Hyphenated Identities: Voices from the Watchtower During the Cypriot Civil War

As an implication of the ethnically and nationally diverse nature of Mediterranean polities, identification-driven boundary-making strategies bear considerable relevance for their political processes, both in the contemporary context and in the historical past. By utilizing a Discourse-Historical Approach (DHA), this study provides an interpretative exploration of Greek-Cypriot elite discursive framing strategies regarding Turkish-Cypriot and Greek-Cypriot ethno-national identity during the Cypriot Civil War (1963–1967). The available historical interpretations of this period lead us to expect an exclusionary strategy of boundary contraction to be more prevalent than the inclusionary one of boundary expansion in the discourse of Greek-Cypriot elites. Through an examination of a sample of primary textual sources, the analysis disconfirms such an expectation, as elite figures primarily constructed broader, inclusive frames of ethno-national identity during the civil war. The relative absence of boundary contraction and the prevalence of boundary expansion indicate the applicability of Wimmer’s (2008) universalist approach to ethnic boundary-making, in contrast to the expectations that are built by the Cyprus-specific historical evidence. This study thus lays the groundwork for future research to delineate the discursive framing strategies of elite figures in Cyprus and beyond the ethno-nationally divided island.

Mosque Architecture in Cyprus—Visible and Invisible Aspects of Form and Space, 19th to 21st Centuries

A comprehensive analysis of Cypriot mosque architecture between the 19th and 21st centuries, from the Ottoman and British colonial periods to the present, does not exist. The phase after 1974, after the division of the island into a Turkish Cypriot, predominantly Muslim north and a Greek Cypriot, mainly Christian south, is especially insufficiently studied. This paper aims to interpret Cypriot mosque architecture and its meaning(s) through a comparative analysis, considering cultural, religious, and political developments. Based on an architectural survey and studies about Muslim Cypriot culture, this study investigates formal and spatial characteristics, focusing on the presence/absence of domed plan typologies and of minarets which, as visual symbolic markers, might express shifting cultural-religious notions and/or identities. Inconspicuous mosques without domes and minarets dominate until 1974. However, with the inter-communal tensions in the 1960s, the minaret possibly became a sign of Turkish identity, besides being a cultural-religious marker. This becomes more obvious after 1974 and is stressed by the (re)introduction of the dome. Since the late 1990s, an ostentatious and unprecedented neo-Ottoman architecture emphasizes visible and invisible meanings, and the Turkish presence in Cyprus stronger than before. The new architectural language visually underlines the influences from Turkey that North Cyprus has been experiencing.

Ousting the Cypriot Ethnarch: President Makarios’ Struggle against the Greek Junta, Cypriot Bishops, and Terrorism

This study examined the politics and political involvements of the Orthodox Church of Cyprus in the early postcolonial era, with a special focus on the ecclesiastical coup that aimed for the ouster of Archbishop Makarios III, who was also the President of the Republic of Cyprus from 1960 to 1977. The findings indicate that the Greek junta, Greek Cypriot terrorists, and the three bishops of the Orthodox Church of Cyprus joined forces to oust Makarios by forcing him to resign his presidency. These actors were displeased with Makarios because he tolerated Cypriot communism, refused to follow Athens’ manipulations in Cypriot politics, and promoted Cyprus’ independence by abandoning the pro-Enosis (unification of Cyprus with Greece) political line. The Greek junta tried to dictate policies to Makarios and asked him to resign as he refused to obey. Greek Cypriot terrorists engaged in violence to destabilize the island and oust Makarios. The three bishops summoned the Holy Synod and defrocked the Archbishop as he refused to resign his presidency. Importantly, this research came across with strong indicators that the Greek junta tried to utilize religion in trying to oust the Cypriot ethnarch as the three bishops, immediately after the junta’s failure to oust Makarios in 1972, asked him to resign his presidency. While his rivals failed to oust Makarios, at least until 1974, he called for an international synod and defrocked the three bishops. He managed to retain both posts until the end of his life.

Consonant Repertoire of a Prelinguistically Deaf Child with Late-Mapping Cochlear Implants

Objective: The present case study aims to report on the consonant repertoire during the pre-linguistic and first linguistic stage of a Greek-Cypriot speaking child bilaterally implanted with multichannel Cochlear Implants (CIs). Background: Children with Hearing Loss (HL) produce canonical babble later, and consonantal inventories of HL children are smaller. However, the consonant repertoire of CI Greek-speaking children has not been examined thus far and research on types of consonantal errors during phonological acquisition is scant. Clinical Case: A pre-linguistically deaf child (CY, 7;0 years old) received the first CI at 7 months of age, but the external part of the device was fitted at 2;7 years. An investigation of the child’s speech at 7;0 years was conducted through auditory analysis. The child’s canonical utterances were transcribed in IPA and his consonants were classified into subcategories, depending on articulation place, articulation manner and resonance. Regarding place, alveolar consonants were the main category produced. As regards manner, closed consonants was the first category to appear, while in terms of voicing, voiceless consonants were recorded more often than voiced ones. The analysis also showed that consonants /t/, /s/ and /p/ were dominant in the child’s speech and revealed several phonological processes. Conclusion: The present case holds special interest as the child’s phonological system is still between the pre-linguistic/first linguistic stages due to the delayed CI mapping. The results agree in part with several studies in the literature, while specific phonological error patterns observed, remain to be verified in other CI Greek-speaking children.