The social construction of ethnicity and nationality: The case of Cyprus

1 March 1996

journal article
research article
Published by Taylor & Francis in Nationalism and Ethnic Politics

Vol. 2 (1) , 67-90
https://doi.org/10.1080/13537119608428459

Abstract

This study analyzes the processes by which two ethnonationalisms ‐ Greek and Turkish ‐ were constructed in Cyprus. As such it is of vital relevance to the current rise of ethnicity and nationalism in Croatia, Serbia and Bosnia. The transformation is traced from a pre‐nationalist era during the Ottaman Empire in which social integration characterized the Muslims and Christians to the present situation of ethnic strife and division of the island. The role of British colonial policy, Greek irredentism, Greek and Turkish national interests and competing local political elites, contributed to the structuring of ethnic identities.

Keywords

This publication has 3 references indexed in Scilit:

Ethnonationalism
Published by Walter de Gruyter GmbH ,1994
Greek irredentism in Asia minor and Cyprus
Middle Eastern Studies, 1990
Cyprus under British Rule
The Geographical Journal, 1918