Within the field of Nationalism Studies, the relationship between “National Identity” and “ethnicity” has been widely studied. Likewise, the relationship between “National Identity”, “elite interests” and “ethnic conflicts” has also been investigated. In fact, there is a considerable amount of studies focused on the “inter-state” aspects of “National Identity”, “ethnicity” and “elite interests”, however, such studies tend to highlight the “elite” of the “homeland” as the political and social leaders of their ethnicity; seeing themselves responsible for defending the political interests of their ethnic relatives in transnational borders, or liberating them from other states via “secessionist” or “irredentist” policies. Nevertheless, an example of elite of “ethnic kin”, who dominates another state outside its “homeland”, has not yet been widely theorized academically, with a focus on “National Identity” and “elite interests”. This study aims to fill that gap within the literature through the example of President Makarios and Greek Cypriot nationalism. While Cyprus was a British colony, the Greek Cypriot community was mobilized to unify Cyprus with their “homeland” Greece. However, the result of such mobilization was the foundation of a Cypriot state, based on power-sharing between the Greek Cypriot majority and Turkish Cypriot minority. In the post-Independence era, particularly with the consolidation of the military dictatorship in Greece (1967), President Makarios abandoned the Enosis (unification of Cyprus with Greece) policies and made attempts to reconstruct the Greek Cypriot National Identity in favour of a Greek Cypriot-ruled independent Cypriot state. President Makarios also ignored Greek Junta's manipulations about the Cypriot politics. The subsequent struggle continued until the Athens-led coup d'état that overthrew the President (1974). This thesis shall follow Brass’ “Instrumentalist” theory and shall analyze the reconstruction of the Greek Cypriot National Identity. The thesis will also investigate the role played by the interests of both the President and the Greek Cypriots in constructing this new National Identity.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:606317 |
| Date | January 2014 |
| Creators | Kiralp, Sevki |
| Publisher | Keele University |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Source | http://eprints.keele.ac.uk/1214/ |
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