Peace Education in North Cyprus: A Phenomenological Approach (original) (raw)
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Teaching and Teacher Education, 2011
The present paper looks at teachers' perceptions of difficulties and emotions about a recent policy initiative in the Greek-Cypriot educational system to promote peaceful coexistence. This policy initiative by the government sparked strong emotional reactions. This paper provides an in-depth understanding of the intersection between tensions at the larger socio-political landscape and teachers' emotional readiness to deal with this policy initiative. To do so, the paper draws on the findings of a quantitative and a qualitative study conducted during the end of the 2008e2009 school year. Possible implications are discussed for educational policy and teacher education.
The shifting sands of relational peace in Cyprus
Manchester University Press eBooks, 2023
On March 31, 2004, Kofi Annan made an impassioned plea for local Cypriot leaders to support impending referenda to end three decades of division on the island. He framed the importance of these plebiscites in no uncertain terms: "Let me be clear. The choice is not between this settlement plan and some other magical or mythical solution. In reality, at this stage, the choice is between this settlement and no settlement" (Annan 2004). The Secretary-General's words proved to be hauntingly accurate. While a majority of the Turkish Cypriot population voted in favor of a federation of two states, more than three-quarters of Greek Cypriots cast their ballots in opposition. And in the decade and a half since the failed 2004 reunification plan, no fewer than four additional rounds of peace talks have been attempted and abandoned. 1 Today, the divided island remains the site of Europe's longest unresolved political dispute and an archetype of intractable conflict (Heraclides 2011). 2 The half-century of political stalemate in Cyprus raises challenging questions for peace scholars and practitioners alike. 3 Why has it been so difficult to reunify the island? Why have top-down negotiations such as the Annan Plan, as well as more recent bottom-up approaches, proved equally ineffective? What might a permanent settlement even look like at this point? There is, of course, no shortage of answers to such questions. Politicians, policy analysts, peacemakers, and conflict scholars have all weighed in over the years. This diverse set of actors has advanced varied and inventive plans of action, but most share a common perspective. Taking a negative peace framework as their starting point, they stress that the island has been free of extended periods of armed conflict since the 1974 ceasefire that divided Cyprus and express a strong desire not to undermine the current status quo. Policy suggestions, in turn, involve some variation of security guarantees and a plan for shared governance between the Greek and Turkish Cypriot communities. The primary concern of these plans is to avoid a return to intercommunal violence. They overwhelmingly frame the Greek and Turkish
WHAT CYPRIOT CHILDREN THINK ABOUT THE CONCEPT OF PEACE?
European Journal of Education Studies, 2018
Cyprus is a Mediterranean island inhabited by two communities with a common culture, although they speak different languages. Efforts to reconcile these two communities, living apart from each other in different parts of the island since 1974, have become more important in recent years and efforts have been made to ensure a lasting solution on the island. Within the scope of these efforts, non-governmental organizations in Cyprus are also carrying out various studies with the support of the European Union. This is one of those studies, which was carried out with the support of the Grow Civil Program. The purpose of this study is to examine the metaphors of the Turkish Cypriot and Greek Cypriot children created about the concept of peace. The study group consists of 23 children, aged between six and ten. Children were given a form written in Turkish and Greek languages with an expression on it as "Peace is like........ because.........." and they were asked to fill in the gaps. The obtained data were analyzed and reported by the content analysis method. Results indicate that the metaphors produced by Turkish Cypriot children are related to emotions, behaviors and individuals, while the Greek Cypriots’ are related to space, aesthetic perception, and individuals. While politicians are seeking for a permanent solution on the island, non-governmental organizations and activists have been organizing various activities to increase mutual trust between the two communities. It is thought that this study will contribute to the bi-communal studies in Cyprus.
CYPRUS REVIEW-NICOSIA- …, 2006
"Being raised in a divided country, we are deeply concerned with the ideological and affective practices that are used to perpetuate the existing stereotypes about the Other within each community. Using as a point of departure our own personal narratives – one of us is a Greek Cypriot (G/C) and the other Turkish Cypriot (T/C) – depicting the circulation of nationalistic technologies in education, this paper examines the prospects of peace and reconciliation education in Cyprus. The premise on which this paper rests – that nationalistic education is a problem – is not new; that premise is not the most important contribution of this paper. The more important contribution is the analysis and sorting through the G/C and T/C nationalistic pedagogical practices, to figure out ways to disrupt those practices and invoke pedagogies of reconciliation and peace in both communities. We also emphasise the importance of considering personal narratives of past trauma in critical terms to help us re-learn the wisdom of forgetting in order to remember that the weight of the past should not stand in the way of the future. "