The politics of identity in the Turkish Cypriot community and the language question

Abstract

The Turkish Cypriot identity formation in the twentieth century was influenced by two major factors: the emergence of modern Turkey, which followed Mustafa Kemal Atatu¨rk’s secular reforms and the rise of Greek nationalism in Cyprus, which was perceived as a threat by the Turkish Cypriot community. In a dynamic and dialogical process, Turkish Cypriots in an act of counternationalism constructed Turkey as their ‘‘motherland’’ and adopted the Kemalist secular and language reforms. Until the de facto division of Cyprus in 1974, Turkish Cypriot identity formation was based on identification with Turkey. However, after this date, a new process of di¤erentiation began, in which both periods of identity formation — namely, identification and di¤erentiation — were reflected in and by language. In this article, we undertake an attempt to study the expression of identity in both language policies and linguistic attitudes of individuals