Nationalism in Cyprus
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Marshall University Marshall Digital Scholar Theses, Dissertations and Capstones 2011 Nationalism in Cyprus: the effects of institutionalization on nationalist mobilizations and political conflicts as reflected in Turkish Cypriot nationalism and Greek Cypriot nationalism Nicel Masarogullari [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: http://mds.marshall.edu/etd Part of the Politics and Social Change Commons, Regional Sociology Commons, and the Sociology of Culture Commons Recommended Citation Masarogullari, Nicel, "Nationalism in Cyprus: the effects of institutionalization on nationalist mobilizations and political conflicts as reflected in Turkish Cypriot nationalism and Greek Cypriot nationalism" (2011). Theses, Dissertations and Capstones. Paper 215. This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by Marshall Digital Scholar. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses, Dissertations and Capstones by an authorized administrator of Marshall Digital Scholar. For more information, please contact [email protected]. NATIONALISM IN CYPRUS: THE EFFECTS OF INSTITUTIONALIZATION ON NATIONALIST MOBILIZATIONS AND POLITICAL CONFLICTS AS REFLECTED IN TURKISH CYPRIOT NATIONALISM AND GREEK CYPRIOT NATIONALISM A thesis submitted to the Graduate College of Marshall University In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts Sociology by Nicel Masarogullari Approved by Dr. Richard Garnett, Ph.D., Committee Chairperson Dr. Markus Hadler, Ph.D. Dr. Girmay Berhie, Ph.D., MSW, MS-IS. Marshall University Huntington, West Virginia December 2011 “Cyprus, the island of Aphrodite, the island of beauty and love, so the legend goes. But Cyprus has also been a place of conflict and animosity. Since 1974 it has been divided, one side being inhabited by Greeks and the other by Turks. Divided, the island is united by mutual fear and mistrust” (Papadakis, 2005, p. 5). ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank all of those who supported me in any respect during the development and the completion of this project. This thesis would not be possible without encouragement, guidance and support of my chairperson, Dr. Richard Garnett, and my committee members, Dr. Markus Hadler and Dr. Girmay Berhie, for whom I am extremely thankful. Last, I would like to thank my family in Cyprus, especially my parents, for their personal support and great patience from the initial to the final level, which enabled me to write this project. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgments...…………………………………………………………...iii Table of Contents……………………………………………………….……..iv List of Tables…………………………………………………………….…….vi Abstract…………………………………………………………………….....vii Introduction……………………………………………………………...……..1 Part One: Chapter One: Ethnic Identity Formation, Nation, and Nationalism………..…10 A) Ethnic Identity Formation ……………………………………………...10 Primordialism vs. Instrumentalism………………………………….12 B) Nations and Nationalism………………………………………………...16 Eastern Nationalism vs. Western Nationalism…………………..........29 Part Two: Historical Dimensions Chapter Two: Transition from the Ottoman Empire to the British Empire When the Seeds of Nationalism Spread throughout Cyprus………….36 Chapter Three: Rise of Greek Cypriot Nationalism……………......................63 Chapter Four: Rise of Turkish Cypriot Nationalism………………………….80 A) The Progress of Turkish Cypriot Community under the rule of the Ottomans…………………………………………………….…....80 B) The Progress of Turkish Cypriot Community under the rule of the British…………………………………………………………......83 Chapter Five: 1960 Republic of Cyprus……………………………………..101 Chapter Six: 1963 – 1974 Nationalism in Cyprus…………………………...112 The Greek Cypriot Society in Cyprus since 1974…………………………. 124 The Turkish Cypriot Society in Cyprus since 1974………………………...129 iv Part Three: Theoretical Review and Conclusion Chapter Seven: Ethnic Identity, Nationalism and Their Development in Cyprus….……………………………………………………………….....141 References……………………………………………………..……………. 165 v List of Tables Table 1: Ratio of Muslims, Greeks and Others in Cyprus after bringing new population over Cyprus. 41 Table 2: Ratio of Bilingualism among Muslims, Greeks and Others in Cyprus after bringing new population over Cyprus 54 Table 3: Ethnic-based Demographic Segregation 117 Table 4: Historical Identities of Greek and Turkish Cypriots 153 Table 5: Western and Eastern Conceptions of National as Applied to Greek and Turkish Cypriots 157 vi ABSTRACT Historical events in Cyprus have played a very important role in the institutionalization of nationalist movements and political conflict between the Turkish Cypriot and Greek Cypriot nationalist movements on the island of Cyprus. In order to make the case of the “Cyprus problem” understandable, the sociological elements of the Turkish Cypriot and Greek Cypriot nationalism of the island were analyzed in this study in relation to some fundamental elements of the conflict. Internal and external elements including nationalism, the role of outsiders, modernization, and some other cultural factors, such as the educational and religious systems and colonial policies, played an important role in the creation of these rival nationalisms. Different ethno-national identities on the island caused ethnic and geographical partitions among the Turkish and Greek Cypriot communities. In this analysis, the effects of nationalist mobilizations and political conflicts in Cyprus as reflections of both Turkish Cypriot and Greek Cypriot nationalisms will be the main elements for demonstrating the rise and fall of both Cypriot nationalist movements that caused the failure of the civic nation state in 1960. vii INTRODUCTION Which words can best describe Cyprus? “A heaven in the Mediterranean” or “An island that united by fear and mistrust in view of violent conflict” are best descriptors of the island. The third biggest island in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, Cyprus has had to deal with a lot of mysteries since the beginning of its history. Although it has also witnessed much beauty and love, Cyprus has been conquered many times, hosted—and is still hosting—a lot of different nations, been used for many reasons, but could almost never succeed at staying away from many kinds of conflict. The importance of geographical location, the process of modernization, rival nationalist movements, opposing national identities, and the negative influences of colonial policies significantly affected the island’s fate. The first seeds of the last violent conflict on the island were constructed when the Ottoman Empire conquered the island in 1571. Although it was very low-level in the beginning, the fate of the island was drawn when the Ottomans brought many Muslims --particularly Muslim Turks-- on the island and added them to the existing inhabitants who were Greco- Christians. Bringing a mass of Muslims into the Christians paved the way for creation of religious based dual identification formation in the island, which caused the distinct separation between two major communities of the island. Consequently, these two major communities could not share the island peacefully and developed rival Turkish- Cypriot and Greek-Cypriot identities step by step, which would later play a central role in developing the Cyprus dispute and the creation of the partition in the future. The Ottomans were not the last empire on the island that took over control; however, their ruling policy established certain boundaries between the two ethnic groups step by step. Following the Ottoman Empire, the British Colonial Empire in 1878 settled on the island, which had negative consequences for the Turkish and Greek Cypriots. For instance, this created disturbances between the two communities on the basis of British ruling policy, which would trigger conflict on the island. The regimes of imperial powers—the Ottoman Empire and the British Empire—were basically the cause of the development of different nationalisms in Cyprus in their own ways. When the construction of rival nationalist ideologies was completed, the conflict known as the “Cyprus Problem” continued until the demographic and geographical partitions in 1974 occurred. Although, since 1974, there has been no visible violent conflict between the two major communities, the deadlock has been imminent in the form of political conflict and psychological tension, including mistrust, fear and discomfort. Since the partition of the island, the political conflict has been continuously progressing among Turkish and Greek Cypriots, while some new parameters have been created in order to solve the problem and build a peaceful environment on the island. There is, however, still no peace agreement between the Turkish and Greek communities today. The main reason for this lack of peace between the two poles is based on the political equality of the two groups. While Turkish Cypriots were seeking political equalities to become a peace partner with Greek Cypriots, Greek Cypriots agreed on giving minority rights to Turkish Cypriots and becoming a peace partner with them. By extension, while one side wants to share the power of a common government, the other side disagrees with that idea. Despite all these factors, the Republic of Cyprus was established in 1960 on the basis of equal political power in order to provide a peaceful atmosphere among Turkish and Greek Cypriots on the island. However, “equal political power” of the administration played the central role in the first violent conflict in 1963 and created today’s situation by creating problems that have existed 2 and