Ahmet Djavit An
The
origins of today’s Moslem population on the island
After the conquest of the Cyprus in 1570-71, the Ottoman commander Lala Mustafa Pasha left a small garisson on the island. The official Ottoman sources refer to a total of 3,779 soldiers, many of whom, later, brought also their families.[1] Some of them even married the widows or daughters of the fallen Latin notables; an example is the last Lusignan Cornaro Lady of Potamia Castle who married the cavalry soldier Ibrahim Menteshoglou; their family has survived to the present day with the families of Menteshoglou and Bodamializade.
After the conquest of the Cyprus in 1570-71, the Ottoman commander Lala Mustafa Pasha left a small garisson on the island. The official Ottoman sources refer to a total of 3,779 soldiers, many of whom, later, brought also their families.[1] Some of them even married the widows or daughters of the fallen Latin notables; an example is the last Lusignan Cornaro Lady of Potamia Castle who married the cavalry soldier Ibrahim Menteshoglou; their family has survived to the present day with the families of Menteshoglou and Bodamializade.
A census, taken
shortly after the conquest, revealed a taxable population of some 85,000
Greeks, Armenians and Maronites, as well as 20,000 Turkish settlers, mostly
campaign veterans, who were given land by Mustapha.[2]
According to the Ottoman Register Book of 1572, 905 villages were inhabitated
and 76 villages were deserted.[3]
Thus the Ottomans did not build new villages and inhabited the empty
ones, which mostly kept their old names while a few were given new Turkish
names. The
Sultan, realizing that the island needed human resources for labour, issued a
firman which was sent to the Kadıs (local judges) of six Anatolian provinces:
Karaman, Ichel, Bozok, Alaiye (Alanya), Teke (Antalya) and Manavgat. One in
every ten families living in those provinces was ordered to transfer to the
island, which meant a total of 5,720 families; at the end, only 1,689 families
settled in Cyprus.[4]
According to the
Register Book of 1581, there were plans to transfer 12,000 families, but
eventually only 8,000 families were transported. In the following years, other
Turkish families from Konya, Kirsehir, Chorum, Samsun, Chankiri, Eskisehir,
Ankara, Darende and Ushak settled in the towns,[5]
which were surrounded by fortified walls or had castles (Nicosia, Famagusta,
Limassol, Paphos and Kyrenia), and in the deserted Latin villages.
Later the
Anatolian settlers, who were mainly Turkmen artisans and villagers,
intermingled with the Greeks of the island and cooperated with them in every
field of life. Although the two communities belonged to different religions and
had dissimilar ethnic distinctive features, they lived harmoniously,
influencing each other as they worked side by side in the rural and urban
areas.[6]
In the course of 300 years of coexistence, during the Ottoman
domination, some Christian Greeks converted to Islam in order to avoid high
taxation. In some other cases, some Anatolian Moslems converted to
Christianity.[7]
Analysing the situation, Ronald C. Jennings wrote:
In the decades following the Ottoman conquest of Cyprus many of the
island’s Christians converted to Islam.Contemporary observers and modern
scholars have attributed that conversion to official compulsion, but no
contemporary local sources substantiate that view except a few travelers
embarrassed at the circumstances (as Venetians or Christians) who had no way of
guessing how the new converts really felt. Although the level of conversion
cannot be measured precisely, there are several indicators of its extent. In
1593-1595 32% of the adult male Muslims whose names and fathers’ names were
cited as legal agents (vekil) were converts, as were 28% of those names as
witnesses to legal cases and 41% of those named as instrumental witnesses. More
than a third of such Muslims appearing in court at that time were converts.
What the highest proportion ever reached was or when it was reached can only be
conjectured, but obviously the intensity was temporary.[8]
There was another category of Cypriots, called Linobambaki that they were Crypto-Christians. This community of
Cypriots was living in villages like Louroudjina (originally Laurentia),
Potamia, Monagria, Ayios Sozomenos and some villages of Tylliria that were
formerly estates of the Latins, who converted en masse to Islam.[9]
Theodoros Papadopoullos gave an example of conversions
from Christianity into Islam between
1825 and 1832, when in 16 villages, the percentage of the previously Christian
population changed into a Moslem religion. By 1960, nine of them (Marki,
Givisilin, Melounda, Kouklia, Sinda, Prastio, Malunda, Kantou, Platanissos)
were all Moslem, two villages (Skoulli, Monagri) were all Christian, and the
remaining five villages (Denia, Flasou, Palekithro, Syngrasi, Moniatis) had one
third of their village population as Moslems.[10]
Paschalis
M. Kitromilides pointed out that the
names of Christian Saints borne by several Turkish villages, especially in
the Paphos and the Karpasia regions, offer a convincing indication of
Islamization. These are the following Turkish Cypriot villages: in Paphos
district, Ayyanni (Agios Ioannis), Aynikola (Agios Nikolaos), Ayyorgi (Agios
georgios); in Limassol district, Aytuma (Agios Thomas); in Nicosia district,
Aybifan (Agios Epiphanios); in Famagusta district, Ayharida (Agios Chariton);
in Karpassia; Hirsofu (Agios Iakovos), Ayandroniko (Agios Andronikos), Ayistar
(Agios Efstathios), Aysimyo (Agios Symeon).[11]
Kitromilides notably wrote:
It should be made
clear in this connection that this sort of evidence is not cited here in order
to question the Turkish Cypriots’ Turkishness – which as is the case with
modern national identity generally, has to do more with the states of
consciousness and less with the ‘purity’ of ethnic origins.[12]
The Moslem identity of the Turkish Cypriots
After the
conquest of Cyprus in 1571, the traditional Ottoman settlement system brought a
new ethnological and cultural element to the island. The Anatolian Moslems had
a different religion, language and culture than the island’s Christian
population. The Latin Catholic Church did not oppress the Orthodox Christians
anymore, and the Latins (Lusignans and Venetians) were allowed to stay in
Cyprus if they would choose the religion of the conqueror, Islam, or the
religion of the local Cypriot Orthodox people.[13]
According to the Ottoman millet system, there were two millets in Cyprus. One
was the Moslem millet and the other was the (Christian) Rum[14]
millet. The Orthodox Christian Church and its Archbishop was responsible from
the Christian population and later he was given the right to collect the taxes
for the Ottoman governor.
The Moslem community was mainly
Sunni-Islam following the Hanefi sect. There were a Muftü for religious affairs, a Chief
Kadı appointed from Istanbul for judicial matters, and a Mulla as the deputy of the Ottoman
Governor. From 1571 up to 1839, when a
legal reform (Tanzimat) was proclaimed, the Moslem
sacred Sheri Law was applied for the Moslem population; the Sheri Laws
derived mainly from verses of the Koran and from traditions of Prophet
Mohammed. Sometimes the Orthodox Christians themselves applied to the Sheri
Courts in order to solve their disagreements with the Moslems in Cyprus. The
Anatolian settlers believed in Islam, but they were not all following strictly the Sunni sect; some followed
other sufi orders. For example, the tanners in Nicosia had their own lodge, called
“Ahi Revan Dede”, a kind of “lonca” (professional syndicate).
Right after the Ottoman occupation of Cyprus in 1570, various Vakfs[15]
were created for the assistance of the Moslem community in their religious,
social and cultural needs. Since the Ottoman conquerer of Cyprus, Lala Mustafa
Pasha, was a devotee of the Mevlevi order,
a Tekke[16]
was built in Nicosia, near the Kyrenia gate, soon after the conquest; the
Mevlevi Tekke functioned until the beginning of the 1950’s. Another Tekke of
the Jelveti order was built in
Famagusta, which had a library founded by Kutup Osman Efendi, the Grand Şeyh of
this order. Aziziye Tekke, within the municipality market of Nicosia, founded
in the name of the Müftü of the Ottoman Army that conquered Nicosia in 1570,
was following the Rifai order. C. F.
Beckingham wrote in 1955:
The dervish orders, which still have secret adherents in Turkey, were
not strong in Cyprus. At present there is one Mevlevi tekke in Nicosia. […]
Most Cypriot Muslims would prefer to close the tekke and use its income for the
repair of mosques, the payment of hocas and religious education. It is felt
that the Mevlevi ritual has lost all religious significance and has become, as
one Muslim said, ‘a floor-show for tourists’.[17] (The text
continues with a new paragraph here)
Formerly other
dervish orders had a few adherents. There were Qadiris in Nicosia at the time
of British occupation and there was once a small Bektaşi community in Larnaca;
these have now disappeared. In Turkey many of the dervish orders were, or
became, xenophobe. Their comparative absence from Cyprus, doubtlessly, helped
the spread of modern ideas. The general
character of Cypriot Islam is liberal and tolerant, and in this the Mufti
reflects the attitude of the community. The social changes associated with
Ataturk’s revolution were introduced into Cyprus without encountering the
opposition of mullas, as they did in some parts of Turkey. (17) [Is this your
text or Beckingham’s text? Quoted from Beckingham, same article, word by word]
When the British occupation began in 1878, the administration of Evkaf (Moslem pious organization) was
entrusted to two delegates; a British, and a Moslem Turk who was appointed by
the “Sublime Porte” (Ottoman Empire). The annexation of Cyprus (1914) and the
Treaty of Lausanne (1923) brought a change in the status of the island; when
the post of the Turkish delegate vacated in 1925, after the death of Musa İrfan
Bey, the appointment was made by the British authorities (Colonial Office),
which was subsequently confirmed by a British Order-in-Council in 1928.[18]
The Moslem members of the Legislative Council, led by Hacı Hafiz Ziyai Efendi,
protested to the British colonial government and claimed that the Caliph should
appoint the director of Evkaf, and that the Cyprus Kadı should be considered as
the head of Evkaf.
Vedjhi Efendi, who was the
Kadı of Cyprus, supported this thesis. Already in 1902, the governor of Cyprus
informed the Kadı by telegram that the management of the Evkaf would be carried
out by the Kadı of Cyprus; advocate Fadıl Korkut wrote that he was among the
congregation when this telegram was openly read in the Agia Sophia Mosque in
Nicosia. Vedjhi Efendi was not able to take the necessary steps to implement
the transfer of administration to Evkaf, since he got a mental disease;
eventually Hacı Hafız Ziyai Efendi withdrew from the Legislative Council and
become the Müftü of Cyprus. The Turkish Cypriot delegate of Evkaf, Musa İrfan
Bey, who was appointed in 1903, started to behave as the leader of the Moslem
community by using his authority at the Evkaf. He also adopted a policy of
allocating the Moslem memberships of the Legislative Council to the candidates
of the Evkaf. He gave 10,000 pounds credit to the candidates from the Evkaf
Treasure, but later there were difficulties to get the Evkaf money back.
When Numan Efendi was
appointed to the post of Kadı of Cyprus in 1907, he demanded again to get the
administration of Evkaf to his office. It was in this year, when Dr. Hafız
Djemal Bey (Lokman Hekim) settled in his own country and started to publish a
newspaper and more than 20 booklets for the enlightenment of the Turkish
Cypriot community. He also opened his Cyprus Industrial School in Nicosia,
where young boys were taught various handworks and they used to sell their
products in the Friday Market. In the evening classes, people were taught
foreign languages. But the reactionary circles fought against him until he left
the island for good in 1909.
A National Council (Meclis-i Milli) convened under the leadership of
Müftü Ziyai Efendi on 10 December 1918 in order to raise the demands of the
Turkish Cypriots in the Paris Conference, where the Greek Cypriots would
participate. We read from its resolution that Müftü Ziyai Efendi was elected as
the head of the millet (reis-i millet), defining the Müftü for the first time
as the leader of the Turkish Cypriot community. But the British local
government did not allow him to go abroad.
When the “Organization of Islam Community” (Cemaat-ı İslamiye Teşkilatı)
was established in 1924, as the first political association of the Turkish
Cypriots, it demanded that the administration of the Evkaf should be handed
over to a commission to be elected among the community. There was no positive
outcome and when Münir Bey was appointed as the Turkish delegate of Evkaf in
1925, after the death of İrfan Bey, the government had two delegates, instead
of one. Evkaf should have been handed over to its real owner, the Turkish
Cypriot community, but the Lausanne Agreement had already abolished the Cyprus
Convention, which provided for the British Administration to appoint one of the
Evkaf delegates.[19]
In
1928, the Evkaf Department was established by a decree issued by the colonial
government, which gave special privileges to the director of the department.
After the Lausanne Agreement, the Evkaf properties in the Balkan countries and
Palestine were to be administered by a commission and this was not done in
Cyprus and therefore there was no say anymore on the administration of the
Evkaf properties by the Turkish Cypriot community. On the other hand, the Greek
Orthodox Church continued to administer the Church properties in Cyprus.
Starting from 1923, when the Republic of Turkey was declared, there was
no Califdom and no Minister for Religious Affairs anymore in modern Turkey. The
British Colonial Government abolished the post of Müftü, starting from 19
November 1928, and this was an important event, since the Moslem population had
this institution since 1571. Instead of Müftü, the post of Fetva Emini was
created under the Evkaf Department and Hürremzade Hakkı Efendi was appointed
there. He was supporting the Kemalists and also made a meeting together with
the teacher for replacing the Arabic alphabet with the Latin at the schools.
Now the authority of the Evkaf director was reinforced and Münir Bey was
regarded as the leader of the Turkish Cypriot community and was invited as such
to the Royal Garden party in London in 1928.
The Sheri Courts were in a deplorable state, functioning in Cyprus as if
the island was still in Ottoman 19th Century. In 1927, the Cyprus Courts of
Justice Order-in-Council limited the jurisdiction of the Sheri Courts to
strictly Moslem religious matters and provided for appeals from them to the
Supreme Court. This was done in conformity with the view of a report prepared
by three leading Turkish Cypriots, Münir Bey, M. Raif and M. Shevket.
Cingizzade Mehmet Rifat wrote a series of open letters to the British Governor
of Cyprus, between 10 December 1932 and 11 March 1933, in his newspaper Masum Millet for the modernization of
the Sheri Courts, and the Inheritance Law, similar to the reforms made in
Turkey since 1926, as well as the matters of Müftü and Evkaf.
In 1930, Münir Bey lost his seat at
the Legislative Council to the Kemalist leader Necati Bey, who voted later in
April 1931 against the Customs Tax Law together with the Greek Cypriot members.
In May 1931, Necati Bey convened a National Congress, where a new Müftü was
elected for the Turkish Cypriots, but this was not recognized officially by the
colonial government. When the British appointed in 1951 Yakup Celal
Menzilcioğlu, aged 72, as temporary Müftü from Turkey, his preaching was
strongly criticized by the Kemalists of the Turkish Cypriot community;
uncoincidentally, after six months the anti-Kemalist Menzilcioglu resigned and
left Cyprus. Necati Özkan supported again another candidate from Turkey, Mahmut
Kamil Toker, for the post of Müftü against the candidate of the National Party
of Dr.Küçük, Dana Efendi. But Toker was forced to withdraw his candidacy before
coming to the island and the only candidate from Paphos, Dana Efendi was
elected on 30 December 1953 as the new Müftü of Cypriot Muslims.
Religious Education
Eleven “Sibyan”
schools were opened between 1571 and 1600 for the elementary education. In 1632
“Büyük Medrese” and in 1640 “Küçük Medrese” were founded for the young people,
who wanted to acquire religious and legal knowledge. These schools were started
by rich philanthropic Turkish Cypriots, who made vakıf for the financing of
these institutions, therefore the schools were under the administration of the
Evkaf. From the Vakf Registers, we can see that some of these philanthropics
belong to religious orders that they appointed their own care-takers for these
vakıf properties for financing their activities.[20]
The first modern secondary school (Rüştiye) was opened in 1862 and in 1897
the first modern gymnasium (İdadi) followed. In 1922, it was called “Sultani”,
but after the foundation of Turkey, the name was changed into “Cyprus Turkish
Lycee”. The British colonial government appointed in 1937 an English headmaster
to the Lycee, Mr. Wood, who changed the name all of a sudden into “Cyprus Islam
Lycee”. The Turkish Cypriot community could use the original name only in 1950,
when a Turkish Cypriot Headmaster was appointed to the Lycee. In 1932 a Moslem Theological School was
established by Münir Bey in order to replace the Büyük Medrese, which was
demolished. Advocate Mehmet Rifat (Con Rifat), who was one of the supporters of
the Kemalist populist movement, criticized in his newspaper Masum Millet [Innocent Nation] the
establishment of a Theological School in Cyprus.
In the first year,
there were only two students and three teachers. From 1932 until 1949, in 16
years, only 8 imams graduated from this school. To be exact, in addition, two
persons, one coming from Solia and the other from Tilliria also took a short
course. If we bear in mind that there were about 300 mosques over the island,
the qualified imams were not over two dozens. Many mosques were without imams
and prayers were officiated there only at great intervals, twice a year by
qualified persons. This Moslem Theological School in Nicosia was closed in
1949.[21]
The
Interim Report on Turkish Cypriot Affairs
was prepared in 1949 by exclusively Turkish Cypriot members, who collected data
on all relevant subjects (Evkaf, Müftü, Family Laws, Sherie Couts, Schools)
from official and non-official quarters, and five public meetings were held in
all towns of the island other than Kyrenia. The Turkish Cypriot press gave also
considerable prominence to its deliberations. Therefore, these recommendations
had gained general approval and represented a fair reflection of the desires
and opinions of the Turkish Cypriot community. Thus the Turkish Family Courts
Law and Marriage and Divorce Law came into force in 1951 and later amended in 1954.[22]
There were reactions by Şeyh Nazım Hoca, who published a leaflet “Family Law is
contrary to the Sheria”, but he was attacked by Dr. Küçük in Halkın Sesi, on 25 May 1950. Another
political opponent of Dr.Küçük, Necati Özkan, wrote a series of articles in his
own newspaper İstiklal (28 May-11
June 1950). The Turkish Religious Head (Müftü) Law was enacted in 1953. It
provided an indirect election, that the Turkish Cypriot community elected in
1954 Dana Efendi as the Müftü for the first time after 27 years. The transfer
of the Management of Evkaf properties was made officially on 14 April 1956. The
administration of the Turkish Cypriot schools was handed over to the Turkish
Cypriot community on 9 June 1959.
The traditional Turkish Cypriot mosques
After the
conquest of the island in 1571, the Ottomans were impressed with the Latin
cathedrals in Nicosia and Famagusta and they converted them into mosques by
adding minarets and other Islamic elements. Besides these and other
conversions, mosques were built by the Turks in various periods in Ottoman
style. Those of architectural interest are Arabahmet, Sarayönü and Turunçlu in
Nicosia, Seyit Mehmet Ağa and Hala Sultan in Larnaca, Haydar Paşazade Mehmet
Bey in Lapithos, Cafer Paşa in Kyrenia and Camii Cedid in Limassol. The mosques
in the villages have tiled roofs, carried by one or two rows of high arches,
giving the interior a spacious atmosphere.[23]
Most of the mosques in rural areas did not have minaret, because they were
modest buildings for the villagers built by Evkaf. Some writers insist that
they represent the Alevite sect in Cyprus; but they have nothing to do with the
“Cemevi”, where the Alevites perform their rituals.
The Islamization of the northern part of the island
There has been
a religious movement among the Turkish Cypriot community, which was mainly
represented by Şeyh Nazım Hoca, a Turkish Cypriot follower of the Nakshibendi order, which was active
especially between the years 1945 and 1949 and later in 1954. Those activities
were well documented by one of his followers, Hüseyin Mehmet Ateşin, in his
book Dr. Fazıl Küçük and Şeyh Nazım
Kıbrısi, (İstanbul, 1997). The book reflected the ideological struggle
between Dr. Fazıl Küçük, (who was supporting Kemalism and modern Turkey in
Cyprus in his activities for winning the leadership of his community) and Nazım
Hoca, (who was an anti-Kemalist.) The same writer wrote also the history of the
Islamic Movement among the Turkish Cypriots in Kıbrıs’ta İslami Kimlik Davası [The case of Islamic Identity in
Cyprus] (İstanbul 1996).[24]
Islamization activities of the occupied parts of the island started
right after the invasion and the occupation in 1974. Churches were transformed
into mosques in the main towns and villages. Religious propaganda went parallel
with the increasing activities of the religious parties in Turkey. When Müftü
Dana Efendi retired on 1 September 1971, his deputy, Dr. Rifat Mustafa was
appointed as Müftü. The Turkish Cypriot Islam Association was founded already
in 1971 with a publication of a fortnightly newspaper Her şeyde ve her yerde milli ve dini NİZAM [National and religious
ORDER in everything and at everywhere], on 5 February 1971, which ceased its
publication with issue 38 on 19 July 1974. Right wing and religiously oriented
columnists from Tercüman newspaper,
Ahmet Kabaklı and Ergun Göze, were invited to Cyprus in February 1974; it was a
kind of revival of the Şeyh Nazım movement.
A second religious association “Cyprus Turkish Islam Cultural
Association” was re-activated after 1974. One of its activities was a
conference organized in Kyrenia in June 1977. The chairman of the Association
accused the Turkish Cypriots as being “Gavur” (infidel to Islam): “Unless Islam
disseminates now or in the future in Cyprus, they shall stay as Gavur as they
are today”.[25] The insult
provoked Dr. Fazıl Küçük to reply in a series of articles in his daily Halkın Sesi for five days, under the
title “Tongues with spikes”. On 12 July 1977 he wrote:
They have given permission to
those members from the Koran courses that are spreading across the island and
they are practicing as imams and preachers. The administration should be more
sensitive in their duties. […] We are embarrassed from the words of those, who
came from mountain or forest villages. They don’t know how to walk properly on
the street, with their wide trousers. They are chewing the sentence ‘You are
bastards of the British, gavurs, without any religion’ and they passed the
limits of tolerance. We don’t know what will happen and what will be the
result, when there will be no tolerance for these curses. […] Our arms are open
for the Ataturkist imams and preachers and we can share our bread with them.
These associations have become hearths of disaster. These Islam associations
should be closed without any further delay. Although everyone is free to open
an association according to the constitution, but the government has the right
to close them, when they engage in dangerous activities. […] There is no
authority today, who will force them to withdraw their long tongues back into
their mouth, who says ‘We shall make you, the gavur Turks, Moslem’.[26]
He further
wrote that he had received a letter about the activities of Süleymanist
missioners, who were employed by the Müftü Mustafa Rifat that they were
teaching Arabic to the youth in Famagusta and giving conferences without
getting permission in the villages, where they accused the Turkish Cypriots of
not being religious enough. Halkın Sesi
reported one year later, on 11 August 1978, that Koran courses were organized
in a mosque in Famagusta and the children were told not to watch TV, because it
was a sin; small boys were not allowed to wear short trousers and they could
not learn by heart to sing the prayers properly at the minarets.
The growth of mosques and Islam in occupied Cyprus
There were
approximately 300 mosques in Cyprus before 1974. Many of them in the rural
areas did not have minarets and between 1968 and 1974 minarets were built to
some mosques like the ones at Krini, Fota and Agridi. At the end of 1991, there
were 141 mosques in the occupied areas, but 58 of them did not have imams for
performing the religious prayers. Βy 1999 the Department for Religious Affairs
– with a personnel of 13 – employed 135 imams in all the mosques (only 5 of
them were graduates of a Theological Faculty), plus 56 imams were appointed
from Turkey. According to the official numbers, there were 199 mosques in the
‘TRNC’ at the end of 2012, excluding those in construction; in these mosques,
255 imam and muezzin were employed. Furthermore, there were another 103 imams,
who were paid by the Turkish Embassy in Nicosia. Thus the total number of imams
– including the three imams working in the southern part of the island – is 361
of whom only ten are are permanently employed while the rest are on a contact
basis.[27]
In 2014, there were 260 imams, who were paid from the budget of the Prime
Ministry of the TRNC, but only 13 of them were on permanent staff- list.
Another 120 imams received their salaries from the Turkish Embassy in Nicosia.[28]
Nine mosques were built between 1974 and 2002 in various towns and
villages in the occupied areas with the finances of the Turkish Embassy in
Nicosia. One of them is the big mosque, built in Anatolian style in Kyrenia in
1999 and it was named after Nurettin Ersin Pasha, the Turkish commander of the
1974 invasion forces. It was followed, in 2003, by another big mosque that was
built in Famagusta and was named after Fazıl Polat Pasha, the Turkish commander
who occupied Famagusta in 1974. In the summer of 2005, there were a total of
173 mosques and a budget of 3.5 million TL was allocated in order to build 12
new mosques. During the AKP government, starting with the year 2002, out of 39
newly built mosques, 37 were in occupied Greek Cypriot villages; they were all
reduced-size copies of the big mosque built in Kyrenia, either with one or two
minarets.[29]
The Turkish Cypriots perceive these Islamization activities with
concern. For example the Trade Union of Turkish Cypriot Teachers (KTÖS) issued
a statement and criticized the ongoing Koran courses and new schools for
religious education:
There are 192 mosques in the TRNC, whereas there are 160 schools, 21
health centres and 17 hospitals. Each university wants to build a mosque and
these plans increased the controversies. […] They say that they got permission
from the Ministry of Education, but there are Koran courses ongoing in the
mosques, without permission and controls. If the government does not have the
power to control these places, they should resign.[30]
The Trade Union
of the Turkish Cypriots Secondary School Teachers (KTOEÖS) protested for a
teacher that was appointed from Turkey, at the Polatpaşa Lycee, because the
pupils did not like the way he was teaching the lesson of “Religious Culture
and Ethics”.[31] The
parents’ association of the same school made a demonstration and criticized the
Ministry of Education that there was no inspection how the teachers for
religion perform their duties.[32]
The chairman of KTOS, Semen Saygun, remarked that there were 2,000 pupils, who
were participating at the Koran courses during summer season in 2012 while in
2015 the number increased to 5,000. She said that it was not pedagogically
appropriate for the immature children to have these courses instead of playing
games, resting or spending time with their own families.[33]
Turkish Cypriot reaction
The majority of
the Turkish Cypriots does not like that that religious belief is mixed with
politics in a show off and are against using religion for political
purposes. Therefore they do not approve
mass propaganda for Islam, done by the various religious associations, mainly
set up by Anatolian settlers and students. There have always been religious
people among the Turkish Cypriot community, but they were in minority and not
so fanatic. Some religious Turkish Cypriots formed in cooperation with Turkish
settlers some political parties, which were based on religious programs, but
they did not have any success: “Reform and Welfare Party” (1979), “Our party”
(1998). When the followers of Şeyh Nazım convened on 22 December 1996 in
Nicosia at a meeting under the name “Great
Islam Congress”, Şeyh Nazım defined the Turkish Cypriot as “a different
kind of human, who is clever and has many demonic ideas. There is a need to
have someone, who can imprison the demon in a bottle. Those imams, who are sent
from Turkey, do not know the Turkish Cypriots. I can convince millions, but in
the last 60 years, I got tired of trying to convince this millet (of Turkish
Cypriots)!”[34]
Since the population of the
Anatolian settlers is more than the local Turkish Cypriots in the occupied
areas at the moment, religious events and activities are organized mainly for
them by various associations and organizations that are financed by the Turkish
Embassy in Nicosia or some reactionary Arabic countries, and enjoy the support
of the ‘TRNC’ government. Last year the Evkaf distributed 5,000 packages of
food, sent by the General Directorate of the Vakıfs in Turkey. During the
Ramadan month, when the Moslems do not eat or drink anything during the
daytime, 100,000 persons had the chance to have dinner on 14 meeting-points in
various towns and villages, under the organization of the “Red Crescent
Association of Northern Cyprus” with the support of the Turkish Embassy Aid
Department in Nicosia. Since 2005, it has been a traditional event. Similar
dinners were given also by the Evkaf Department, the Turkish Cypriot Islam
Association and Universal Love and Brotherhood Association (ESKAD).[35]
At
the moment there are 600 students at the two theological faculties, one at the
Near East University (YDU) and the other one at the University of Social
Sciences [Sosyal Bilimler Üniversitesi], while another 800 pupils attend the Theological
Colleges. Almost all of the students and teenage pupils are from Turkey who
came to the occupied areas with scholarships while a small number are the
children of the Anatolian settlers; the teachers are all coming from Turkey.
The newly established Hala Sultan Theological College is part of the big
complex with a boarding house, a large mosque, conference rooms and shops that
will cost 80 million dollars. The Hala Sultan Mosque with its four tall
minarets – a small replica of the Selimiye Mosque in Edirne – will be ready by
2017 at a total cost of 30 million dollars. Another large mosque with six
minarets is being constructed at the Near East University and is expected to be
completed by 2017.
It is interesting to note that an
Anatolian settler, professor Talip Atalay – also an unsuccessful AKP candidate
at the 2015 general elections – who settled with his family in occupied
Famagusta in 1975, when he was 7 years old, was appointed by Ankara, in 2010,
as the Muftü of Cyprus. His employment as the Director of the Religious
Affairs, was accompanied by the purchase of two Mercedes and three BMW cars for
his Department, which caused criticism by the Trade Union “Hizmet-Sen” in the
Turkish Cypriot press.[36]
Talip Atalay, a professor of theology, represents the Turkish Cypriot community
in its relations with the Cyprus Greek Orthodox Church and he is welcomed by
the authorities of the Republic of Cyprus, although he is not a local Turkish
Cypriot. The Anatolian settlers can visit now the Hala Sultan Tekke during
Moslem Holidays. Since 2014, four such visits were organized with the
participation of more than one thousand visitors in each time, comprising
mainly of the Turkish citizens![37]
(Published in “EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN POLICY NOTE • No. 8
• 10 July 2016, Cyprus Center for European and
International Affairs, University of Nicosia)
Dr
Ahmet
Djavit An, MD, is a historical researcher, activist and author of 24 books
about the Turkish Cypriot political, religious, communal and social affairs.
Among his books about the history of the Turkish Cypriots and the Cyprus
Problem are: Kıbrıs’ta Fırtınalı
Yıllar (1942-1962) [The stormy years in Cyprus (1942-1962)], (Nicosia: Galeri Kultur,
1996); Kıbrıs Türk
Liderliğinin Oluşması: Dinsel Toplumdan Ulusal Topluma Geçiş Süreci (1900-1942) [The formation of
the Turkish Cypriot leadership: the process of making a national community out
of a religious community (1900-1942)], (Nicosia: Galeri Kultur, 1997); Kıbrıslılık Bilincinin Geliştirilmesi [Notes
on the development of Cypriot awareness], (Nicosia: Galeri Kultur, 1998); Kıbrıs Nereye Gidiyor? [Quo Vadis Cyprus],
(Istanbul: Everest, 2002); Küçük Adada Büyük Oyunlar: Kıbrıs’ta Ayrılıkçılık,
Federal Çözüm ve AB Üyeliği [Big games on a
small island: separatism, federal solution and EU membership of Cyprus],
(Istanbul: NK Publishing, 2004); Kıbrıs Türk
Toplumunun Geri Kalmışlığı (1896-1962) [The under-development of the Turkish Cypriot
community (1892-1962)], (Nicosia: Shadi Publishing, 2006)
[1] Cengiz Orhonlu, The Ottoman Turks Settle in Cyprus
(1570-1580), in Milletlerarası Birinci Kıbrıs Tetkikleri Kongresi (14-19 Nisan
1969) Türk Heyeti Tebliğleri, Ankara 1971, p.100
[2] Ibid, p.97
[3] According to the 1572 census 76 villages in the Mesaoria and
Mazotos regions were empty: Cengiz Orhonlu, Milletlerarası Birinci Kıbrıs
Tetkikleri Kongresi Türk Heyeti Tebliğleri, p.93. Quoting B. Sagredo in des Mas
Latrie, Histoire De L’Ile de Chypre,
III, Paris 1855, p. 542, Halil İnalcık wrote that “in 1562 there were 246
villages belonging to the State and were described as ‘Real’ while those
belonging to the mobility and the Church numbered 567”: Halil İnalcık,
Milletlerarası Birinci Kıbrıs Tetkikleri Kongresi Türk Heyeti Tebliğleri, p.
64.
[4] Cengiz Orhonlu, ibid, p.94
[5] Ibid, p.100
[6] Ahmet Djavit An,
“Origins of Turkish Cypriots”, Cyprus
Today, Vol. XLVI, No. 2, April-June 2008, pp.13-21.
[7] Letter of Mehmet Ziyai Efendi to Sublime Porte (“Bab-ı Ali” in İstanbul) dated 22
February 1910, quoted by Mustafa Haşim Altan, Kıbrıs’ta Rumlaştırma Hareketleri [Movements for Greek convertions
in Cyprus), 2nd edn (Kyrenia: Milli Arşiv, 2000), pp. 9-10; also M. Nabi,
“Nüfus Sayımı-2”, Hürsöz newspaper, 15 June 1947.
[8]
Author’s emphasis; Ronald C.
Jennings, Christians and Muslims in
Ottoman Cyprus and the Mediterranean World, 1571-1640, New York University
Studies in Near Eastern Civilization XVIII (New York: New York University
Press, 1992), p. 137.
[9] Alkan Chaglar, Toplum Postası newspaper,
London, 5 August 1981.
[10] Cyprus Today, July-December 1967 and
January-March 1968.
[11] Paschalis M. Kitromilides,
“From coexistence to confrontation: the dynamics of ethnic conflict in Cyprus”,
in Cyprus Reviewed, ed. by Michalis
Attalides (Nicosia: New Cyprus Association, 1977), pp 35-70 (37).
[12] Ibid.
[13] Ahmet An, ‘Changes in the ethnic and cultural structure of Cyprus after
1571’, in Kıbrıs Türk Kültürü Üzerine
Yazılar [Articles on the Turkish Cypriot Culture]; (Nicosia: Ateş
Matbaacılık, 1999), p.15.
[14] [“Rum” is related to Eastern Roman Empire and all the
Greek speaking Orthodox Christians, who were living in Anatolia, were called as
“Rum” in Turkish language. The Greek Cypriots used to be citizens of the
Eastern Roman Empire, therefore they were called also as “Rum”, i.e. “Kıbrıslı
Rumlar” (Rums of Cyprus). For example,
those Rums, who were living in the Black Sea region, were called as “Trabzonlu
Rumlar” (“Rums of Trebizun”= Pontians). On the other hand, “Yunan” means
(Ionian in Arabic) and it is used for a citizen of the state of “Yunanistan”
(Land of Ionians= Greece) after 1829. Therefore the Greeks, living outside the
boundaries of Greece, are called “Rum” as the ex-citizens of Eastern Roman
Empire, not being the citizens of Greece. Could you please explain in this
footnote why the Christians in Cyprus were called Rum and not Υunan]
[15] Evkaf is a religious institution in Islam. The legal definition of Vakf
(Evkaf is the plural of Vakf) is the tying up of the property for the sake of
God and to earn the Divine Mercy, with ultimate imposition of interdiction on
its transfer to persons contrary to the conditions of dedication. The term is
equivalent of “dedication”.
[16] A Tekke (convent) is a place where Dervishes belonging to a cult used to
stay and carry out their prayers and religious ceremonies.
[17] C. F. Beckingham, “Islam in
Cyprus”, The Islamic Quarterly, vol.
II, no. 2, July 1955, p. 140.
[18] M. Kemal Dizdar, “Cyprus Evkaf”, in Milletlerarası
Birinci Kıbrıs Tetkikleri Kongresi, 14-19 Nisan 1969 Türk Heyeti Tebliğleri
(Papers of the Turkish delegation to the
First International Congress of Cypriot Studies) Ankara: 1971, p. 211.
[19] Advocate Fadıl N. Korkut, 31 Mart 1947 tarihinde Kıbrısta Mevcut Türk
Kurumları Namına Ekselâns Valiye Takdim Edilen Arizada Hükûmetten Talep Edilen
Haklarımızdan 2ncisi EVKAF, Hür Söz Basımevi, (Lefkoşa), (Evkaf, The second of
our rights, being demanded from the government in an application given to his
Excellency the Governor in the name of the existing Turkish institutions in
Cyprus on 31 March 1947, Hür Söz Printing House (Nicosia).
[20] Ali Süha, ‘Turkish Education in Cyprus’, in Papers of the Turkish delegation to the First International Congress of
Cypriot Studies (Ankara: 1971), pp. 235-237.
[21] 1949 Interim Report of the Committee on Turkish Affairs [in
Turkish], Nicosia 1950, p.70.
[22]
Ahmet An, A Short Overview on the Past of the Turkish Law Institutions in
Cyprus, Articles on Turkish Cypriot Culture, Nicosia, 1999, p.89.
[23] Hakkı M. Atun, “The Influence of Ottoman Architecture in Cyprus”, in Papers of the Turkish Delegation to the First
International Congress of Cypriot Studies (Ankara: 1971), pp. 262-263.
[24] Ahmet An, “The role of religion in Turkish Cypriot community” (in
Turkish), Kıbrıslı
Turkun Sesi dergisi, 27 September 1996, http://can-kibrisim.blogspot.com.cy/2014/01/kibris-turk-toplumunda-dinin-yeri.html; Ahmet An,
“Religion and society in the 2000’s” (in Turkish), Kıbrıslı Turkun Sesi
dergisi, December 1997, http://can-kibrisim.blogspot.com.cy/2014
/01/2000li-yillarda-din-ve-toplum.html.
[25] Halkın Sesi, 11 June 1977.
[26] Dr Fazil Küçük, “Dikenli diller” [Tongues with spikes], Halkın Sesi, 12 July 1977, p. 1
[27] Havadis, 6 December 2012.
[28] Afrika, 18 August 2014.
[29] Mete Hatay,
“‘Direniş’ Minarelerinden ‘Vesayet’ Minarelerine”, Afrika, 17 October 2014, p. 19.
[30] KTÖS Press release, Kıbrıslı,
5 August 2012.
[31] Yenidüzen, 29 December 2015.
[32] Kıbrıs, 16 February 2016.
[33] Kıbrıs, 11 July 2015.
[34] Quoted by Ahmet An,
Kıbrıs Türk Toplumunda Dinin Yeri [Place of Religion in Turkish Cypriot
Society] Kıbrıslı magazine, 27
September 1996, no.14.
[35] Kıbrıs, 18 June 2015.
[36] Afrika,
5 March 2014, p. 3.
[37] Kıbrıs, 11 December 2015.
