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Ontwortelde gemeenschappen op Cyprus: Een etnografie van Grieks- en Turks-Cypriotische vluchtelingen

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Abstract

This is an ethnographic article about the refugee experience in Cyprus and deals with two groups of refugees, one group of Greek Cypriots and one of Turkish Cypriots. The two groups are linked by their histories of displacement to a single ‘place of desire’, a small mountainous village located in the north of Cyprus. The article focuses on the nature of the attachment to this particular village by both refugee groups and how this attachment has been shaped by questions of justice and suffering and the specific meanings that these notions have for each group. The original name of the village is Larnakas tis Lapithou and for its Greek Cypriot inhabitants, who fled during the Turkish invasion of 1974 and scattered all over the south of Cyprus, it will always remain so. But the village has changed drastically. It was renamed after 1974 to Kozan (in Turkish) and became home to the Turkish Cypriot refugees from the south of Cyprus, who moved there after 1974. Their desire too is that the village remains so. The article emphasizes the importance of place as a constructed network of social relationships, as this captures well the experience of these Greek and Turkish Cypriot refugees. For Greek Cypriots the desire is to return to the village and recreate the network of relationships that was shattered by the war. For Turkish Cypriots the desire is to remain in the village and maintain the network of relationships that wasconstructed since the war. And for both this is a question of justice, recognition of their suffering, even if what is meant by justice in each case is antithetical: for Greek Cypriots, it is the right to return, for Turkish Cypriots, the right to stay.

How to Cite:

Dikomitis, L., (2013) “Ontwortelde gemeenschappen op Cyprus: Een etnografie van Grieks- en Turks-Cypriotische vluchtelingen”, Tetradio 22(1): 5, 109–125. doi: https://doi.org/10.21825/tetradio.91828