The Northern Cypriot Dream – Turkish Immigration 1974–1980
The Northern Cypriot Dream – Turkish Immigration 1974–1980 HELGE JENSEHAUGEN1 Abstract After the division of Cyprus in 1974 into a Greek Cypriot south and a Turkish Cypriot north, approximately 30,000 immigrants from Turkey moved to north Cyprus. The period between 1974 and 1980 is the time during which these immigrants arrived in northern Cyprus, and may be referred to as the first wave of immigration. This article seeks primarily to answer the question: Why did they immigrate to northern Cyprus? There are a lot of misperceptions about the movement of so many people from Turkey to north Cyprus; therefore it is important that this study creates an accurate and much-needed debate. In short, the first wave of immigration should be viewed as a result of the employment of state mechanisms as well as traditional pull factors: work opportunities, and a need for labour in north Cyprus. Once in northern Cyprus, these immigrants received housing, land, and aid plus help with other necessities such as food and supplies. Keywords: immigration, Turkey, north Cyprus, settlers, Turkish Cypriots, refugees Introduction When Cyprus was divided in 1974, the leaders of the Turkish Cypriot community, with the help of Turkish authorities, initiated a policy of encouraging people from Turkey to move to northern Cyprus.2 In addition to the relatively high number of casualties and missing persons, a population vacuum was created through the vast numbers of internally displaced persons. UNHCR estimated that there were circa 240,000 internally displaced as a result of the division of the island, of which approximately 180,000 were Greek Cypriots who moved south, and 60,000 were Turkish Cypriots who went north.3 This obviously resulted in a vast amount of abandoned moveable and 1 This article is based on my master’s thesis: H.
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