Cyprus-Forum.com

[growuptcs]

THE PROBLEM OF PIGEONS:
ORIENTALISM, XENOPHOBIA AND
A RHETORIC OF THE ‘LOCAL’
IN NORTH CYPRUS
Mete Hatay

www.prio.no/upload/6_M_HATAY.pdf


Turkey could creatively throw all her pawns and queens in Cyprus. Fact is, the universal rules never changed when she plays again.

[Expatkiwi]

That article makes interesting reading. The following statement from the article I found really telling:

Muslims in Cyprus immediately and voluntarily adopted these new statements about their identity, even while their presumed 'brothers' in Anatolia were in the throes of cultural upheaval.
But they adopted them with a twist, for they had at their hand an enemy - their Greek Cypriot neighbours - who was constantly agitating for a future that would not included Muslims.
In other words, Turkish Cypriots adopted the modernising framework, constructivist history, and future-orientated rhetoric of the new Turkish Republic, but they combined this with a belief in a powerful enemy that has been the hallmark of ethnic nationalism.

Modernization as a means of self-defense, in other words. But now, according to the article, is a new threat: Anatoliaization (Turkish influence turning TRNC into Little Anatolia). Can the Turkish Cypriots similarly "modernize" against this new adversary., who while not as overt as Greek Cypriot nationalism, is still nontheless a threat to the Turkish Cypriot character, and by extention, the Raison 'd etre of the TRNC itself?

[eracles]

Can the Turkish Cypriots similarly "modernize" against this new adversary., who while not as overt as Greek Cypriot nationalism, is still nontheless a threat to the Turkish Cypriot character, and by extention, the Raison 'd etre of the TRNC itself?

No - we're all screwed by our attempts at self-defence at various points in history - by mythical motherlands who in reality care not a jot for either of us

[Expatkiwi]

Can the Turkish Cypriots similarly "modernize" against this new adversary., who while not as overt as Greek Cypriot nationalism, is still nontheless a threat to the Turkish Cypriot character, and by extention, the Raison 'd etre of the TRNC itself?

No - we're all screwed by our attempts at self-defence at various points in history - by mythical motherlands who in reality care not a jot for either of us

Yeah, in 1974 the Greek Junta wanted to annex Cyprus in order to popularize their regime (like what Argentina tried to do when it invaded the Falkland Islands in 1982). Now with Turkish mainland influences eroding the Turkish Cypriot character, it gives pause in thinking about their ulterior motives for the intervention. Why can't both sides just leave the Turkish Cypriot people alone to forge their own destiny?