic groups continued to pursue their separate objectives of enosis and taksim and in 1963 inter-ethnic fighting broke out which continued until 1967, with Turkish Cypriots bearing the heavier cost in terms of casualties and some 25,000 Turkish Cypriots became internally displaced accounting to about a fifth of their population.[29] These Turkish Cypriots had become internally displaced and lived as refugees for at least ten years before the 1974 Turkish invasion.[29] By the late 1960s, tension continued to grow and approximately 60,000 Turkish Cypriots left their homes and moved into enclaves.[32] This resulted in an exodus of Turkish Cypriots with the majority migrating to the United Kingdom whilst others went to Turkey, North America and Australia.[33]

With the rise to power of the Greek military junta in 1967, a group of right-wing Greek extremists supporting the union of Cyprus with Greece created an organisation called EOKA B and staged a coup in 1974.[34] This led to a military offensive by Turkey who used its right as one of the guarantor states and invaded the island.[29] After the Turkish invasion, and the ensuing of the 1975 Vienna agreements, 60,000 Turkish Cypriots who lived in the south of the island fled to the north.[35] The 1974-1975 movement was strictly organised by the Provisional Turkish Administration who tried to preserve village communities intact.[29]

Thus, Cyprus was divided into two zones, separated by the green line, which was first established in 1964.[36] In the north, the Turkish Cypriots first declared the Turkish Federated State of Cyprus in 1975, and in 1983 they unilaterally declared the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus which has since remained internationally unrecognized except by Turkey.[35] In April 2004, a referendum of the Annan Plan to reunite the island was strongly approved by Turkish Cypriots (64.9% voting “yes”) whilst it was strongly rejected by the Greek Cypriots (75.8% voting “no”).

Culture

The Ottoman Turkish Hala Sultan Tekke, located in Larnaca, is the third holiest Islamic shirne after Mecca and Medina.
The historic Büyük Han which houses a mosque has become a thriving centre of Turkish Cypriot culture.
Kıbrısım
Güzelim
Problems playing these files? See media help.
File:Turkish cypriot folk dancers 1.jpg
Turkish Cypriot folk dancers.

Religion

The majority of Turkish Cypriots (99%) are Sunni Muslims.[37] Religion plays an important role in the Turkish Cypriot culture; however, they are not conservative and many do not actually practice the religion.[38] For example, alcohol is frequently consumed by Turkish Cypriots and women dress casually. In fact, the majority of Turkish Cypriots are overwhelmingly secular.[37]

In the 300 years of Ottoman rule in Cyprus, the Turks built mostly religious buildings on the island. Hala Sultan Tekke near the salt lake in Larnaka (which is considered to be the third holiest place for Muslims in the world[39][40][41]) and the Mevlevi Tekke in Nicosia are considered to be the most important two tekkes. Büyük Han (the Great Inn) and Kumarcilar Han (the Gamblers Inn), the Sultan Mahmut II Library in Nicosia, the Bekir Pasha Water Arches in Larnaka, and various fountains and grave-inscriptions are all examples of the presence of the Turkish Cypriot culture.[42]

Language

Main article: Cypriot Turkish

The Cypriot Turkish dialect is relatively distinct from standard Turkish used in Turkey as it is more casual than the formal standard Turkish. The words (mainly verbs) have short, cut ends with some lengthy vowels at the end of each sentence. For example, instead of saying 'ne yapiyorsun?' (what are you doing?), the Cypriot dialect shortens this to 'napan?'.

However, since the establishment of the TRNC, mainland Turkish has become more influential; the influence of Turkish television has also contributed to this.

Music and dances

Main article: Turkish Cypriot folk dances

Folk music and dancing is an integral part of social life among Turkish Cypriots. Traditional Turkish Cypriot folk dances can be divided into 5 categories: Karsilamas, Sirtos, Zeybeks, Ciftetellis / Arabiyes, and Topical Dances (such as Orak, Kozan, Kartal and Topal). The folk dancing groups usually have performances during national festivals, weddings, Turkish nights at hotels and within tourism areas.

Demographics

The northern areas of the island of Cyprus are administered by Turkish Cypriots.

According to the 2006 Northern Cyprus Census, there was 145,443 Turkish Cypriots who were born and currently living in North Cyprus.[43] Of the Cypriot-born population, 120,007 had both parents born in Cyprus; 12,628 had one of their parents born in Cyprus and the other born in another country. Thus, 132,635 Turkish Cypriots had at least one parent born in Cyprus.[44]

Place of Birth Turkish Cypriot population who were born in Cyprus
and who are permanent residents in the TRNC (2006) 		Male Female
North Cyprus 112,534 56,332 56,202
Nicosia (Lefkoşa) 54,077 27,043 27,034
Famagusta (Gazimağusa) 32,264 16,151 16,113
Kyrenia (Girne) 10,178 5,168 5,010
Morphou (Güzelyurt) 10,241 5,013 5,228
Trikomo (İskele) 4,617 2,356 2,261
District not Indicated 1,157 601 556
South Cyprus 32,538 15,411 17 127
Nicosia (Lefkoşa) 3,544 1,646 1,898
Famagusta (Gazimağusa) 1,307 598 709
Larnaca (Larnaka) 6,492 3,031 3,461
Limassol (Limasol) 9,067 4,314 4,753
Paphos (Baf) 11,955 5,750 6,205
District not Indicated 173 72 101
Cyprus - North or South region not Indicated 371 178 193
Total 145,443 71,921 73,522

Diaspora

Main article: Turkish Cypriot diaspora
There is an estimated 300,000 Turkish Cypriots living in London, United Kingdom.[4]

There has been a significant Turkish Cypriot exodus from the island in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, mainly to the Great Britain, Australia, and Turkey. Immigration from Cyprus has been for two main reasons, namely economical and political reasons. According to the TRNC Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 500,000 Turkish Cypriots live in Turkey; 200,000 in Great Britain; 40,000 in Australia; some 10,000 in North America; and 5,000 in other countries (mainly in Germany).[2]

Famous Turkish Cypriots

See also

References

  1. ^ CIA The World Factbook. "Cyprus". Retrieved 2010-10-03.
  2. ^ a b c d TRNC Info. "Briefing Notes on the Cyprus Issue". Retrieved 2010-10-03.
  3. ^ Canefe 2002, 65.
  4. ^ a b Bahceli, Simon (17 March 2005). "Britain slams London authority for ban on Turkish Cypriot ads". Cyprus Mail. Retrieved 8 October 2010. {{cite web}}: More than one of |author= and |last= specified (help)
  5. ^ Cyprus Star. "Where are their election rights ?". Retrieved 2010-11-20.
  6. ^ Hüssein 2007, 24.
  7. ^ Every Culture. "Cypriot Americans". Retrieved 2010-10-03.
  8. ^ Hatay 2007, 40.
  9. ^ Welin & Ekelund 2004, 2.
  10. ^ a b Hüssein 2007, 14.
  11. ^ Rudolph 2008, 37.
  12. ^ "The Voice of Blood", book and film by Antonis Angastiniotis
  13. ^ a b Shaw 1976, 178.
  14. ^ Cockburn 2004, 42.
  15. ^ Davey 1994, 102.
  16. ^ Darke 2009, 41.
  17. ^ CypNet. "Northern Cyprus Demographic Info". Retrieved 2010-10-04.
  18. ^ Hatay 2007, 17.
  19. ^ a b Hatay 2007, 19.
  20. ^ Spilling 2000, 25.
  21. ^ Hatay 2007, 18.
  22. ^ Carment, James & Taydas 2006, 181.
  23. ^ Hatay 2007, 21.
  24. ^ Göktepe 2003, 91.
  25. ^ Hüssein 2007, 16.
  26. ^ Yilmaz 2005, 154.
  27. ^ Panteli 1990, 151.
  28. ^ Sonyel 2000, 147.
  29. ^ a b c d e Kliot 2007, 59.
  30. ^ Papadakis 2005, 82.
  31. ^ Demirtaş-Coşkun 2010, 39.
  32. ^ Tocci 2004, 53.
  33. ^ Hüssein 2007, 18.
  34. ^ Savvides 2004, 260.
  35. ^ a b Tocci 2007, 32.
  36. ^ Papadakis 2005, 83.
  37. ^ a b Boyle & Sheen 1997, 290.
  38. ^ Darke 2009, 10.
  39. ^ Mikropoulos 2008, 61.
  40. ^ Rowan-moorhouse 2007, 186.
  41. ^ Goetz 2008, 30.
  42. ^ Djavit An 2008, 3.
  43. ^ TRNC PRIME MINISTRY STATE PLANNING ORGANIZATION 2006, 12.
  44. ^ TRNC PRIME MINISTRY STATE PLANNING ORGANIZATION 2006, 10.

Bibliography

  • Boyle, Juliet; Sheen (1997), Freedom of religion and belief: a world report, Routledge, ISBN 0415159784.
  • Canefe, Nergis (2002), "Markers of Turkish Cypriot History in the Diaspora: Power, visibility and identity", Rethinking History, 6 (1): 57-76, OCLC 440918386.
  • Carment, David; James, Patrick; Taydas, Zeynep (2006), Who intervenes?: ethnic conflict and interstate crisis, Ohio State University Press, ISBN 0814210139.
  • Cockburn, Cynthia (2004), The line: women, partition and the gender order in Cyprus, Zed Books, ISBN 1842774212.
  • Darke, Diana (2009), North Cyprus, Bradt Travel Guides, ISBN 1841622443.
  • Davey, Eileen (1994), Northern Cyprus: A Traveller's Guide, I.B.Tauris, ISBN 1850437475.
  • Demirtaş-Coşkun, Birgül (2010), "Reconsidering the Cyprus Issue: An Anatomy of Failure og European Catalyst (1995-2002)", in Laçiner, Sedat; Özcan, Mehmet; Bal, İhsan (eds) (eds.), USAK Yearbook of International Politics and Law 2010, Vol. 3, USAK Books, ISBN 6054030264 {{citation}}: |editor3-first= has generic name (help).
  • Djavit An, Ahmet (2008), Origins of the Turkish Cypriots, http://www.kibristakulturmucadelesi.org: Kibris Kültür Mücadelesi {{citation}}: External link in |place= and |title= (help)
  • Göktepe, Cihat (2003), British foreign policy towards Turkey, 1959-1965, Routledge, ISBN 0714653969.
  • Goetz, Rolf (2008), Cyprus: 42 selected walks in the valleys and mountains, Bergverlag Rother GmbH, ISBN 376334814X.
  • Hatay, Mete (2007), Is the Turkish Cypriot population shrinking?, http://www.prio.no/: International Peace Research Institute, ISBN 978-82-7288-244-9 {{citation}}: External link in |place= and |title= (help)
  • Hüssein, Serkan (2007), Yesterday & Today: Turkish Cypriots of Australia, Serkan Hussein, ISBN 0646477838.
  • Inalcik, Halil, A Note of the Population of Cyprus, http://www.sam.gov.tr: Bilkent University {{citation}}: External link in |place= and |title= (help).
  • Kliot, Nurit (2007), "Resettlement of Refugees in Finland and Cyprus: A Comparative Analysis and Possible Lessons for Israel", in Kacowicz, Arie Marcelo; Lutomski, Pawel (eds) (eds.), Population resettlement in international conflicts: a comparative study, Lexington Books, ISBN 073911607X {{citation}}: |editor2-first= has generic name (help).
  • Mikropoulos, Tassos A. (2008), Elevating and Safeguarding Culture Using Tools of the Information Society: Dusty traces of the Muslim culture, Earthlab, ISBN 9602331879.
  • Panteli, Stavros (1990), The making of modern Cyprus: from obscurity to statehood, CInterworld Publications, ISBN 0948853093.
  • Papadakis, Yiannis (2005), Echoes from the Dead Zone: Across the Cyprus divide, I.B.Tauris, ISBN 185043428X.
  • Rowan-moorhouse, Libby (2007), In the Land of Aphrodite, Power Publishing, ISBN 9963673171.
  • Rudolph, Joseph Russell (2008), Hot spot: North America and Europe, ABC-CLIO, ISBN 0313336210.
  • Savvides, Philippos K (2004), "Partition Revisited: The International Dimension and the Case of Cyprus", in Danopoulos, Constantine Panos; Vajpeyi, Dhirendra K.; Bar-Or, Amir(eds) (eds.), Civil-military relations, nation building, and national identity: comparative perspectives, Greenwood Publishing Group, ISBN 0275979237 {{citation}}: |editor3-first= has generic name (help).
  • Shawn, Stanford J. (1976), History of the Ottoman Empire and modern Turkey, Volume 1, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0521291631.
  • Sonyel, Salahi R. (2000), "Turkish Migrants in Europe" (PDF), Perceptions, 5 (Sept.-Nov. 00), Center for Strategic Research: 146-153
  • Spilling, Michael (2000), Cyprus, Marshall Cavendish, ISBN 0761409785.
  • Tocci, Nathalie (2004), EU accession dynamics and conflict resolution: catalysing peace or consolidating partition in Cyprus?, Ashgate Publishing, ISBN 0754643107.
  • Tocci, Nathalie (2007), The EU and conflict resolution: promoting peace in the backyard, Routledge, ISBN 041541394X.
  • TRNC PRIME MINISTRY STATE PLANNING ORGANIZATION (2006), TRNC GENERAL POPULATION AND HOUSING UNIT CENSUS, http://nufussayimi.devplan.org/index-en.html: TRNC PRIME MINISTRY STATE PLANNING ORGANIZATION {{citation}}: External link in |place= and |title= (help)
  • Welin, Gustaf; Ekelund, Christer (2004), The UN in Cyprus: Swedish Peace-keeping Operations 1964-1993, Hurst & Company, ISBN 1-85065-741-6.
  • Yilmaz, Ihsan (2005), Muslim Laws, Politics and Society in Modern Nation States: Dynamic Legal Pluralisms in England, Turkey and Pakistan, Ashgate Publishing, ISBN 0754643891.

Further reading

  • Baybars, Taner, Plucked in a far-off land, London: Victor Gollancz, 1970.
  • Beckingham, C. F., The Cypriot Turks, Journal of the Royal Central Asian Society, vol. 43, pp. 126–30, 1956.
  • Beckingham, C. F., The Turks of Cyprus, Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland. vol 87(II), pp. 165–74. July-Dec. 1957.
  • Beckingham, C. F., Islam and Turkish nationalism in Cyprus, Die Welt des Islam, NS, Vol 5, 65-83, 1957.
  • Committee on Turkish Affairs, An investigation into matters concerning and affecting the Turkish community in Cyprus: Interim report, Nicosia: Government Printing Office, 1949.
  • Dandini, Jerome. Voyage du Mont Liban / traduit de l'Italien du R. P. Jerome Dandini ... Ou il est traité tant de la créance ... des Maronites, que des plusieurs particularitez touchant les Turcs ... avec des remarques sur la theologie des chrétiens & ... des mahometans. Par R. S. P.
  • Jennings, Ronald C. , Christians and Muslims in Ottoman Cyprus and the Mediterranean World, 1571–1640, New York University Studies in Near Eastern Civilization-Number XVIII, New York University Press, New York and London, 1993-Acknowledgments ix-xi + 428 pp.
  • Oakley, Robin, The Turkish peoples of Cyprus, in Margaret Bainbridge, ed, The Turkic peoples of the world. (pp. 85–117), New York: Kegan Paul, 1993


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