Doubtful Militants and their State: War and State-making among Turkish Cypriots
Lead Research Organisation:
London School of Economics and Political Science
Department Name: Anthropology
Abstract
Turkish Cypriots tend to have negative moral opinions about the origins of their state, the internationally unrecognised "Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus" (TRNC). This can partially be explained by the political confinement and the relative economic deprivation they face; however, the link between these and the "emotive crisis" that Turkish Cypriots feel vis-à-vis the TRNC has not been studied. Common attitudes towards the state include irony and melancholy. My project intends to study this "emotive crisis" among the very individuals that have built this state. I intend to ethnographically study Turkish Cypriot nationalist former militants who fought during the intercommunal civil war in the 1960s and 1970s, and who later became the "makers" of the TRNC. The questions this project will address are as follows;
On what kinds of moral judgments did nationalist former militants base their state building practices?
What were/are the contradictions of their moral judgments?
What practices do former militants enact today to cope with those contradictions?
How do nationalist former militants in northern Cyprus cope with the emotive remainders of their past actions?
On what kinds of moral judgments did nationalist former militants base their state building practices?
What were/are the contradictions of their moral judgments?
What practices do former militants enact today to cope with those contradictions?
How do nationalist former militants in northern Cyprus cope with the emotive remainders of their past actions?
People |
ORCID iD |
| Sergen Bahceci (Student) |
Studentship Projects
| Project Reference | Relationship | Related To | Start | End | Student Name |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ES/P000622/1 | 01/10/2017 | 30/09/2027 | |||
| 1925602 | Studentship | ES/P000622/1 | 24/09/2017 | 30/09/2021 | Sergen Bahceci |
| Title | Iskani Devlet I, Göçmenköy |
| Description | This short documentary, titled "Iskani Devlet", approximately meaning "The Abode State", is based on interviews conducted with the former Turkish Cypriot Prime Minister Hakki Atun (PM between 1994-1996). Mr. Atun was educated as an architect and urban planner in Turkey and Britain before the outbreak of ethnic conflict in Cyprus in 1963. After 1963, he began working for the wartime Turkish Cypriot enclave government where he designed and led the construction of a refugee-housing project to settle about 5,000 of the 25,000 Turkish Cypriot internally displaced persons after 1963. Although the circumstances were dire and construction material lacking, the project created a then up-to-standard settlement called Göçmenköy, literally meaning the "Refugee-village", which is still part of the northern Nicosia. The houses were built through a social form of organization locally called "imece", that involved "voluntary cooperative work", e.g. each refugee would help in the building of their own and each other's houses to the best of their abilities and resources. |
| Type Of Art | Film/Video/Animation |
| Year Produced | 2019 |
| Impact | the short film created a public debate on social media over the largely the unknown story of Göçmenköy. Commonly expressed feelings involved collective self-criticism on part of the viewers, who also expressed nostalgia for a time whom they believed people lived more sociably and in solidarity even though they suffered a lot due to conflict. They contrasted past solidarity with the present which was said to be one of material comforts, individualism and self-interest. |
| URL | https://youtu.be/tkTtmA_yuco |
| Title | Iskani Devlet II, Lurucina |
| Description | Iskani Devlet II, Lurucina contrasts with the story of the "Refugee-village" developed in the earlier episode. Lurucina was a Turkish Cypriot town inhabited by some 3,000 people before the war in 1974 left it as a "border town" far from the rest of the Turkish Cypriot territory and sealed off from surrounding Greek Cypriot villages. This led to the eventual decline in the village's population where only about 300 now live. The documentary employs an expository style based on narration by the village's present municipality leader, Hasan Barbaros, as well as archival materials to support or contrast with the narrative. |
| Type Of Art | Film/Video/Animation |
| Year Produced | 2020 |
| Impact | The most common feedback was that the second episode of Iskani Devlet paints a grimmer picture than the first: it is a story of gradual uprooting of a community as opposed to the making of a community amid a desperate situation. Thus, it received mixed reviews on social media with some people challenging the narrative. Nevertheless, the public discussion on the village and the political context of its "death" is ongoing on social media. |
| URL | https://youtu.be/fKrFFwEBjG8 |
| Description | Interview for national news |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | I was interviewed by the weekend magazine of a widely read and respected newspaper. The interviewer asked regarding the short documentary films I have produced as well as about my doctoral research. The interview will be published in mid-March. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |