‘The inference is that Cyprus is a Turkish island’
THE LATEST history books in the north have reverted to an “ethno-centric, nationalist and militaristic approach, both in terms of discourse and images used”, according to a new comparative study on education textbooks.
The POST Research Institute has conducted extensive research into the history textbooks of high schools in the north since 1971 up to the present, concluding that in 2004, for the first time in 30 years, Mehmet Ali Talat’s Republican Turkish Party (CTP) revised the history books to highlight the common experiences of Greek and Turkish Cypriot communities.
The CTP introduced four “Cyprus History” books that attempted to use a multicultural approach, as well as explaining the history of Cyprus without detaching it from world history. This was widely debated in the Turkish Cypriot community, with some arguing that the revision “dissolved national consciousness”.
Researcher Dilek Latif argued that the 2004 revision was a step towards reconciliation of a united federal Cyprus as “stressing commonality throughout history inevitably contributes to peace in Cyprus”.
The reconciliatory tone of the books, however, was short-lived, following the election victory of Dervis Eroglu’s National Unity Party (UBP) in 2009 which campaigned on the promise of re-writing the Turkish Cypriot history books. Sticking to plan, two new books were introduced in September 2009, replacing the four previous ones and bringing the emphasis back to the history of Turks and the struggles of Turkish Cypriots.
The new textbooks ushered in by the UBP without the use of local academics “place great emphasis on the history of the Turks, such as the Ottoman Empire and the formation of Turkey, as well as focusing on the Turkish-Greek conflict”.
Whereas the previous textbooks leaned towards the notion of mutual tolerance and understanding, the latest textbooks have reverted to including the notion of a homogenous and single ‘other’, according to the latest findings.
Latif said the study showed that the former (2004) textbooks for Grade 9 tried not to see the ‘other’, that is the Greek Cypriot community, in a negative sense but to take a humanistic stance. The front cover of the 2004 book is more neutral, with a picture of Kyrenia and a sailing boat. “There is no indication about any nationality,” she said.
However, the new 2009 cover page is more Turkish-centric, with pictures of Kemal Atatürk, the Ottoman Empire coat of arms, the Arab Ahmet, and the Ottoman Sultan Selim II, the inference being that “Cyprus is a Turkish island”. The books also use visual images of Turkish vessels, troops, parachutes, helicopters, tanks, maps showing the progression of the Turkish army, and children watching Turkish soldiers.
The new books focus on the difference between Greek and Turkish Cypriots, while the older books constructed a narrative based on the view that all the incidents of the past were bad, but considering the experiences of the rest of the world, they were not unusual.
The final chapter of the new books covers the Annan plan. Two pictures from the mass demonstrations are shown in the last part: Turkish Cypriots holding the EU flag and YES posters, and Greek Cypriots holding the Greek and Cyprus flags and NO posters.
The new volume depicts history from the official Turkish point of view, said Latif, noting: “The influence of ethnic nationalism can be observed throughout the textbook”.
“Unlike the 2004 textbooks, there is no reference to the common past and common experiences of the Turkish and Greek Cypriot communities in Cyprus,” she added.
Latif explained that the content and visual images of the textbooks were evaluated from a peace education perspective. “According to the findings of this comparative study, the current Cyprus Turkish History textbooks have reverted to an ethno-centric approach, using more nationalist and militaristic discourse and visual images. The inclusion of the political developments of the Greek Cypriots parallel with Turkish Cypriots has been abandoned.”
Also, the new books make no reference to the minorities of Cyprus, such as the Armenians, Maronites and Latins.
“The representation of any Greek Cypriot loss, pain or suffering in the contested periods is avoided. In terms of teaching methodology, it does not adopt the student-centred approach to the extent that the previous textbooks did,” said the study.
