Political Power, Violence and Economy: : The Turkish Cypriot Elite’s Struggle for Ethno-Communal Formation

This article focuses on the internal mechanisms of evolution in the Turkish Cypriot community during the period 1940–1960. It seeks to supplement research on Turkish Cypriot nationalism and politics of identity, by studying the formation of separatist structures and institutions of power within the Turkish community. The first part examines the power rivalries and conflicts between two major groups of the Turkish Cypriot elite that largely affected the quests for separate ethno-communal formation. The second part analyses the gradual domination of the nationalists’ in relation with the internationalization of the Cyprus problem. It also examines the centralisation and activation of violence as a tool for suppressing alternative strategies beyond the hegemonic framework of the nationalist elite. The third and final part of the article analyses the effort for the centralisation of the economic structures in such a way that the prospect of a separate market is promoted in the Turkish Cypriot community.