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Prospects of Reconciliation, Co-Existence and Forgiveness in Cyprus in the Post-Referendum Period

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Prospects of Reconciliation, Co-Existence and Forgiveness in Cyprus in the Post-Referendum Period #90253#%.42% Prospects of Reconciliation, Co-Existence and Forgiveness in Cyprus in the Post-Referendum Period The study explored the dispositions of Cypriots on the prospects of reconciliation (symphil- iosis/uzlaşmak), co-existence (syniparxis/beraber varolmak), and forgiveness (synghoresis/ bağışlamak). It draws on 170 qualitative interviews, focusing on two generation of Cypriots: REPORT those now in their 50s who experienced the conflict first hand, and the generation of their children, now 25 years old, born on a divided island. 4/2007 The study identified three profound points. First, the Cyprus “case” did not end up in murder- ous ethnic cleansing because of self-restraint: this speaks to a humanism that precedes the conflict. It did end up in territorial ethnic cleansing after the coup and the invasion, but, despite the existence of core constituencies and militants who were ready to push the society beyond the brink, commit atrocities and inaugurate a zero-sum game of elimina- tions, “something” prevailed. Second, the study confirms that there is a need to distinguish between powerful social constructions of collective traumata and actual grief-work, i.e. the emotional work that allows people to get on with their lives after they experience intense moments of violence as victims or perpetrators, and sometimes as both. An important finding is that those who experienced the violence personally, intensely and devastatingly are more open towards reconciliation than those who were at a distance from it. This comes with a proviso: unless you had lost an immediate loved-one. Third, the study found that there is a range of social variables that correlate well with swings in dispositions towards or against reconciliation. There are hard variables of class, age, gender, religion, refugeedom/non-refugeedom and there are also the soft variables of expo- sure and experience: involvement in bicommunal NGOs and activities, involvement in civic and associational life, strong or weak exposure to the “other side” forms of consumption of cultural goods and ideas and most importantly, traumatic experiences. Put differently--the more intense the experience of traumas through the violence was, the more open people are towards reconciliation. The more distant in experience and age, the more closed to reconciliation. Prospects of Reconciliation, Co-Existence The study concludes that there is much more space for social initiative and “rapprochement” than sceptics would indicate. However, what is also significant is that there are not two homo- and Forgiveness in Cyprus in the geneous groups of people facing each other: the variations within the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot communities are in many instances more pronounced than their uniformities. Post-Referendum Period The report can be ordered from: This report can be downloaded from: Ari Sitas, Dilek Latif, Natasa Loizou PRIO Cyprus Centre www.prio.no/cyprus P.O. Box 25157 1307 Nicosia Cyprus Tel: + 357 22 456555/4 E-mail: [email protected] CYPRUS CENTRE ISBN: 978-82-7288-239-5 Dr. Ari Sitas is a Limassol-born South African social scientist. He holds a Chair in Sociology and is Head of the School of Sociology and Social Studies at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa. He is also an adjunct Professor at the Albert-Ludvigs University of Freiburg and the Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi. He is outgoing vice-president of the International Sociological Association and a past president of the South African Sociological Association. Dr. Dilek Latif was raised in Karpaz and lives in Çınarlı village in Mağ usa District. She lec- tures in International Relations at Near East University in Lefkoş a. She obtained her PhD from Middle East Technical University in Ankara on Peace-Building in Ethnically Divided Societies with a focus on Bosnia and Herzegovina. Since 2003 she has been involved in internationally sponsored bicommunal education for peace projects in Cyprus as a consul- tant, researcher and trainer. Mrs. Natasa Loizou was born and raised in Nicosia and now resides in Buenos Aires, Argentina. She obtained her Bachelor degree in Politics and International Relations from the University of Kent at Canterbury, and her Master degree in International Security from the University of Bristol, UK She has participated in bicommunal groups and activities over the last ten years, and has worked as a researcher at INEK and PRIO, and as an intern at UNHCR in Nicosia. Prospects of Reconciliation, Co-Existence and Forgiveness in Cyprus in the Post-Referendum Period ARI SITAS DILEK LATIF NATASA LOIZOU PRIO Report 4/2007 Institutt for fredsforskning International Peace Research Institute, Oslo (PRIO) Hausmanns gate 7, NO-0186 OSLO, Norway Tel. +47 22 54 77 00 Fax +47 22 54 77 01 E-mail: [email protected] Web: www.prio.no PRIO encourages its researchers and research affiliates to publish their work in reviewed journals and book series, as well as in PRIOʼs own Report, Paper and Policy Brief series. In editing these series the PRIO Cyprus Centre facilitates a peer review process as part of a basic quality control, but PRIO does not as such have any view on political issues. We encourage our researchers to actively take part in public debates and give them full freedom of opinion. The responsibility and honour of the hypothesis, theories, findings and views expressed in our publications thus rest with the authors themselves. © International Peace Research Institute, Oslo (PRIO), 2007 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without permission in writing form the copyright holder(s). ISBN 978-82-7288-239-5 Cover design: Hilde Sørby, Bardus design Photographs: Sofronis Sofroniou www.framerun.com Painting: Daphne Mavrovouniotis Trimikliniotis CONTENTS TABLES .......................................................................................................................... IV FOREWORD ................................................................................................................... V ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................. VII GREEK AND TURKISH TERMS ................................................................................. VIII PREFACE ...................................................................................................................... IX INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................. 1 CHAPTER 1: STUDY FINDINGS ...................................................................................... 9 KEY FINDINGS .................................................................................................................... 9 BASIC FREQUENCIES ......................................................................................................... 10 CHAPTER 2: THE HARD VARIABLES ........................................................................... 19 CLASS MATTERS ............................................................................................................... 19 ETHNICITY MATTERS ......................................................................................................... 21 GENDER MATTERS ............................................................................................................ 23 AGE MATTERS .................................................................................................................. 25 RELIGION MATTERS ........................................................................................................... 26 REFUGEEDOM MATTERS .................................................................................................... 28 CHAPTER 3: THE SOFT VARIABLES ............................................................................ 31 CAPITAL : E XPOSURE TO MEDIA AND SYMBOLIC GOODS ........................................................ 31 EDUCATIONAL EXPERIENCE ................................................................................................ 32 CIVIC INVOLVEMENT .......................................................................................................... 34 CONTACT AND EXPOSURE TO OTHERS ................................................................................ 35 EXPERIENTIAL : T RAUMATA , W AR AND VIOLENCE .................................................................. 35 CHAPTER 4: RECONCILIATION: ITS MEANINGS AND ITS EMOTIONAL MAPS ........ 37 RECONCILERS ? ................................................................................................................ 38 MONOLOGUES OF DISCORD ............................................................................................... 45 CHAPTER 5: THE MEASURE OF DISCONTENT .......................................................... 53 WEIGHING INTENSITIES OF DISPOSITION .............................................................................. 56 RECONCILIATION POSSIBLE ................................................................................................ 57 NO PROSPECTS OF RECONCILIATION .................................................................................. 60 CONCLUSION ............................................................................................................... 63 REFERENCES .............................................................................................................
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