Tormented by history

GREEK author Spyros A. Sofos and Turkish author Umut Ozkirimli joined together to launch their new book Tormented by History: Nationalism in Greece and Turkey at the Ledra Palace in Nicosia last night.

The book is the first comparative study of nationalism in Greece and Turkey. It is a significant review of the popular academic history and literature on both Greek and Turkish nationalisms.

Tormented by History traces the surfacing and development on the nationalist projects over the past 200 years, and challenges the received wisdom about the rise of the Greek and Turkish nations. The book also goes on to discuss the relationship and problems between both authors, which include language, religion, memory and history, territory and landscape; processes of homogenization, minorities of populations and cultures as well as institutional support of Greek and Turkish nationalism.

Furthermore the book continues to discuss the violence, both physical and symbolic, that these two countries have experienced together, and then follows the process of the establishment and consolidation of Greek and Turkish identity.

?zkirimli is the assistant Professor of international relations at the Istanbul Bilgi University in Turkey, and Sofos currently teaches at Kingston University in London.
In 1986, Sofos took a postgraduate certificate in Political Sociology after receiving a BA in Political Science and International Studies from the University of Social and Political Science. His other works include Islam in Europe, Macedonia at the crossroads and Culture, media and the politics of disintegration in former Yugoslavia.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.