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1 Memories of Violence in Cyprus Memories of violence in Cyprus: conflicting perspectives and dynamics of reconciliation By Paul Griffiths Submitted by Paul Griffiths to the University of Exeter as a thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Arab and Islamic Studies, July 2011. This thesis is available for library use on the understanding that it is copyright material and that no quotation from the thesis may be published without proper acknowledgement. I certify that all material in this thesis which is not my own work has been identified and that no material has previously been submitted and approved for the award of a degree by this or any other university. Signature: Date: 1 ABSTRACT When remembering violence in their collective past, Cypriot individual and collective perspectives are often based on a representation of violence. Popular thinking within communities and rhetoric of elites can intertwine and conflict. Individuals may in fact remember privately events that do not fit easily within the nationalist narratives forwarded by the community leaderships. In the case of Cyprus and other violent events of the past, we are often not discussing violence at all but the memories of respondents. Research has been conducted on the community memories but not necessarily on the 1963-4 period of inter-communal violence and the international intervention/invasion of 1974. Nor has research assessed the effect such memories have on the reconciliation of communities in the present. Through questionnaires and interviews, this research examines the response of Cypriots regarding political relations and attitudes and how these were perceived to have been affected by violence. This thesis argues that there appear to be two types of violent memories; one that may create divisions between communities, while another may encourage a sense of collective victimhood. Through recollection and transmission, such memories could drive communities apart or together, intentionally or otherwise. Often reconciliation needs to take place before a political solution can be found, although these processes exist in tandem. This thesis illustrates that these foundations may have been laid for reconciliation between Cypriot communities at the grass-roots, which would need to be built upon. For this to result in reconciliation, Cypriot elites need to change their policies in a number of areas for this groundwork to constitute a sound progression towards a sustainable solution. 2 CONTENTS Abstract 2 Content Page 3 List of Graphs 5 Acronyms 6 Acknowledgements 6 Introduction 7 1.1 Concept of Analysis 7 1.2 Notions 7 1.3 Contextualisation of Cyprus 10 1.4 Objectives 13 1.5 Contextualisation of Theory 14 1.6 Transformations 17 1.7 Overview 19 1.8 Method of Study 21 1.10 Structure of Thesis 22 1.11 Literature Review 23 1.12 Conclusion 35 Theory 36 2.1 Introduction 36 2.2 Violence 39 2.3 Memory 46 2.4 Consequences 58 2.5 This Approach 59 2.6 Summary 61 2.7 Conclusion 61 Methodology 62 3.1 Parametric or Not 62 3.2 Triangulated Strategy 62 3.3 Narrative 64 3.4 Questionnaires 67 3.5 Interviews 74 3.6 Conclusion 81 Disputed Histories 82 4.1 Introduction 82 4.2 Methods of such Developments 84 4.3 Up to 1960 - Progress 84 4.4 1960-1974 - Division 100 4.5 After 1974 - Stasis 108 4.6 Cypriot Users of Narrative 114 4.7 Conclusion 115 3 Case Study: 1963-4 116 5.1 Introduction 116 5.2 Disputed Events of 1963-4 117 5.3 Individual 121 5.4 Inter-personal 126 5.5 Institutional 138 5.6 Summary 148 5.7 Conclusion 149 Case Study: 1974 150 6.1 Introduction 150 6.2 Disputed events of 1974 150 6.3 Individual 153 6.4 Inter-personal 158 6.5 Institutional 168 6.6 Summary 177 6.7 Conclusion 178 Discussion 180 7.1 Introduction 180 7.2 Individual 183 7.3 Inter-personal 185 7.4 Institutional 194 7.5 Context 196 7.6 Summary 199 7.8 Conclusion 200 Conclusion 201 8.1 Aims 201 8.2 Results 201 8.3 Assessment 205 8.4 Prospect 206 Bibliography 208 Appendices 223 4 LIST OF GRAPHS How has the 1963-4 period of violence affected the political relations between individual Turkish and Greek Cypriots? Figure 1 Turkish Cypriots Page 123 Figure 2 Greek Cypriots Page 123 How has the 1963-4 period of violence affected the political attitudes of Cypriots? Figure 3 Turkish Cypriots Page 128 Figure 4 Greek Cypriots Page 129 How has the 1963-4 period of violence affected the political relations between Cypriot communities? Figure 5 Turkish Cypriots Page 129 Figure 6 Greek Cypriots Page 130 How has the 1963-4 period of violence affected the political attitudes of Republic of Cyprus institutions and Turkish Cypriots structures? Figure 7 Turkish Cypriots Page 139 Figure 8 Greek Cypriots Page 140 How has the 1963-4 period of violence affected the political relation between Republic of Cyprus institutions and Turkish Cypriot structures? Figure 9 Turkish Cypriots Page 141 Figure 10 Greek Cypriots Page 141 How has the 1974 intervention affected the political relations between individual Greek and Turkish Cypriots? Figure 11 Turkish Cypriots Page 156 Figure 12 Greek Cypriots Page 156 How has the 1974 intervention, by Turkey, affected the political attitudes of Cypriots? Figure 13 Turkish Cypriots Page 160 Figure 14 Greek Cypriots Page 162 How has the 1974 intervention affected the political relations between Cypriot communities? Figure 15 Turkish Cypriots Page 161 Figure 16 Greek Cypriots Page 162 How has the 1974 intervention, by Turkey, affected the political attitudes between Republic of Cyprus institutions and Turkish Cypriots structures? Figure 17 Turkish Cypriots Page 171 Figure 18 Greek Cypriots Page 171 How has the 1974 intervention affected the political relations between Republic of Cyprus institutions and Turkish Cypriots structures? Figure 19 Turkish Cypriots Page 172 Figure 20 Greek Cypriots Page 172 5 ACRONYMS AKEL Anorthotikó Kómma Ergazómenou Laoú or Progressive Party of the Working People CTP Cumhuriyetci Turk Partisi or Republican Turkish Party ECMV Escalating Cyclical Memory of Violence EOKA Ethnike Organosis Kyprion Agoniston or National Organisation of Cypriot Fighters EU European Union KTOS Kibris Turk Ogretmenler Sendikasi or Turkish Cypriot Teachers Trade Union OLMV Overwhelming Linear Memory of Violence PRIO Peace Research Institute, Oslo SBA Sovereign Base Area TMT Turk Mukavemet Teskilati or Turkish Resistance Organisation UBP Ulusal Birlik Partisi or National Unity Party UK United Kingdom UN United Nations UNFICYP United Nations Force in Cyprus ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would first like to thank my supervisor, Professor Gareth Stansfield, who provided important hints and points that allowed this research to become more focused. I am also indebted to Professor Ewan Anderson for his highly useful and informative input. I would also like to thank the Administrators at the Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies and HuSS. Regarding fieldwork, I would like to thank the Universities of Nicosia and Cyprus, PRIO Office in Nicosia, Kira and Callistos for their hospitality and all respondents and interviewees. I would also like to thank all Cypriots that I met. On a personal level, I would also like to thank the proofreading of Sian Smith, Morgane Colleau and Matt Blewett as well as Breamie S, Naomi Hughes and Caitlin McDonald. I would also like to especially thank Steve Lee. I also would like to thank all the other PhD Candidates and staff at the Institute as well as the Exeter Centre of Ethno-Political Studies. My dearest thanks to Mum, Dad and family. 6 INTRODUCTION 1.1 Concept of analysis In the form of changing attitudes and relations, political transformations occur continuously and are subject to various influences. One such influence is violent events that occur, in both recent and distant past. This study will focus on perceived relation, and attitude transformations from the perspective of Cypriot communities. With the support of empirical evidence, observation of violent events can be carried out through examination of remembrance of violent conflict and events since (Neal, 2005). This strategy deals with the difficulties inherent when examining violent conflict, including obvious practical problems. Moreover, this research centres on the aspects of violence that impinges on modernity, primarily the dynamics of communities involved after violent events. While avoiding a historical approach, this research examines memories of violence in the past and evaluates the effects such memories have on the dynamics between and within the two Cypriot communities. Previous research appears to base itself either on statistics (Bryman, 2001) or on case studies of certain communities (May, 1998). This study evaluates violence through respondents’ perceptions of past violence and how those perceptions fit or contrast with the existing narratives. These narratives are illustrated by certain literatures highlighted by the researcher, although others may have chosen different sources to compare evidence against and so this must be taken into account. The following section will identify and define the central notions of this research, namely: violence and its incarnations; memory; conflict and the politicisation of ethnicity. 1.2 Notions 1.2.1 Violence Violence has many different elements that must be brought together in one easily understood definition (Kalyvas, 2006; Kalyvas, Shapiro and Masoud, 2008). Violence includes a vast array of actions and events which can often be difficult to examine empirically (Tilley, 2003). I have chosen to keep the parameters of this investigation tightly around an area of empirically visible events. As a result, the definition of 7 violence in this research ought to spell out clearly what events are being examined and retain a relatively narrow focus. Tilly (2003) defined violence as inflicting damage on persons or objects as well as a seizure of persons or objects above and beyond restraint or resistance (Tilly, 2003).
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