Refugees or enemies? The legacy of population displacements in contemporary Turkish Cypriot society

Abstract

The context of the denial of existence of Greek Cypriot refugees by the dominant Turkish Cypriot nationalist discourse offers significant clues concerning the long-term impasse of negotiations about the future of Cyprus. Lack of acknowledgement of the suffering and deprivation caused by the pre-1974 uprooting of Turkish Cypriot civilians helped to breed an environment of a zero-sum game. In this context, within Turkish Cypriot society, post-1974 population movements on the island were largely regarded as 'war casualties'. This attitude led to the extended suffering of thousands of Greek Cypriots not involved in the atrocities or injustice that had affected Turkish Cypriots during the previous decades. The acknowledgement of the history and long-term effects of population displacements that have taken place since 1958 could thus be a crucial step in removing the Cyprus issue from the vicious circle of Greco-Turkish conflict.