National Thinking in the Turkish Cypriot Community: A Political Pendulum?

The conflict-ridden state-building process in Cyprus, marked by Turkey’s military involvement and the EU membership of Nicosia, has brought about fluctuations in national thinking in Northern Cyprus. The present study seeks to draw attention back to the Annan referendum in 2004, and its influences in the transformation of Turkish Cypriots’ local identity. Although the so-called contribution of the former Annan Plan to the peaceful settlement in Cyprus has come under much scrutiny, little emphasis has been laid on how national thinking in the relevant community changed between interests and values. In fact, the terms before and after the Cypriot Annan Plan Referendum demonstrated how the way Turkish Cypriots identified themselves fluctuated between motherland nationalism and Cypriotism. Through a social constructivist approach, the study elaborates the empirical data and discusses the Turkish Cypriot local identity under changing conditions, and its influences in political behaviour.