Final Report Summary - ACRIT CY (Analysis of Constructions of Religious Identities among Turks in Cyprus (1925-2010))
INTRODUCTION
The main target of the project was to identify the various constructions of religious identities among Turks in Cyprus (approx. 80% of the Cypriots are Greek Orthodox, while 18% adhere to Islam) between 1925 and today, against the background of the varying political circumstances. The project was based on printed original sources and complementary expert interviews. Whereas some religious identity constructions were observable throughout the complete time period, others were induced by the specific socio-political context of a sub period and their validity restricted to that period. The fear of perishing and the struggle for the survival of the Turkish community in Cyprus—its visibility—crystallized as a main driving force in adopting a certain religious discourse and symbolic activities.
DATA AND METHODS
The project was designed as a historical study (change of identity related to historical context), incorporating important aspects of cultural studies (narrative construction of identity) and religious studies (Islamic institutions and Islamic topoi in the identity discourse). In order to obtain reliable data, the study focused on some key topics: the office of the Mufti; religious education; Mevlevis and Alevis; contested religious sites; implementation of Kemalist reforms.
The study was based on written documents and, to a lesser degree, on qualitative interviews. Written documents were biographic texts, Cypriot Turkish newspapers, the extensive collection of files stemming from the British colonial administration (1878-1960), official publications of the colonial period (Cyprus Gazette, Blue Book, Council Minutes), archival material from the Office of Muslim Pious Foundations in Cyprus (Evkaf), and further rare documents such as the collection of the Federation of Cypriot Turkish Associations (KTKF, Kıbrıs Türk Kurumları Federasyonu). The documents could be retrieved in the National Archive of Kyrenia (Milli Arşiv Girne), the Press and Information Office, the State Archives and the Cyprus Library in Nicosia, and in the National Archives, London.
Qualitative expert interviews with representatives of religious communities and cultural institutions were carried out in order to gain additional insight and to discuss the findings.
Research literature on the modern history of Cyprus is often inspired by the current Cyprus Conflict and focuses on scrutinizing its historical reasons. Socio-historical and particularly socio-religious studies on Cypriot Islam, however, are hardly ever carried out since they seem not to explain the greater political background.
Another reason for the scarcity of socio-cultural research on the Cypriot Turkish community, particularly of the colonial period, is the Ottoman script. Inspired by the Kemalist reforms in the early Turkish Republic (hat law, calendar reform etc.), the Cypriot Turks started to use the new Turkish alphabet (Latin letters) since late 1928, parallel to its introduction in Turkey, but many a document was written or printed in Arabic letters in the following years and decades: some newspapers until 1934, publications of the Islamic Religious Court until 1944, and private documents well into the 1950s.
The amount of sources in Ottoman script made it difficult to use tools for computer based text analysis as it had been intended in the research proposal since it was not possible to reformat copies in Ottoman script into readable format. Even more recent newspapers in Latin script were of poor print quality and not usable for the intended digitalized text analysis. For this reason, analysis had to be restricted to key texts. The search for narrative elements, however, proved to be very fruitful. The leading articles of the Cypriot newspapers often posses a narrative structure, embedding the related news in a greater historical and cultural framework. Particularly during colonial times, the newspaper owner’s voice is clearly discernible in the main articles. Because of this structure, not only ego-documents such as letters preserved in the British files but even press articles mirror quite the tellingly construction and perception of religious/ethnic identity within the Turkish community.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS
Inside the Turkish-Muslim community of Cyprus, a broad variety of ‘religiosity’ can clearly be detected. This is true for the complete time span of the project.
During colonial times, the Islamic institutions were chronically underpaid, their power over the Muslim population restricted. The Cypriot Turkish intellectuals rather observed with keen interest the obvious economic and educational edge of the British ruler and of the majority population, the Orthodox Greeks; the Muslim world was not the place to turn to for support. At the level of folk belief, syncretistic forms (shared Christian/Muslim use of religious sites; common customs; shared religious myths) were of great importance. Islamic mystical congregations (tarikat) had their representatives in Cyprus (mainly Mevlevi, Bektaşi, Nakşibendi). Here again, shared use of a religious site or building by different tarikats and ‘religious clerks’ (a British-Cypriot term), and appropriation of a local saint as a member of the own congregation can be observed. Until the 1950s, a gender gap in religious practice and approach was prevalent. While women (with their children) would practice syncretistic rituals, visit sheikhs and wondrous places, men increasingly used ‘orthodox’ institutions (mosques, important religious holidays, the office of the Mufti etc.) as a place to emphasize, to support and to fight for the existence of the Turkish community. This was partly due to the wish to establish non-colonial, political Turkish institutions, partly inspired by the model of the Greek community with their powerful religious-political leaders. At the end of the colonial period, Cypriot Turkish politicians more and more took control over these institutions for their secular-nationalistic ends. The nationalists condemned any syncretistic practice or folk belief as doing harm to the Turkish identity.
Between 1960 and 1974 (Turkish occupation of northern Cyprus), religious discourse and symbolism let alone practice were at its lowest level. Only small groups such as the Cypriot Turk Islam Society (Kıbrıs Türk İslam Cemiyeti) propagated Islam as the true identity of Turkish Cypriots.
With the partition of the Republic of Cyprus into two completely segregated areas after 1974, the influence of Turkey on northern Cyprus and its Muslim and Turkish inhabitants grew decisively. With the re-religiosization in Turkey after 1980 and the social impact of the settlers from Turkey, Islam became ‘visible’ again, in the form of new mosques and other institutions. At the same time, belief and religious practice of Cypriot Turks became challenged by the conservative attitude of many settlers observant of Islamic rules. Being ‘non-religious’ became a marker of identity for many Cypriot Turks who have been trying to construct a clear divide between themselves and settlers. The latter are nowadays considered a main reason for the difficult living conditions in northern Cyprus.
Mystical congregations and spirituality in an Islamic framework are prospering throughout the island. Driving factors are: increasing support for tarikat culture by the Turkish state and important increase of spiritual activities as part of the global trend in Turkey; the impact of both Western interest in the Islamic mysticism and the search of non-Turkish Muslim migrants for a social and mystical network. Recently, Cypriot Turks have played an important role in establishing international Islamic mystical communities in Cyprus. These activities are evolving almost independently of the Presidency of Religious Affairs in the north which is considered to be policed by Turkey and not in accordance with Cypriot Islam.
Throughout the complete time span of the project, a constant effort to maintain the visibility of the Turkish community was observable. Visibility was considered synonymous with the physical and cultural survival of the community; in some cases it demonstrated political power. This effort crystallized as a main driving force in adopting specific religious discourses and symbolic activities.
Socio-Economic Impact
There is no economic impact. The social impact relates to the better understanding of processes such as Muslim/Turkish de-religiosization and re-religiosization in combination with the very dynamic demography of Cyprus. Islam in Cyprus has taken different shapes and paths without being noticed by European research and political decision makers. From this point of view, the outcomes of this project are highly important for everybody concerned with Islam in Europe, religious impact through migration, religious education in a multi-religious and secular Europe.
The main target of the project was to identify the various constructions of religious identities among Turks in Cyprus (approx. 80% of the Cypriots are Greek Orthodox, while 18% adhere to Islam) between 1925 and today, against the background of the varying political circumstances. The project was based on printed original sources and complementary expert interviews. Whereas some religious identity constructions were observable throughout the complete time period, others were induced by the specific socio-political context of a sub period and their validity restricted to that period. The fear of perishing and the struggle for the survival of the Turkish community in Cyprus—its visibility—crystallized as a main driving force in adopting a certain religious discourse and symbolic activities.
DATA AND METHODS
The project was designed as a historical study (change of identity related to historical context), incorporating important aspects of cultural studies (narrative construction of identity) and religious studies (Islamic institutions and Islamic topoi in the identity discourse). In order to obtain reliable data, the study focused on some key topics: the office of the Mufti; religious education; Mevlevis and Alevis; contested religious sites; implementation of Kemalist reforms.
The study was based on written documents and, to a lesser degree, on qualitative interviews. Written documents were biographic texts, Cypriot Turkish newspapers, the extensive collection of files stemming from the British colonial administration (1878-1960), official publications of the colonial period (Cyprus Gazette, Blue Book, Council Minutes), archival material from the Office of Muslim Pious Foundations in Cyprus (Evkaf), and further rare documents such as the collection of the Federation of Cypriot Turkish Associations (KTKF, Kıbrıs Türk Kurumları Federasyonu). The documents could be retrieved in the National Archive of Kyrenia (Milli Arşiv Girne), the Press and Information Office, the State Archives and the Cyprus Library in Nicosia, and in the National Archives, London.
Qualitative expert interviews with representatives of religious communities and cultural institutions were carried out in order to gain additional insight and to discuss the findings.
Research literature on the modern history of Cyprus is often inspired by the current Cyprus Conflict and focuses on scrutinizing its historical reasons. Socio-historical and particularly socio-religious studies on Cypriot Islam, however, are hardly ever carried out since they seem not to explain the greater political background.
Another reason for the scarcity of socio-cultural research on the Cypriot Turkish community, particularly of the colonial period, is the Ottoman script. Inspired by the Kemalist reforms in the early Turkish Republic (hat law, calendar reform etc.), the Cypriot Turks started to use the new Turkish alphabet (Latin letters) since late 1928, parallel to its introduction in Turkey, but many a document was written or printed in Arabic letters in the following years and decades: some newspapers until 1934, publications of the Islamic Religious Court until 1944, and private documents well into the 1950s.
The amount of sources in Ottoman script made it difficult to use tools for computer based text analysis as it had been intended in the research proposal since it was not possible to reformat copies in Ottoman script into readable format. Even more recent newspapers in Latin script were of poor print quality and not usable for the intended digitalized text analysis. For this reason, analysis had to be restricted to key texts. The search for narrative elements, however, proved to be very fruitful. The leading articles of the Cypriot newspapers often posses a narrative structure, embedding the related news in a greater historical and cultural framework. Particularly during colonial times, the newspaper owner’s voice is clearly discernible in the main articles. Because of this structure, not only ego-documents such as letters preserved in the British files but even press articles mirror quite the tellingly construction and perception of religious/ethnic identity within the Turkish community.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS
Inside the Turkish-Muslim community of Cyprus, a broad variety of ‘religiosity’ can clearly be detected. This is true for the complete time span of the project.
During colonial times, the Islamic institutions were chronically underpaid, their power over the Muslim population restricted. The Cypriot Turkish intellectuals rather observed with keen interest the obvious economic and educational edge of the British ruler and of the majority population, the Orthodox Greeks; the Muslim world was not the place to turn to for support. At the level of folk belief, syncretistic forms (shared Christian/Muslim use of religious sites; common customs; shared religious myths) were of great importance. Islamic mystical congregations (tarikat) had their representatives in Cyprus (mainly Mevlevi, Bektaşi, Nakşibendi). Here again, shared use of a religious site or building by different tarikats and ‘religious clerks’ (a British-Cypriot term), and appropriation of a local saint as a member of the own congregation can be observed. Until the 1950s, a gender gap in religious practice and approach was prevalent. While women (with their children) would practice syncretistic rituals, visit sheikhs and wondrous places, men increasingly used ‘orthodox’ institutions (mosques, important religious holidays, the office of the Mufti etc.) as a place to emphasize, to support and to fight for the existence of the Turkish community. This was partly due to the wish to establish non-colonial, political Turkish institutions, partly inspired by the model of the Greek community with their powerful religious-political leaders. At the end of the colonial period, Cypriot Turkish politicians more and more took control over these institutions for their secular-nationalistic ends. The nationalists condemned any syncretistic practice or folk belief as doing harm to the Turkish identity.
Between 1960 and 1974 (Turkish occupation of northern Cyprus), religious discourse and symbolism let alone practice were at its lowest level. Only small groups such as the Cypriot Turk Islam Society (Kıbrıs Türk İslam Cemiyeti) propagated Islam as the true identity of Turkish Cypriots.
With the partition of the Republic of Cyprus into two completely segregated areas after 1974, the influence of Turkey on northern Cyprus and its Muslim and Turkish inhabitants grew decisively. With the re-religiosization in Turkey after 1980 and the social impact of the settlers from Turkey, Islam became ‘visible’ again, in the form of new mosques and other institutions. At the same time, belief and religious practice of Cypriot Turks became challenged by the conservative attitude of many settlers observant of Islamic rules. Being ‘non-religious’ became a marker of identity for many Cypriot Turks who have been trying to construct a clear divide between themselves and settlers. The latter are nowadays considered a main reason for the difficult living conditions in northern Cyprus.
Mystical congregations and spirituality in an Islamic framework are prospering throughout the island. Driving factors are: increasing support for tarikat culture by the Turkish state and important increase of spiritual activities as part of the global trend in Turkey; the impact of both Western interest in the Islamic mysticism and the search of non-Turkish Muslim migrants for a social and mystical network. Recently, Cypriot Turks have played an important role in establishing international Islamic mystical communities in Cyprus. These activities are evolving almost independently of the Presidency of Religious Affairs in the north which is considered to be policed by Turkey and not in accordance with Cypriot Islam.
Throughout the complete time span of the project, a constant effort to maintain the visibility of the Turkish community was observable. Visibility was considered synonymous with the physical and cultural survival of the community; in some cases it demonstrated political power. This effort crystallized as a main driving force in adopting specific religious discourses and symbolic activities.
Socio-Economic Impact
There is no economic impact. The social impact relates to the better understanding of processes such as Muslim/Turkish de-religiosization and re-religiosization in combination with the very dynamic demography of Cyprus. Islam in Cyprus has taken different shapes and paths without being noticed by European research and political decision makers. From this point of view, the outcomes of this project are highly important for everybody concerned with Islam in Europe, religious impact through migration, religious education in a multi-religious and secular Europe.