The Cyprus Conflict

Among the wellsprings of the Cyprus conflict are differing interpretations of history - - historical narratives, now well established, which provide each nation with a set of interpretations, rationales, and legends about the past to distinguish itself from the other side. These narratives are one of the roots of nationalism, of identity as a nation with its own particular history, a history of struggle against insuperable odds and obstacles, and a struggle against the malevolence of the other, competing national groups. Over the last fifty years, the narratives of Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots have taken shape, wound up with each other and with the motherlands, and forged in the bitter fighting that began in the late 1950s and continued to August 1974. Not surprisingly, the narratives that have emerged over these fifty years support the dominant political ideas of the two groups: in Greek Cyprus, the narrative spins on the heroic struggle against British colonialism, then jumps to the Turkish invasion of 1974, insisting all the while that the two Cypriot groups lived peacefully all along. The Turkish Cypriot narrative is a tale of neglect, of a callous Greek Cypriot majority ignoring their rightful place as partners in the future of the island, abruptly overthrowing the constitution, and forcing them into enclaves of deprivation and humiliation until rescued by the Turkish army. Their lesson is that the two did not live peaceably together and cannot do so in the future.