Negotiating 'Turkishness' in North Cyprus Katherine Boone Doctor Of
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Negotiating ‘Turkishness’ in North Cyprus Katherine Boone Doctor of Philosophy University of East Anglia School of Art, Media and American Studies September 2016 This copy of the thesis has been supplied on condition that anyone who consults it is understood to recognise that its copyright rests with the author and that use of any information derived there from must be in accordance with current UK Copyright Law. In addition, any quotation or extract must include full attribution. Name: Katherine Boone Registration Number: 4818678 School: Art, Media and American Studies (AMA) Thesis Title: Negotiating “Turkishness” in North Cyprus I certify that the total word count in this thesis (including bibliography and footnotes) is 84,258 words. i Abstract Since the inception of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) in 1983, the TRNC government has attempted to construct and promote a collective national identity through various means, including but not limited to heritage projects, new place names, and the standardization of history textbooks used in public education. The TRNC government placed emphasis on ‘Turkishness’ in order to form a single and unified culture that had continuity with past historical ties to Turkey. Over time and in response to various external and internal political, economic, cultural and social events, the TRNC government’s construction of a collective national identity has been continuously redefined and reshaped to promote a more ‘Cypriot’ past, distancing itself from past historical ties to Turkey. Turkish Cypriots, however, do not merely absorb the official constructions of national identity; they negotiate and construct their own more nuanced understanding of that identity. How do Turkish Cypriots negotiate understandings of ‘Turkishness’? Through ethnographic field research in the TRNC and secondary sources this dissertation illustrates the ways in which national identity is constructed by Turkish Cypriots, negotiated with state constructions of national identity, and reproduced through everyday practices. Through these constructions and negotiations, Turkish Cypriots fluctuate between rejecting Turkey as an outside oppressor and excluding people from Turkey as ‘other’, to accepting Turkey as the ‘Motherland’ and including people from Turkey as part of their national community. ii This dissertation highlights the fabricated nature of ‘Turkishness’ and disentangles the ways in which understandings of ‘Turkishness’ are negotiated and reproduced by Turkish Cypriots. This dissertation posits that Turkish Cypriots are not shifting between Turkish nationalism and Cypriot nationalism, but rather these everyday negotiations of ‘Turkishness’ by Turkish Cypriots produce a distinct Turkish Cypriot demotic nationalism from ‘below’. iii Table of Contents Declaration......................................................................................................................... i Abstract ............................................................................................................................. ii Table of Contents ............................................................................................................ iv Acknowledgments .......................................................................................................... vii Abbreviations .................................................................................................................. ix List of Figures ................................................................................................................... x Chapter 1: Introduction ............................................................................................... 1- 9 1.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................... 2 1.2 Chapter Outline ............................................................................................................. 6 Chapter 2: Literature Review and Methodology .................................................... 10-69 2.1 Chapter Outline ........................................................................................................... 11 2.2 Literature Review........................................................................................................ 12 2.2.1 Competing Turkish Nationalism and the Construction of 'Turkishness' ........... 12 2.2.2 Emergence of Turkish Nationalism and defining of 'Turkishness' in Cyprus ... 29 2.2.3 Rise of Cypriot Nationalism and 'Cypriotness' .................................................. 39 2.2.4 Why ‘Turkishness’? ........................................................................................... 48 2.3 Methodology .............................................................................................................. 60 Chapter 3: Performing Turkishness: Military Service and the Nation .............. 70-127 3.1 Remembering 20 July 1974 ........................................................................................ 71 3.2 "We are the Foot Soldiers of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk" .............................................. 79 3.3 Military Culture in the TRNC ..................................................................................... 89 3.3.1 Turkish Armed Forces and the Turkish Cypriot Security Forces ...................... 89 iv 3.3.2 Barbeque and Bullets ......................................................................................... 99 3.3.3 Kismet .............................................................................................................. 105 3.4 July 20, 2014 Celebrations ........................................................................................ 108 3.4.1 Celebrating Militarism ..................................................................................... 108 3.4.2 Flag Ceremony ................................................................................................. 109 3.4.3 Performing "Turkishness" ................................................................................ 118 3.4.4 Audience .......................................................................................................... 120 3.5 The Turkish Air Show .............................................................................................. 125 Chapter 4: The Asmaaltı Project: Longing for an Unattainable Modern Future 128- 172 4.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................... 129 4.2 The Walled City ........................................................................................................ 137 4.2.1 The Walled City and Decay ............................................................................. 138 4.2.2 'Follow the Blue Line' ...................................................................................... 146 4.3 The Asmaaltı Project................................................................................................. 155 4.4 Buyer's Remorse ....................................................................................................... 165 Chapter 5: "Return Home, Ayse!"....................................................................... 173-235 5.1 Negotiating Islam and Secularism ............................................................................ 174 5.2 Encountering Dereboyu ............................................................................................ 183 5.3 Gezi Park and Berkin Elvan Protests ........................................................................ 198 5.3.1 Alcohol restrictions and the Taksim Protests in Gezi Park.............................. 198 5.3.2 "Derboyundayiz Taksim!" ("We are in Dereboyu, Taksim") .......................... 203 5.3.3 Defenders of Kemalism ................................................................................... 209 5.3.4 Berkin Elvan Protests ....................................................................................... 212 5.3.5 Dereboyu and Protest ....................................................................................... 216 5.4 Anayasa Rock Bar .................................................................................................... 218 5.4.1 Kahve or Gahve?.............................................................................................. 218 5.4.2 Mixed Media Protest ........................................................................................ 220 5.4.3 Protest and Rock n' Roll in North Cyprus ........................................................ 223 5.4.4 Turkish Music Revolution .............................................................................. 228 5.4.5 "Evine don Ayse" ["Return Home, Ayse"] ...................................................... 233 v Chapter 6: Gambling in North Cyprus ................................................................ 236-278 6.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................... 236 6.2 Casino Tourism and Gambling Culture in North Cyprus ......................................... 241 6.2.1 Casino Tourism and Turkey's Footprint in North Cyprus .............................. 242 6.2.2 Turkish Cypriot Gambling Culture .................................................................. 256 6.2.3 Casinos and Casino Tourists ...........................................................................