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Cypriot Voices

(Originally created 1996 as "Voices of Turkish Cyprus")

 

Voices of
Turkish Cypriots:

Personal stories, oral histories from
Turkish Cypriots

1996

 
 
 

Voices of
Greek Cypriots
:
Personal stories, oral histories from
Greek Cypriots

2010

 

 

This site provides oral histories from the island of Cyprus, in the Eastern Mediterranean.

The site was started in 1996 with personal stories from Turkish Cypriots lilving in the north of Cyprus, who lived through "the troubles" on Cyprus between 1963 and 1974. Oral histories were collected in 1996 by students at Eastern Mediterranean University in Famagusta, in classes with John W. Higgins.

The site was expanded with the addition of personal stories from Greek Cypriots in 2010. The oral histories were collected by students at the University of Cyprus in Nicosia in Professor Higgins' class.

In addition to these collected personal stories, the site provides some a link to contemporary scholarly discussions of Cyprus history and the conflict. These histories focus on the circumstances leading to the division of the island between the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot communities, and the possibilities for peace and reunification.

The information in this site is intended to help visitors better understand the perspective of Cypriots in what has come to be known in the international community as "the Cyprus Issue." Cyprus today is a divided island; the world community officially recognizes the entire island as the Republic of Cyprus.  The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus is recognized only by Turkey and is referred to as "the pseudo-state" or "occupied territory" by many Greek Cypriots. Some Turkish Cypriots refer to the south as the "so-called Republic of Cyprus," arguing that power sharing agreements fell apart in the early 1960s and the RoC has no administrative control of the north.

When this site was launched in 1996, graphics were kept to a minimum and photos were reproduced in black and white to provide faster access for visitors from parts of the world with limited telecommunications infrastructure.

The original site title, "Voices from Turkish Cyprus," was changed in 2008 to "Voices of Turkish Cypriots" and "Cypriot Voices" in 2010 with an eye to the reconcilliation efforts between the island's communities.

 

For a look into the culture and the oral histories of Greek Cypriots, see Nicos Philippou's Off the Map (2005 Intercollege Press, Nicosia) and Coffee House Embellishments (2007 University of Nicosia Press).

Articles by the site coordinator about the 1996 and 2010 oral history projects and the 2010 digital storytelling project:

This site, Cypriot Voices, has been referenced since 2002 (as of March 2023):

 


All pages of this site are licensed under a Creative Commons License: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike
Please notify coordinator John W. Higgins of use: Jhiggins [at] MediaProf [dot] org

Last updated 7 March 2023
Comments:  Jhiggins [at] MediaProf [dot] org  

 

 

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