Abstract
ABSTRACT North Cyprus, which has experienced perennial conflict since 1963, has recently been witness to heated debates revolving around the role of Islam in making and re-configuring Turkish Cypriots’ social and political landscape. The reason behind such debates derives from the historical narrative established on a Kemalist-secular understanding of religion among the Turkish Cypriot community vis-à-vis the conservative-Islamist narrative. This article is an attempt to analyse and explore the role of religion in the Turkish Cypriot community and how these two established narratives have, in recent times, come under discussion with the ascendancy of the Justice and Development Party in neighbouring Turkey. Within this context, this article will explore the roots and reflections of these two key narratives on politics and society in North Cyprus, and will argue that the recent public debates among the secular and Islamist Turkish Cypriot elites are not very new, only external dynamics have become more influential nowadays. As a corollary, we will also scrutinise the role of religion through semi-structured interviews conducted with key political elites, opinion leaders and Turkish migrants’ associations in North Cyprus.
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