The Northern Cypriot Dream – Turkish Immigration 1974–1980
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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.
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Keywords
immigration, Turkey, north Cyprus, settlers, Turkish Cypriots, refugees
References
Archive Sources
‘TRNC’ Archive Doc. No. 36.
‘TRNC’ Archive Doc. No. 81.
‘TRNC’ Archive Doc. No. 89.
‘TRNC’ Archive Doc. No. 332.
‘TRNC’ Archive Doc. No. 343.
‘TRNC’ Archive Doc. No. 873.
‘TRNC’ Archive Doc. No. 905.
‘TRNC’ Archive Doc. No. 1564.
Türkiye Cumhuriyeti İl Toprak ve İskan Müdürlüğü [The Turkish Republic Provincial Land and Housing Directorate], ‘Duyuru Antalya Valili¤inden’ [Announcement from the Antalya Governorship], 3 April 1975. Document in the possession of Mustafa Yeşil.
Atun, H. (2007) ‘Kıbrıs’ta Göçmenlerin İskanı’ [Settlement of Immigrants in Cyprus]. Rapor 6. Uluslararası Kıbrıs Araştırmaları Kongresi için, 24–26 Ekim 2007 [Report for the 6th International Congress on Cyprus Studies, 24–26 October 2007], pp. 383–397. Document in the possession of Hakkı Atun.
Bryant, R. (2012) Displacement in Cyprus: Consequences of Civil and Military Strife. Report 2: Life Stories: Turkish Cypriot Community. PRIO Cyprus Centre Report 2/2012. Oslo: Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO).
Bryant, R. (2010) The Past in Pieces: Belonging in the New Cyprus. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.
Bryant, R. and Yakinthou, C. (2012) Cypriot Perceptions of Turkey. Istanbul: TESEV Publications.
Dodd, C.H. (1993) ‘From Federated State to Republic’, in Dodd, C.H. (ed.), The Political, Social and Economic Development of Northern Cyprus. Huntingdon: The Eothen Press, pp. 103–135.
Ekenoglu, B. (2012) ‘Ethnic Identity Formation of the Kurdish Immigrants in North Cyprus: Analyzing Ethnic Identity as Social Identity and the Effects of Social Otherization in North’. Unpublished Master Thesis from University of Amsterdam.
Fosshagen, K.K. (2008) Island of Conjecture: State Modalities and Historical Trajectories in Cyprus. The degree of doctor rerum politicarum (dr.polit) from University of Bergen.
Groom, A.J.R. (1993) ‘The Process of Negotiation: 1974–1993’, in Dodd, C.H. (ed.), The Political, Social and Economic Development of Northern Cyprus. Huntingdon: The Eothen Press, pp. 15–45.
Göker, A. (2012) ‘Senses of Belonging and “Belongings” and Making “Home” Away from Home’, in Bryant, R. and Papadakis, Y. (eds), Cyprus and the Politics of Memory: History, Community and Conflict. London/New York: I.B. Tauris, pp. 118–139.
Gürel, A. (2012) Displacement in Cyprus: Consequences of Civil and Military Strife: Report 4: Turkish Cypriot Legal Framework. PRIO Cyprus Centre Report 4/2012. Oslo: Peace Research Institute of Oslo (PRIO).
Gürel, A., Hatay, M., Trimikliniotis, N., Demetriou, O., Bryant, R. and Yakinthou, C. (2011) Internal Displacement in Cyprus: Mapping the Consequences of Civil and Military Strife. Internal Displacement in Cyprus. PRIO Cyprus Centre, 30 September 2011. Available at [http://www.priocyprus-displacement.net/default.asp?id=245], accessed 21 May 2013.
Gürel, A., Hatay, M. and Yakinthou, C. (2012) Displacement in Cyprus: Consequences of Civil and Military Strife. Report 5: An Overview of Events and Perceptions. PRIO Cyprus Centre Report 5/2012. Oslo: Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO).
Gürel, A. and Özersay, K. (2006) The Politics of Property in Cyprus: Conflicting Appeals to ‘Bizonality’ and ‘Human Rights’ by the Two Cypriot Communities. PRIO Cyprus Centre Report 3/2006. Oslo: Peace Research Institute of Oslo (PRIO).
Hatay, M. (2005) Beyond Numbers: An Inquiry into the Political Integration of the Turkish ‘Settlers’ in Northern Cyprus. PRIO Cyprus Centre Report 4/2005. Oslo: Peace Research Institute of Oslo (PRIO).
Hatay, M. (2007) Is the Turkish Cypriot Population Shrinking?: An Overview of the Ethno-Demography of Cyprus in the Light of the Preliminary Results of the 2006 Turkish Cypriot Census, PRIO Report 2/2007.
Hitchens, C. (1984) Cyprus. London: Quartet Books.
Ioannides, C.P. (1991) In Turkey’s Image: The Transformation of Occupied Cyprus into a Turkish Province. New Rochelle: Caratzas.
Jansen, M. (2005) War and Cultural Heritage: Cyprus after the 1974 Turkish Invasion. Minnesota Mediterranean and East European Monographs, Number 14. Minneapolis: Minnesota University Press.
Jensehaugen, H. (2013) ‘The Northern Cypriot Dream: The First Wave of Immigration from Turkey to North Cyprus – 1974–1980’. Unpublished Master Thesis from the University of Oslo.
Kasaba, R. (2009) A Moveable Empire: Ottoman Nomads, Migrants and Refugees. Seattle/London: University of Washington Press.
Ker-Lindsay, J. (2011) The Cyprus Problem: What Everyone Needs to Know. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Kyle, K. (1997) Cyprus: In Search of Peace. London: Minority Rights Group International.
McGarry, J. (1998) ‘“Demographic Engineering”: The State-directed Movement of Ethnic Groups as a Technique of Conflict Regulation’, Ethnic and Racial Studies, Vol. 21, No. 4. London: Routledge, pp. 613–638.
Morvaridi, B. (1993a) ‘Demographic Change, Resettlement and Resource Use’, in Dodd, C.H. (ed.), The Political, Social and Economic Development of Northern Cyprus. Huntingdon: The Eothen Press, pp. 219–234.
Morvaridi, B. (1993b) ‘Social Structure and Social Change’, in Dodd, C.H. (ed.), The Political, Social and Economic Development of Northern Cyprus. Huntingdon: The Eothen Press, pp. 252–268.
Navaro-Yashin, Y. (2006) ‘De-ethnicizing the Ethnography of Cyprus: Political and Social Conflict between Turkish Cypriots and Settlers from Turkey’, in
Papadakis, Y., Peristianis, N. and Welz, G, (eds), Divided Cyprus: Modernity, History and an Island in Conflict. Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana University Press, pp. 84–99.
Necatigil, Z.M. (1989) The Cyprus Question and the Turkish Position in International Law. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Olgun, M.E. (1993) ‘Economic Overview’, in Dodd, C.H. (ed.), The Political, Social and Economic Development of Northern Cyprus. Huntingdon: The Eothen Press, pp. 270–298.
Ramm, C. (200) ‘Turkish Cypriots, Turkish “Settlers” and (Trans)National Identities between Turkish Nationalism, Cypriotism and Europe’. Unpublished Doctoral Thesis, Ruhr University, Bochum.
Richter, H.A. (2010) A Concise History of Modern Cyprus, 1878–2009. Mainz and Ruhpolding: Franz Philipp Rutzen, 2010.
United Nations Security Council. ‘Interim Report of the Secretary-General Pursuant to Security Council Resolution 370 (1975)’. UN Document S/11789, 5 August 1975. Source found on United Nations’ ‘Documents’ website. 15 February 2006, available at [http://daccess-ddsny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/N75/151/45/PDF/N7515145.pdf?OpenElement], accessed 3 November 2013.
Interviews
Ishak, Nasr, UNHCR Representation in Cyprus, 18 April 2011.
Atakol, Kenan conducted on 12 March 2013.
Atun, Hakkı conducted on 22 February 2013.
Çağlayan family conducted on 17 February 2013.
Çakır family conducted on 17 February 2013.
Çelik, Vedat conducted on 11 March 2013.
Gazioğlu, Tamer conducted on 21 February 2013.
Gürel, Ayla conducted on 21 February 2013.
Hatay, Mete conducted on 15 February; 8 April 2013.
Onurhan, Erdal conducted on 18 April 2013.
Suiçmez, Halil conducted on 16 February 2013.
Suiçmez, Yusuf conducted 15 February 2013.
Yel, Kadir conducted on 8 April 2013.
Yeşil, Mustafa conducted on 8 April 2013.
‘TRNC’ Archive Doc. No. 36.
‘TRNC’ Archive Doc. No. 81.
‘TRNC’ Archive Doc. No. 89.
‘TRNC’ Archive Doc. No. 332.
‘TRNC’ Archive Doc. No. 343.
‘TRNC’ Archive Doc. No. 873.
‘TRNC’ Archive Doc. No. 905.
‘TRNC’ Archive Doc. No. 1564.
Türkiye Cumhuriyeti İl Toprak ve İskan Müdürlüğü [The Turkish Republic Provincial Land and Housing Directorate], ‘Duyuru Antalya Valili¤inden’ [Announcement from the Antalya Governorship], 3 April 1975. Document in the possession of Mustafa Yeşil.
Atun, H. (2007) ‘Kıbrıs’ta Göçmenlerin İskanı’ [Settlement of Immigrants in Cyprus]. Rapor 6. Uluslararası Kıbrıs Araştırmaları Kongresi için, 24–26 Ekim 2007 [Report for the 6th International Congress on Cyprus Studies, 24–26 October 2007], pp. 383–397. Document in the possession of Hakkı Atun.
Bryant, R. (2012) Displacement in Cyprus: Consequences of Civil and Military Strife. Report 2: Life Stories: Turkish Cypriot Community. PRIO Cyprus Centre Report 2/2012. Oslo: Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO).
Bryant, R. (2010) The Past in Pieces: Belonging in the New Cyprus. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.
Bryant, R. and Yakinthou, C. (2012) Cypriot Perceptions of Turkey. Istanbul: TESEV Publications.
Dodd, C.H. (1993) ‘From Federated State to Republic’, in Dodd, C.H. (ed.), The Political, Social and Economic Development of Northern Cyprus. Huntingdon: The Eothen Press, pp. 103–135.
Ekenoglu, B. (2012) ‘Ethnic Identity Formation of the Kurdish Immigrants in North Cyprus: Analyzing Ethnic Identity as Social Identity and the Effects of Social Otherization in North’. Unpublished Master Thesis from University of Amsterdam.
Fosshagen, K.K. (2008) Island of Conjecture: State Modalities and Historical Trajectories in Cyprus. The degree of doctor rerum politicarum (dr.polit) from University of Bergen.
Groom, A.J.R. (1993) ‘The Process of Negotiation: 1974–1993’, in Dodd, C.H. (ed.), The Political, Social and Economic Development of Northern Cyprus. Huntingdon: The Eothen Press, pp. 15–45.
Göker, A. (2012) ‘Senses of Belonging and “Belongings” and Making “Home” Away from Home’, in Bryant, R. and Papadakis, Y. (eds), Cyprus and the Politics of Memory: History, Community and Conflict. London/New York: I.B. Tauris, pp. 118–139.
Gürel, A. (2012) Displacement in Cyprus: Consequences of Civil and Military Strife: Report 4: Turkish Cypriot Legal Framework. PRIO Cyprus Centre Report 4/2012. Oslo: Peace Research Institute of Oslo (PRIO).
Gürel, A., Hatay, M., Trimikliniotis, N., Demetriou, O., Bryant, R. and Yakinthou, C. (2011) Internal Displacement in Cyprus: Mapping the Consequences of Civil and Military Strife. Internal Displacement in Cyprus. PRIO Cyprus Centre, 30 September 2011. Available at [http://www.priocyprus-displacement.net/default.asp?id=245], accessed 21 May 2013.
Gürel, A., Hatay, M. and Yakinthou, C. (2012) Displacement in Cyprus: Consequences of Civil and Military Strife. Report 5: An Overview of Events and Perceptions. PRIO Cyprus Centre Report 5/2012. Oslo: Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO).
Gürel, A. and Özersay, K. (2006) The Politics of Property in Cyprus: Conflicting Appeals to ‘Bizonality’ and ‘Human Rights’ by the Two Cypriot Communities. PRIO Cyprus Centre Report 3/2006. Oslo: Peace Research Institute of Oslo (PRIO).
Hatay, M. (2005) Beyond Numbers: An Inquiry into the Political Integration of the Turkish ‘Settlers’ in Northern Cyprus. PRIO Cyprus Centre Report 4/2005. Oslo: Peace Research Institute of Oslo (PRIO).
Hatay, M. (2007) Is the Turkish Cypriot Population Shrinking?: An Overview of the Ethno-Demography of Cyprus in the Light of the Preliminary Results of the 2006 Turkish Cypriot Census, PRIO Report 2/2007.
Hitchens, C. (1984) Cyprus. London: Quartet Books.
Ioannides, C.P. (1991) In Turkey’s Image: The Transformation of Occupied Cyprus into a Turkish Province. New Rochelle: Caratzas.
Jansen, M. (2005) War and Cultural Heritage: Cyprus after the 1974 Turkish Invasion. Minnesota Mediterranean and East European Monographs, Number 14. Minneapolis: Minnesota University Press.
Jensehaugen, H. (2013) ‘The Northern Cypriot Dream: The First Wave of Immigration from Turkey to North Cyprus – 1974–1980’. Unpublished Master Thesis from the University of Oslo.
Kasaba, R. (2009) A Moveable Empire: Ottoman Nomads, Migrants and Refugees. Seattle/London: University of Washington Press.
Ker-Lindsay, J. (2011) The Cyprus Problem: What Everyone Needs to Know. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Kyle, K. (1997) Cyprus: In Search of Peace. London: Minority Rights Group International.
McGarry, J. (1998) ‘“Demographic Engineering”: The State-directed Movement of Ethnic Groups as a Technique of Conflict Regulation’, Ethnic and Racial Studies, Vol. 21, No. 4. London: Routledge, pp. 613–638.
Morvaridi, B. (1993a) ‘Demographic Change, Resettlement and Resource Use’, in Dodd, C.H. (ed.), The Political, Social and Economic Development of Northern Cyprus. Huntingdon: The Eothen Press, pp. 219–234.
Morvaridi, B. (1993b) ‘Social Structure and Social Change’, in Dodd, C.H. (ed.), The Political, Social and Economic Development of Northern Cyprus. Huntingdon: The Eothen Press, pp. 252–268.
Navaro-Yashin, Y. (2006) ‘De-ethnicizing the Ethnography of Cyprus: Political and Social Conflict between Turkish Cypriots and Settlers from Turkey’, in
Papadakis, Y., Peristianis, N. and Welz, G, (eds), Divided Cyprus: Modernity, History and an Island in Conflict. Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana University Press, pp. 84–99.
Necatigil, Z.M. (1989) The Cyprus Question and the Turkish Position in International Law. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Olgun, M.E. (1993) ‘Economic Overview’, in Dodd, C.H. (ed.), The Political, Social and Economic Development of Northern Cyprus. Huntingdon: The Eothen Press, pp. 270–298.
Ramm, C. (200) ‘Turkish Cypriots, Turkish “Settlers” and (Trans)National Identities between Turkish Nationalism, Cypriotism and Europe’. Unpublished Doctoral Thesis, Ruhr University, Bochum.
Richter, H.A. (2010) A Concise History of Modern Cyprus, 1878–2009. Mainz and Ruhpolding: Franz Philipp Rutzen, 2010.
United Nations Security Council. ‘Interim Report of the Secretary-General Pursuant to Security Council Resolution 370 (1975)’. UN Document S/11789, 5 August 1975. Source found on United Nations’ ‘Documents’ website. 15 February 2006, available at [http://daccess-ddsny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/N75/151/45/PDF/N7515145.pdf?OpenElement], accessed 3 November 2013.
Interviews
Ishak, Nasr, UNHCR Representation in Cyprus, 18 April 2011.
Atakol, Kenan conducted on 12 March 2013.
Atun, Hakkı conducted on 22 February 2013.
Çağlayan family conducted on 17 February 2013.
Çakır family conducted on 17 February 2013.
Çelik, Vedat conducted on 11 March 2013.
Gazioğlu, Tamer conducted on 21 February 2013.
Gürel, Ayla conducted on 21 February 2013.
Hatay, Mete conducted on 15 February; 8 April 2013.
Onurhan, Erdal conducted on 18 April 2013.
Suiçmez, Halil conducted on 16 February 2013.
Suiçmez, Yusuf conducted 15 February 2013.
Yel, Kadir conducted on 8 April 2013.
Yeşil, Mustafa conducted on 8 April 2013.
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“The Northern Cypriot Dream – Turkish Immigration 1974–1980”. 2017. Cyprus Review 26 (2): 57-83. https://cyprusreview.org/index.php/cr/article/view/95.