Editing Turkish Cypriots (section)

==History==

===Pre-Ottoman Cyprus===
Although there was no settled Muslim population in Cyprus prior to the Ottoman conquest of 1570–71, some Ottoman Turks were captured and carried off as prisoners to Cyprus in the year 1400 during Cypriot raids in the Asiatic and Egyptian coasts.<ref name="Beckingham 1957 loc=171">{{Harvnb|Beckingham|1957|loc=171}}.</ref> Some of these captives accepted or were forced to convert to Christianity and were baptized; however, there were also some Turkish slaves who remained unbaptized.<ref>{{Harvnb|Hill|1948|loc=469}}.</ref> By 1425, some of these slaves helped the [[Mamluke]] army to gain access to [[Limassol Castle]].<ref>{{Harvnb|Hill|1948|loc=473}}.</ref> Despite the release of some of the captives, after the payment of ransoms, most of the baptized Turks continued to remain on the island. The medieval Cypriot historian [[Leontios Machairas]] recalled that the baptized Turks were not permitted to leave [[Nicosia]] when the Mamlukes approached the city after the battle of [[Khirokitia]] in 1426.<ref>{{Harvnb|Machairas|1932|loc=657}}.</ref> According to Professor [[Charles Fraser Beckingham]], "there must therefore have been some Cypriots, at least nominally Christian, who were of Turkish, Arab, or Egyptian origin."<ref name="Beckingham 1957 loc=171"/>

[[File:Cyprus by Piri Reis.jpg|thumb|right|An early sixteenth century ({{circa|1521–1525}}) map of Cyprus by the Ottoman cartographer [[Piri Reis]]]]

By 1488, the Ottomans made their first attempt at conquering Cyprus when Sultan [[Bayezid II]] sent a fleet to conquer [[Famagusta]]. However, the attempt failed due to the timely intervention of a Venetian fleet.<ref>{{Harvnb|Hill|1948b|loc=736}}.</ref> The Queen of Cyprus, [[Caterina Cornaro]], was forced to relinquish her crown to the [[Republic of Venice]] in 1489. In the same year, Ottoman ships were seen off the coast of [[Karpas]] and the Venetians began to strengthen the fortifications of the island.<ref name="Gazioğlu 1990 loc=16">{{Harvnb|Gazioğlu|1990|loc=16}}.</ref> By 1500, coastal raids by Ottoman vessels resulted in the heavy loss of Venetian fleets, forcing Venice to negotiate a peace treaty with the Ottoman Empire in 1503. However, by May 1539 [[Suleiman the Magnificent|Suleiman I]] decided to attack [[Limassol]] because the Venetians had been sheltering pirates who continuously attacked Ottoman ships. Limassol stayed under Ottoman control until a peace treaty was signed in 1540. Cyprus continued to be a haven for pirates who interrupted the safe passage of Ottoman trade ships and Muslim pilgrims sailing to [[Mecca]] and [[Medina]].<ref>{{Harvnb|Constantini|2009|loc=52}}.</ref> By 1569, pirates captured the Ottoman ''defterdar'' (treasurer) of Egypt, and [[Selim II]] decided to safeguard the sea route from [[Constantinople]] to [[Alexandria]] by conquering the island and clearing the eastern Mediterranean of all enemies in 1570–71.<ref name="Gazioğlu 1990 loc=16"/>

===Ottoman Cyprus===
{{further|Sürgün}}
[[File:Ottomans conquering the Limassol Castle.png|thumb|right|A [[Ottoman miniature|miniature painting]] depicting the landing of Ottoman soldiers at [[Limassol Castle]] during the Ottoman conquest of Cyprus (1570–71)]]
[[File:Cipro-Nicosia04.jpg|thumb|left|The Ottoman Turks built [[Büyük Han]] in 1572. Today it has become a thriving center of Turkish Cypriot culture.]]
[[File:Larnaca 01-2017 img24 Kamares Aqueduct.jpg|thumb|left|The [[Bekir Pasha Aqueduct]] was built by the Ottoman governor [[Ebubekir Pasha]] in 1747. It is considered to be the most prominent water supply ever built in Cyprus.]]

The basis for the emergence of a sizeable and enduring Turkish community in Cyprus emerged when [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]] troops landed on the island in mid-May 1570 and [[Ottoman–Venetian War (1570–1573)|seized it within a year]] from [[Republic of Venice|Venetian]] rule.<ref name="Shawn 1976 loc=178">{{Harvnb|Shawn|1976|loc=178}}.</ref> The post-conquest period established a significant Muslim community which consisted of soldiers from the campaign who remained behind and further settlers who were brought from [[Anatolia]] as part of a traditional Ottoman population policy.<ref>{{Harvnb|Orhonlu|1971|loc=99}}.</ref>{{broken footnote|date=May 2020}} There were also new converts to Islam on the island during the early years of Ottoman rule.<ref name="Jennings 1993 loc=137-38"/>

In addition to documented settlement of Anatolian peasants and craftsmen, as well as the arrival of soldiers, [[decrees]] were also issued banishing Anatolian tribes, "undesirable" persons, and members of various "troublesome" Muslim sects, principally those officially classified as [[heretical]].<ref name="Jennings 1993 loc=232">{{Harvnb|Jennings|1993|loc=232}}.</ref> This influx of mainly Muslim settlers to Cyprus continued intermittently until the end of the Ottoman period.<ref name="Çevikel 2000 loc=178"/>

Some Turkish Cypriots are descendants of [[Crypto-Christians]], a phenomenon that was not uncommon in the Ottoman Empire given its multi-faith character. In Cyprus, many Latins and [[Maronite Cypriots|Maronites]], as well as Greeks, converted to Islam at different points during Ottoman rule for a number of reasons ranging from collectively avoiding heavy taxation to ending an individual woman unhappy marriage.<ref>Jennings, 1993</ref> Their artificial embrace of Islam and their secret maintaining of Christianity led this group of crypto-Christians to be known in Greek as [[Linobambaki]] or the cotton-linen sect as they changed religion to curry favour with Ottoman officials during the day but practiced Catholicism at night.<ref>R.L.N Michael, Muslim-Christian Sect in Cyprus, The 19th Century Journal, issue 63, pages 751-762, 1908 </ref> In 1636 the conditions for the Christians became intolerable and certain Christians decided to become Muslims. According to Palmieri (1905) the Maronites who became Muslims lived mainly in the Nicosia District and despite the fact that the Maronites turned to Muslims they never gave up their Christian faith and beliefs hoping to become Christians. This is why they baptized their children according to the Christian faith, but they also practiced circumcision. They also gave their children two names, a Muslim and a Christian one.<ref>Palmieri, 1905</ref> Many of the villages and neighbouring areas accepted as Turkish Cypriot estates, were formerly Linobambaki activity centers. These include:<ref>R.L.N. Michael, Muslim-Christian Sect in Cyprus, The 19th Century Journal, issue 63, pages 751-762, 1908</ref>
{{columns-list|colwidth=15em|
* Agios Andronikos (Yeşilköy)
* Agios Ioannis (Ayyanni)
* Agios Sozomenos (Arpalık)
* Agios Theodoros (Boğaziçi)
* Armenochori (Esenköy)
* Ayios Iakovos (Altınova)
* Ayios Khariton (Ergenekon)
* Dali (Dali)
* Frodisia (Yağmuralan)
* Galinoporni (Kaleburnu)
* Kato Arodes (Aşağı Kalkanlı)
* Tylliria (Dillirga)
* Kornokipos (Görneç)
* Kritou Marottou (Grit-Marut)
* Limnitis (Yeşilırmak)
* Louroujina (Akincilar)
* Melounta (Mallıdağ)
* Platani (Çınarlı)
* Potamia (Bodamya)
* Vretsia (Vretça)
}}

By the second quarter of the nineteenth century, approximately 30,000 Muslims were living in Cyprus, comprising about 35% of the total population. The fact that Turkish was the main language spoken by the Muslims of the island is a significant indicator that the majority of them were either Turkish-speaking Anatolians or otherwise from a Turkic background.<ref name="Nevzat &amp; Hatay 2009 loc=912">{{Harvnb|Nevzat|Hatay|2009|loc=912}}.</ref> Throughout the Ottoman rule, the demographic ratio between Christian "Greeks" and Muslim "Turks" fluctuated constantly.<ref name="Hatay 2007 loc=17">{{Harvnb|Hatay|2007|loc=17}}.</ref> During 1745–1814, the Muslim Turkish Cypriots constituted the majority on the island compared to the Christian Greek Cypriots, being up to 75% of the total island population.{{efn|Drummond, 1745: 150,000 vs. 50,000; Kyprianos, 1777: 47,000 vs. 37,000;<ref>[https://archive.org/details/excerptacypriama00cobhuoft Claude Delaval Cobham] Excerpta Cypria, Cambridge University Press, 1908, p.366-67</ref><ref>[http://cypruslibrary.moec.gov.cy/ebooks/36821 Archimandrite Kyprianos] Istoria Khronoloyiki tis Nisou Kiprou (History and Chronicles of the Island of Cyprus, Ιστορία χρονολογική της νήσου Κύπρου) 1788, p.495</ref> De Vezin, 1788–1792: 60,000 vs. 20,000; Kinneir 1814: 35,000 vs. 35,000).<ref name="Hatay 2007 loc=19">{{Harvnb|Hatay|2007|loc=19}}</ref>}} However, by 1841, Turks made up 27% of the island's population.<ref>{{Harvnb|Spilling|2000|loc=25}}.</ref> One of the reasons for this decline is because the Turkish community were obliged to serve in the [[Ottoman army]] for years, usually away from home, very often losing their lives in the endless wars of the Ottoman Empire.<ref>{{Harvnb|Hatay|2007|loc=18}}.</ref> Another reason for the declining population was because of the emigration trend of some 15,000 Turkish Cypriots to Anatolia in 1878, when the Ottoman Turks handed over the administration of the island to Britain.<ref name="Heper & Criss 2009 loc=92">{{Harvnb|Heper|Criss|2009|loc=92}}.</ref><ref>{{Harvnb|Çakmak|2008|loc=201}}.</ref>

===British Cyprus===
[[File:Cypriot (Turkish) Muslim woman 1878.jpg|thumb|right|220px|upright|A Cypriot woman in traditional Turkish fashion, 1878]]

By 1878, during the [[Congress of Berlin]], under the terms of the Anglo-Ottoman [[Cyprus Convention]], the Ottoman Turks had agreed to assign Cyprus to [[United Kingdom|Britain]] to occupy and rule, though not to possess as [[sovereign territory]].<ref name="Nevzat & Hatay 2009 loc=916">{{Harvnb|Nevzat|Hatay|2009|loc=916}}.</ref> According to the first British census of Cyprus, in 1881, 95% of the island's Muslims spoke Turkish as their mother tongue.<ref name="Percival 1948 loc=25">{{Harvnb|Percival|1948|loc=25}}.</ref> As of the 1920s, the percentage of [[Greek language|Greek]]-speaking Muslims had dropped from 5%, in 1881, to just under 2% of the total Muslim population.<ref name="Percival 1948 loc=9-11">{{Harvnb|Percival|1948|loc=9-11}}.</ref> During the opening years of the twentieth century [[Ottomanism]] became an ever more popular identity held by the Cypriot Muslim intelligentsia, especially in the wake of the [[Young Turk Revolution]] of 1908. Increasing numbers of [[Young Turks]] who had turned against Sultan [[Abdul Hamid II]] sought refuge in Cyprus. A rising class of disgruntled intellectuals in the island's main urban centres gradually began to warm to the ideas of positivism, freedom and modernization.<ref name="Kızılyürek 2006 loc=317">{{Harvnb|Kızılyürek|2006|loc=317}}.</ref> Spurred on by the rising calls for "[[enosis]]", the union with [[Greece]], emanating from [[Greek Cypriots]], an initially hesitant "Turkism" was also starting to appear in certain newspaper articles and to be heard in the political debates of the local intelligentsia of Cyprus.<ref name="Nevzat 2005 loc=224">{{Harvnb|Nevzat|2005|loc=224}}.</ref> In line with the changes introduced in the Ottoman Empire after 1908, the curricula of Cyprus's Muslim schools, such as the "Idadi", were also altered to incorporate more [[secular]] teachings with increasingly [[Turkish nationalism|Turkish nationalist]] undertones. Many of these graduates in due course ended up as teachers in the growing number of urban and rural schools that had begun to proliferate across the island by the 1920s.<ref name="Nesim 1987 loc=27">{{Harvnb|Nesim|1987|loc=27}}.</ref>

[[File:The Okan family.jpg|thumb|left|220px|upright|Mehmet Remzi Okan with his wife and children in 1919 during the [[Turkish War of Independence]]. The family were Turkish Cypriots who owned the newspaper ''Söz Gazetesi''.]]

In 1914, the [[Ottoman Empire]] joined the [[First World War]] against the [[Allies of World War I|Allied Forces]] and Britain annexed the island. Cyprus's Muslim inhabitants were officially asked to choose between adopting either British nationality or retaining their Ottoman subject status; about 4,000–8,500 Muslims decided to leave the island and move to Turkey.<ref name="Hatay 2007 loc=21">{{Harvnb|Hatay|2007|loc=21}}.</ref><ref name="Hill 1952 loc=413n">{{Harvnb|Hill|1952|loc=413n}}.</ref> Following its defeat in World War I, the Ottoman Empire were faced with the [[Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922)]] whereby the Greek incursion into Anatolia aimed at claiming what Greece believed to be historically Greek territory.<ref name="Clogg 1992 loc=93-97">{{Harvnb|Clogg|1992|loc=93–97}}.</ref> For the Ottoman Turks of Cyprus, already fearing the aims of enosis-seeking Greek Cypriots, reports of atrocities committed by the Greeks against the Turkish populations in Anatolia, and the Greek [[Occupation of Smyrna]], produced further fears for their own future. Greek forces were routed in 1922 under the leadership of [[Mustafa Kemal Atatürk]] who, in 1923, proclaimed the new Republic of [[Turkey]] and renounced irredentist claims to former Ottoman territories beyond the Anatolian heartland. Muslims in Cyprus were thus excluded from the nation-building project, though many still heeded Atatürk's call to join in the establishment of the new nation-state, and opted for [[Turkish citizenship]]. Between 1881 and 1927 approximately 30,000 Turkish Cypriots emigrated to Turkey.<ref name="St. John-Jones 1983 loc=56">{{Harvnb|St. John-Jones|1983|loc=56}}.</ref><ref name="Heper & Criss 2009 loc=92"/>

The 1920s was to prove a critical decade in terms of stricter ethno-religious compartments; hence, Muslim Cypriots who remained on the island gradually embraced the ideology of [[Turkish nationalism]] due to the impact of the [[Kemalist ideology|Kemalist Revolution]].<ref name="Nevzat & Hatay 2009 loc=918">{{Harvnb|Nevzat|Hatay|2009|loc=918}}.</ref> At its core were the Kemalist values of [[secularism]], [[modernization]] and [[westernization]]; reforms such as the introduction of the new [[Turkish alphabet]], adoption of western dress and secularization, were adopted voluntarily by Muslim Turkish Cypriots, who had been prepared for such changes not just by the [[Tanzimat]] but also by several decades of British rule.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Xypolia|first=Ilia|title=Cypriot Muslims among Ottomans, Turks and British|journal=Bogazici Journal|year=2011|volume=25|issue=2|pages=109–120|doi=10.21773/boun.25.2.6|doi-access=free}}</ref> Many of those Cypriots who until then had still identified themselves primarily as Muslims began now to see themselves principally as Turks in Cyprus.<ref name="Nevzat & Hatay 2009 loc=919">{{Harvnb|Nevzat|Hatay|2009|loc=919}}.</ref>

By 1950, a [[Cypriot Enosis referendum, 1950|Cypriot Enosis referendum]] in which 95.7% of Greek Cypriot voters supported a fight aimed at [[enosis]], the union of Cyprus with [[Greece]]<ref>{{Harvnb|Panteli|1990|loc=151}}.</ref> were led by an armed organisation, in 1955, called [[EOKA]] by [[Georgios Grivas]] which aimed at bringing down British rule and uniting the island of Cyprus with Greece. Turkish Cypriots had always reacted immediately against the objective of enosis; thus, the 1950s saw many Turkish Cypriots who were forced to flee from their homes.<ref name="Sonyel 2000 loc=147">{{Harvnb|Sonyel|2000|loc=147}}.</ref> In 1958, Turkish Cypriots set up their own armed group called [[Turkish Resistance Organisation]] (TMT) and by early 1958, the first wave of armed conflict between the two communities began; a few hundred Turkish Cypriots left their villages and quarters in the mixed towns and never returned.<ref name="Kliot 2007 loc=59">{{Harvnb|Kliot|2007|loc=59}}.</ref>

===Republic of Cyprus===
[[File:Old Turkish Cypriot quarters in Baf (1969).jpg|thumb|right|250px|An old Turkish Cypriot "''mahalle''" ([[Quarter (country subdivision)|quarter]]) in [[Paphos]] (1969)]]

By 16 August 1960, the island of Cyprus became an independent state, the [[Republic of Cyprus]], with power sharing between the two communities under the [[Zürich and London Agreement|1960 Zurich agreements]], with Britain, Greece and Turkey as Guarantor Powers. Archbishop [[Makarios III]] was elected as president by the Greek Cypriots and [[Fazıl Küçük|Dr. Fazıl Küçük]] was elected as vice-president by the Turkish Cypriots. However, in December 1963, in the events known as "[[Bloody Christmas (1963)|Bloody Christmas]]",<ref>{{Harvnb|Papadakis|2005|loc=82}}.</ref> when Makarios III attempted to modify the Constitution, Greek Cypriots initiated a military campaign against the Turkish Cypriots and began to attack Turkish inhabited villages; by early 1964, the Turkish Cypriots started to withdraw into armed [[Turkish Cypriot enclaves|enclaves]] where the Greek Cypriots blockaded them, resulting in some 25,000 Turkish Cypriots becoming refugees, or internally "displaced persons".<ref name="Cassia 2007 loc=21"/><ref name="Kliot 2007 loc=59"/> This resulted in the UN peacekeeping force, [[UNFICYP]], being stationed on the island as well as an external migration trend of thousands more Turkish Cypriots to the United Kingdom, Turkey, North America and Australia.<ref>{{Harvnb|Hüssein|2007|loc=18}}.</ref> With the rise to power of the [[Greek military junta of 1967–1974|Greek military junta]], a decade later, in 1974, a group of right-wing [[Greek nationalist]]s, [[EOKA B]], who supported the union of Cyprus with Greece, [[1974 Cypriot coup d'etat|launched a putsch]].<ref name="Savvides 2004 loc=260">{{Harvnb|Savvides|2004|loc=260}}.</ref> This action precipitated the [[Turkish invasion of Cyprus]],<ref name="Benvenisti2012">{{cite book|author=Eyal Benvenisti|title=The International Law of Occupation|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JKgeX_sdQG0C&pg=PA191|date=23 February 2012|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-958889-3|page=191}}</ref> which led to the capture of the present-day territory of Northern Cyprus the following month, after a ceasefire collapsed. The Turkish invasion resulted in the occupation of some 37% of the island in the north.<ref name="Cassia 2007 loc=21">{{Harvnb|Cassia|2007|loc=21}}.</ref> During the invasion of the island, a number of [[Turkish invasion of Cyprus#Against Turkish Cypriots|atrocities]] against the Turkish Cypriot community were committed; such as the [[Maratha, Santalaris and Aloda massacre]] by the Greek Cypriot paramilitary organisation EOKA B. After the Turkish invasion and the ensuing 1975 Vienna agreements, 60,000 Turkish Cypriots who lived in the south of the island fled to the north.<ref name="Tocci 2007 loc=32">{{Harvnb|Tocci|2007|loc=32}}.</ref> The 1974–1975 movement was strictly organised by the Provisional Turkish Administration who tried to preserve village communities intact.<ref name="Kliot 2007 loc=59"/>

===Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus===
[[File:Cyprus districts named.png|thumb|The northern areas of the island of Cyprus administered by Turkish Cypriots]]

In 1983, the Turkish Cypriots declared their own state in the north, the [[Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus]], which remains internationally unrecognised, except by Turkey.<ref name="Bryant & Papadakis 2012 loc=5">{{Harvnb|Bryant|Papadakis|2012|loc=5}}.</ref> In 2004, a referendum for the unification of the island, the "[[Annan Plan]]", was accepted by 65% of Turkish Cypriots but rejected by 76% of Greek Cypriots.<ref name="Bryant & Papadakis 2012 loc=121">{{Harvnb|Bryant|Papadakis|2012|loc=121}}.</ref> The majority of Turks born after 1975 in Northern Cyprus are the mixed descendants of native Turkish Cypriots and mainland Turkish settlers.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Charalambidou |first=Nicoletta |date=2023-10-19 |title=In search of a legal bond: Turkish Cypriot children of mixed marriages in Cyprus |url=https://www.statelessness.eu/updates/blog/search-legal-bond-turkish-cypriot-children-mixed-marriages-cyprus |website=[[European Network on Statelessness]] |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Cleaver |first=Tom |date=2024-01-26 |title=Block on Turkish Cypriot mixed marriages for citizenship lifted (Updated) |url=https://cyprus-mail.com/2024/01/26/block-on-turkish-cypriot-mixed-marriages-for-citizenship-lifted |website=[[Cyprus Mail]] |language=en}}</ref>