Mete Hatay | Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO) (original) (raw)
Papers by Mete Hatay
Journal of Refugee Studies, Mar 1, 2021
The Cyprus conflict is usually described as one between a majority Greek Cypriot and minority Tur... more The Cyprus conflict is usually described as one between a majority Greek Cypriot and minority Turkish Cypriot population, with their opposing visions of the island's future. In that conflict, more than 200,000 Cypriots from both these communities were displaced between 1958 and 1974. Lost in this standard narrative, however, are the conflict's other 'Others': the smaller Maronite, Armenian, Latin, and Roma populations, who also experienced displacement in the course of the conflict. This paper concerns the Maronite community's struggle to remain in or return to their historic lands in the island's northwest. We examine the acts of everyday diplomacy that, over the past decade, have resulted in a revival of the largest Maronite village, a removal of restrictions on their rights, and most recently the partial withdrawal of the Turkish military from another Maronite village so that it may be reopened to settlement. We use these as instances of what we term 'vernacular reconciliation', ways of rebuilding coexistence that suspend questions of sovereignty that remain at the heart of the Cyprus impasse. We argue that this pragmatic approach calls on cultural knowledge of past patterns of coexistence through performances that in turn produce deeply felt senses of responsibility and patterns of reciprocity. Such patterns of reciprocity, we show, are reappropriated in the context of ongoing conflict.
This article explores the actual and potential effects of recent European legal judgments on ongo... more This article explores the actual and potential effects of recent European legal judgments on ongoing reunification negotiations in Cyprus. In particular, we argue that the European Union's failure to formulate a policy regarding the position of Turkish Cypriots in Europe has had increasingly negative consequences both for negotiations between the island's leaders and for relations between the Turkish Cypriot and Greek Cypriot communities. The EU has chosen to ignore the suspension of constitutional order in the Republic of Cyprus, in the process refusing to acknowledge the legal and political effects of the RoC's EU entry on Turkish Cypriots. We use a recent European Court of Justice judgment to illustrate the substantive effects of this hands-off approach, showing how the political use of transnational courts threatens to undermine what many have called the island's "last chance" at reunification. *GPoT bünyesinde yapılan çalışmalar ile bölgesel ve uluslararası güncel siyasal eğilimler analiz edilmekte ve bu konularda öneriler sunulmaktadır. *The opinions and conclusion expressed herein are those of the individual author and does not necessarily reflect the views of GPoT or Istanbul Kultur University.
This report presents a selection of life stories from people displaced to the southern part of Cy... more This report presents a selection of life stories from people displaced to the southern part of Cyprus at various points during the conflict. This selection aims to reflect the variety of experiences of refugeehood. Drawing on these experiences, the report emphasizes the wide range of interpretations, feelings, discourses, expectations, and individual actions that they have informed over the years, in people’s attempts to reconstruct their lives after the progressive division of the island. In these terms, the aim of the report is not to factually support a particular perspective or course of action, but rather, to evidence the multiplicity of such perspectives and actions. In this sense, the report shows that an eventual settlement of the property issue must be attentive to the wide variety of experiences of loss, and integrate both material and affective senses of restitution. The report is divided into four parts, which centre around the presentations of life stories in the form o...
Journal of Balkan and Near Eastern Studies, 2012
Heritage destruction in conflict zones has been studied under a variety of guises, including demo... more Heritage destruction in conflict zones has been studied under a variety of guises, including demolition of monuments, looting of artefacts, improper change of usage, deliberate neglect, heritage ethnicization and de-ethnicization, among others. Conflict zones have also featured highly publicized reconstruction preparing for or following a peace settlement. The destruction of heritage is widely linked to the targeting of symbolic sites of communal identity and the increase of levels of distrust between rival communities, whereas reconstruction purportedly aims at reestablishing this trust and recreating cross-communal bonds and solidarities. What has been less discussed is the extent to which ethnic conflict has often amplified heritage conflicts that pre-existed the advent of communal violence. That is to say, conflicts over cultural resources inherited from the past are essentially about representation and interpretation, especially over what the past expresses in terms of values and beliefs about ‘us’ vis-à-vis ‘others’. Less examined has also been the paradox that conflict has—in certain contexts—preserved heritage as an unintended consequence of freezing development. Identifications, uses and contestations of heritage have had, therefore, diverse power implications and served a wide range of policies and political agendas: ranging from logics of partition to logics of reunification, from ethnic cleansing to inter-ethnic understanding, and from enhancing conflict continuation to assisting conflict transformation. Currently, there is an increasing recognition by both theorists and practitioners of the value of heritage for society as a whole and for ‘heritage communities’ in particular, including in areas of conflict, meaning in effect that heritage can no longer be—if it ever was— the preserve of experts and national governments. New heritage norms, individual and collective rights and national obligations have emerged through conventions at both European and international levels and provide new perspectives from which to view, critique and understand heritage practice. Papers in this Special Issue come from a PRIO Cyprus Centre conference that took place in Nicosia in November 2010, under the auspices of CRIC, a EU FP7 project on ‘Identity and Conflict: Cultural Heritage and the Re-construction of Identities after Conflict’. The CRIC project ran from 2008 until 2012 and investigated the links between identity, conflict and heritage through case studies in Spain, France, Germany, Bosnia and Cyprus. It specifically examined how the destruction and subsequent reconstruction of heritage impact on social life and identity formation and affect notions of belonging at both individual and collective levels. The theme of the conference was ‘Conflicts and Values of Heritage’, quite pertinent in the Cyprus case but also in the wider Near East and the Balkans.
Journal of Balkan and Near Eastern Studies, 2012
This article may be used for research, teaching, and private study purposes. Any substantial or s... more This article may be used for research, teaching, and private study purposes. Any substantial or systematic reproduction, redistribution, reselling, loan, sub-licensing, systematic supply, or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden. The publisher does not give any warranty express or implied or make any representation that the contents will be complete or accurate or up to date. The accuracy of any instructions, formulae, and drug doses should be independently verified with primary sources. The publisher shall not be liable for any loss, actions, claims, proceedings, demand, or costs or damages whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with or arising out of the use of this material.
Human Rights Documents online
and has been a member of staff since its establishment in 2005. He has written widely on minoriti... more and has been a member of staff since its establishment in 2005. He has written widely on minorities and religion in Cyprus, as well as on the politics of demography, Turkish-Cypriot politics, and the ambivalent relationship between Turkish Cypriots and Turkey. In addition, he is working on two PRIO research and information projects, one on property and displacement and the second on
Mete Hatay is a researcher working for PRIO, where he is project leader for a project on settlers... more Mete Hatay is a researcher working for PRIO, where he is project leader for a project on settlers and immigrants in Cyprus. Hatay has been a freelance writer since 1985, and has prepared a number of papers and articles on Cypriot cultural history, immigration, Islam and ethnic and religious minorities in Cyprus. In 2003-2004 Hatay took part in the PRIO “Public Information Project ” which sought to provide objective and easily understood information on the Annan Plan. Is the Turkish Cypriot Population Shrinking? An overview of the ethno-demography of Cyprus in the light of the preliminary results of the 2006 Turkish-Cypriot census
Cyprus and the Politics of Memory
Yearbook of Muslims in Europe, Volume 6, 2014
Yearbook of Muslims in Europe, Volume 5, 2013
Journal of Refugee Studies, Mar 1, 2021
The Cyprus conflict is usually described as one between a majority Greek Cypriot and minority Tur... more The Cyprus conflict is usually described as one between a majority Greek Cypriot and minority Turkish Cypriot population, with their opposing visions of the island's future. In that conflict, more than 200,000 Cypriots from both these communities were displaced between 1958 and 1974. Lost in this standard narrative, however, are the conflict's other 'Others': the smaller Maronite, Armenian, Latin, and Roma populations, who also experienced displacement in the course of the conflict. This paper concerns the Maronite community's struggle to remain in or return to their historic lands in the island's northwest. We examine the acts of everyday diplomacy that, over the past decade, have resulted in a revival of the largest Maronite village, a removal of restrictions on their rights, and most recently the partial withdrawal of the Turkish military from another Maronite village so that it may be reopened to settlement. We use these as instances of what we term 'vernacular reconciliation', ways of rebuilding coexistence that suspend questions of sovereignty that remain at the heart of the Cyprus impasse. We argue that this pragmatic approach calls on cultural knowledge of past patterns of coexistence through performances that in turn produce deeply felt senses of responsibility and patterns of reciprocity. Such patterns of reciprocity, we show, are reappropriated in the context of ongoing conflict.
This article explores the actual and potential effects of recent European legal judgments on ongo... more This article explores the actual and potential effects of recent European legal judgments on ongoing reunification negotiations in Cyprus. In particular, we argue that the European Union's failure to formulate a policy regarding the position of Turkish Cypriots in Europe has had increasingly negative consequences both for negotiations between the island's leaders and for relations between the Turkish Cypriot and Greek Cypriot communities. The EU has chosen to ignore the suspension of constitutional order in the Republic of Cyprus, in the process refusing to acknowledge the legal and political effects of the RoC's EU entry on Turkish Cypriots. We use a recent European Court of Justice judgment to illustrate the substantive effects of this hands-off approach, showing how the political use of transnational courts threatens to undermine what many have called the island's "last chance" at reunification. *GPoT bünyesinde yapılan çalışmalar ile bölgesel ve uluslararası güncel siyasal eğilimler analiz edilmekte ve bu konularda öneriler sunulmaktadır. *The opinions and conclusion expressed herein are those of the individual author and does not necessarily reflect the views of GPoT or Istanbul Kultur University.
This report presents a selection of life stories from people displaced to the southern part of Cy... more This report presents a selection of life stories from people displaced to the southern part of Cyprus at various points during the conflict. This selection aims to reflect the variety of experiences of refugeehood. Drawing on these experiences, the report emphasizes the wide range of interpretations, feelings, discourses, expectations, and individual actions that they have informed over the years, in people’s attempts to reconstruct their lives after the progressive division of the island. In these terms, the aim of the report is not to factually support a particular perspective or course of action, but rather, to evidence the multiplicity of such perspectives and actions. In this sense, the report shows that an eventual settlement of the property issue must be attentive to the wide variety of experiences of loss, and integrate both material and affective senses of restitution. The report is divided into four parts, which centre around the presentations of life stories in the form o...
Journal of Balkan and Near Eastern Studies, 2012
Heritage destruction in conflict zones has been studied under a variety of guises, including demo... more Heritage destruction in conflict zones has been studied under a variety of guises, including demolition of monuments, looting of artefacts, improper change of usage, deliberate neglect, heritage ethnicization and de-ethnicization, among others. Conflict zones have also featured highly publicized reconstruction preparing for or following a peace settlement. The destruction of heritage is widely linked to the targeting of symbolic sites of communal identity and the increase of levels of distrust between rival communities, whereas reconstruction purportedly aims at reestablishing this trust and recreating cross-communal bonds and solidarities. What has been less discussed is the extent to which ethnic conflict has often amplified heritage conflicts that pre-existed the advent of communal violence. That is to say, conflicts over cultural resources inherited from the past are essentially about representation and interpretation, especially over what the past expresses in terms of values and beliefs about ‘us’ vis-à-vis ‘others’. Less examined has also been the paradox that conflict has—in certain contexts—preserved heritage as an unintended consequence of freezing development. Identifications, uses and contestations of heritage have had, therefore, diverse power implications and served a wide range of policies and political agendas: ranging from logics of partition to logics of reunification, from ethnic cleansing to inter-ethnic understanding, and from enhancing conflict continuation to assisting conflict transformation. Currently, there is an increasing recognition by both theorists and practitioners of the value of heritage for society as a whole and for ‘heritage communities’ in particular, including in areas of conflict, meaning in effect that heritage can no longer be—if it ever was— the preserve of experts and national governments. New heritage norms, individual and collective rights and national obligations have emerged through conventions at both European and international levels and provide new perspectives from which to view, critique and understand heritage practice. Papers in this Special Issue come from a PRIO Cyprus Centre conference that took place in Nicosia in November 2010, under the auspices of CRIC, a EU FP7 project on ‘Identity and Conflict: Cultural Heritage and the Re-construction of Identities after Conflict’. The CRIC project ran from 2008 until 2012 and investigated the links between identity, conflict and heritage through case studies in Spain, France, Germany, Bosnia and Cyprus. It specifically examined how the destruction and subsequent reconstruction of heritage impact on social life and identity formation and affect notions of belonging at both individual and collective levels. The theme of the conference was ‘Conflicts and Values of Heritage’, quite pertinent in the Cyprus case but also in the wider Near East and the Balkans.
Journal of Balkan and Near Eastern Studies, 2012
This article may be used for research, teaching, and private study purposes. Any substantial or s... more This article may be used for research, teaching, and private study purposes. Any substantial or systematic reproduction, redistribution, reselling, loan, sub-licensing, systematic supply, or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden. The publisher does not give any warranty express or implied or make any representation that the contents will be complete or accurate or up to date. The accuracy of any instructions, formulae, and drug doses should be independently verified with primary sources. The publisher shall not be liable for any loss, actions, claims, proceedings, demand, or costs or damages whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with or arising out of the use of this material.
Human Rights Documents online
and has been a member of staff since its establishment in 2005. He has written widely on minoriti... more and has been a member of staff since its establishment in 2005. He has written widely on minorities and religion in Cyprus, as well as on the politics of demography, Turkish-Cypriot politics, and the ambivalent relationship between Turkish Cypriots and Turkey. In addition, he is working on two PRIO research and information projects, one on property and displacement and the second on
Mete Hatay is a researcher working for PRIO, where he is project leader for a project on settlers... more Mete Hatay is a researcher working for PRIO, where he is project leader for a project on settlers and immigrants in Cyprus. Hatay has been a freelance writer since 1985, and has prepared a number of papers and articles on Cypriot cultural history, immigration, Islam and ethnic and religious minorities in Cyprus. In 2003-2004 Hatay took part in the PRIO “Public Information Project ” which sought to provide objective and easily understood information on the Annan Plan. Is the Turkish Cypriot Population Shrinking? An overview of the ethno-demography of Cyprus in the light of the preliminary results of the 2006 Turkish-Cypriot census
Cyprus and the Politics of Memory
Yearbook of Muslims in Europe, Volume 6, 2014
Yearbook of Muslims in Europe, Volume 5, 2013
![Research paper thumbnail of 2017 Population and politics in north Cyprus[1].pdf](https://attachments.academia-assets.com/56110772/thumbnails/1.jpg)
](The population of north Cyprus is one of the most contested issues in the Cyprus conflict, with m... more The population of north Cyprus is one of the most contested issues in the Cyprus conflict, with many and widely varying figures being published for numbers of Turkish Cypriots and Turkish nationals in the island. In 2008, Mete Hatay published a report in which he assessed all available sources on Turkish Cypriot population, and that report has since been a standard source for understanding demography in north Cyprus. In the past decade, however, there have been continuous changes to the north's population, including an explosion in numbers of university students and the issuance of new citizenships by the Turkish Cypriot authorities. In light of these changes, Hatay again assesses available sources on the Turkish Cypriot population; gives an overall portrait of the population breakdown; and presents results not only for immigration but also for Turkish Cypriot emigration. In addition, he assesses both Turkish Cypriot reactions to these changes and their potential effects on future negotiations.
and has been a member of staff since its establishment in 2005. He has written widely on minoriti... more and has been a member of staff since its establishment in 2005. He has written widely on minorities and religion in Cyprus, as well as on the politics of demography, Turkish-Cypriot politics, and the ambivalent relationship between Turkish Cypriots and Turkey. In addition, he is working on two PRIO research and information projects, one on property and displacement and the second on conflict and cultural heritage. His own current research concerns social and political life during the 1963-74 Turkish-Cypriot enclave period, particularly the siege period between 1963 and 1968.
The opening of the Cyprus checkpoints in 2003 resulted in a new experience of the island: ... more The opening of the Cyprus checkpoints in 2003 resulted in a new experience of the island: one in which movement between the two sides was possible and relatively easy, even if the ceasefire line remained, and remains, intact.
This report examines the “post-Annan generation,” that is, the generation of youth who can barely recall the time of closed checkpoints but who also experienced the excitement and the disappointment of the 2004 referendum. The report analyses the main socio-demographic and political attitudinal characteristics of Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot students, and proceeds to examine their opinions on various aspects of the Cyprus conflict.
The Center on the United States and Europe (CUSE) at Brookings fosters high-level U.S.-European d... more The Center on the United States and Europe (CUSE) at Brookings fosters high-level U.S.-European dialogue on the changes in Europe and the global challenges that affect transatlantic relations. As an integral part of the Foreign Policy Studies Program, the Center offers independent research and recommendations for U.S. and European officials and policymakers, and it convenes seminars and public forums on policy-relevant issues. CUSE's research program focuses on the transformation of the European Union (EU); strategies for engaging the countries and regions beyond the frontiers of the EU including the Balkans, Caucasus, Russia, Turkey, and Ukraine; and broader European security issues such as the future of NATO and forging common strategies on energy security. The Center also houses specific programs on France, Germany, Italy, and Turkey.
Journal of Balkan and Near Eastern Studies, 2012