IN-PERSON ISTANBUL HERITAGE(S)

Abstract

This paper explores the roots and sustained relevance of Kemalism in Turkish-Cypriot public monuments throughout the political instability Cyprus has experienced since 1922. These findings stem from an unprecedented postdoctoral research project that exhaustively uncovered and catalogued Northern Cyprus’ 696 public sculptures across its 191 villages/towns. Inaccurately reduced to a mere top-down mechanism of ‘Turkification’ following Cyprus’ 1974 partition, the erection of Atatürk sculptures can be traced back to the British colonial era. Indeed, the Turkish leader served several purposes: the 1923 establishment of the Republic of Türkiye heralded him as an anti-imperialist figure, while the Westernised postulates of Kemalism resolved the inherited presumed antithesis between being Muslim and being ‘civilised’. Early Cypriot Kemalist sculptures sit at the crossroads of a complex three-way conversation between the colonial power, the ‘civilised’ Greek-Cypriot ‘other’ and Turkish-Cypriots themselves. During periods of inter-communal tension and conflict (1955-1974), Atatürk developed into an adopted ethno-cultural symbol, the genealogic patriarch of a united Turkic people as Turkish-Cypriots called upon their continental ‘brethren’ for survival and later recognition. Since Türkiye’s recent re-embracing of its Muslim heritage, however, Atatürk has continued to further differentiate between historically secular Turkish-Cypriots and the policies and ambitions of Ankara which inevitably impact Northern Cyprus. Amidst international embargoes resulting in the de facto TRNC’s reliance on Türkiye, Turkish-Cypriots continue to rally around Atatürk sculptures – imbuing them with renewed meaning – to signal a sense of self and agency. Although a material constant, Kemalist monuments in Cyprus embody an ever evolving and redefined cultural heritage.