Abstract
Reflections of The Cyprus Turkish Forces Regiment’s Landing to The Island On The Turkish Novel
The Turkish presence on Cyprus commenced in 1571 when the Ottoman Empire conquered the island. The decline of the Empire in the 19th century had an impact on Cyprus following a three-century rule and the British began to rule the island in 1878 first on a temporary basis, making it permanent later on. From this standpoint, 1878 is a major breaking point for the Turkish Cypriots.
The literature developed on the island after 1878 as a result of some historic developments experienced by the Turkish Cypriots independently of the homeland. This difference manifests itself in the form of content in particular. The Cyprus issue has been addressed more intensively in the literature of the Turkish Cypriots as a consequence of their past experiences. To this end, the Cypriot academics have undertaken major studies in terms of quality and quantity, covering the Turkish Cypriot novel.
However, the implications of the Cyprus issue on the Turkish novel developed in Turkey are limited compared to the Turkish Cypriot novel. In parallel, the number of studies over this theme is not sufficient. To this end, our paper is intended to put forth how The Cyprus Turkish Forces Regiment’s landing to the island, which is a significant event for the Turkish Cypriot history, has affected the novels written by the writers from Turkey. We have established that three novelists from Turkey namely Alev Alatlı, Mustafa Necati Sepetçioğlu, and Mustafa Mutlu İbili covered the The Cyprus Turkish Forces Regiment in five novels between 1960 when the regiment landed on the island and 2015. Offering a historical background on the foundation and landing of the regiment, the paper addresses how the aforementioned novelists tackle this significant issue in their works.
Keywords
Turkish Novel, Cyprus issue, The Cyprus Turkish Forces Regiment, Alev Alatlı, Mustafa Necati Sepetçi