Kültür Ve Edebiyat Zemininde Kıbrıs'a İslâmî Bir Bakış

The island of Cyprus has witnessed great struggles between nations and religions for centuries. The religious pressures against Orthodox Church by Catholic Venice and the prohibition of Orthodox’s freedom of religious worship have caused conflict between Catholic and Orthodox sectarians. The Catholic governance in Cyprus ceased after the arrival of Islam in Cyprus when the Ottomans conquered the island in 1571. The Orthodox Christians were then allowed freedom of worship in line with Ottoman-Islam principles and justice. Cyprus is considered sacred by the Greek Orthodox while it also has a religious significance for the Muslim Turks. Hala Sultan Tekke, Mausoleum Of Hz. Omer, Tekke and Mausoleum Of Kutup Osman, Mausoleum Of Canbolat Bey, grave of Yirmi Sekiz Celebi Mehmet Efendi, Arap Ahmet Pasa Mosque, Lala Mustafa Pasa Mosque, Selimiye Mosque, Mevlevihâne and other religious spiritual structures first come to mind in this regard. After the 1950s, the rising Greek attacks against the Muslim Turks do not only carry a racial but also a religious significance. The Turkish nationalist movement that started as a reaction to the Greek attacks lasted until the declaration of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, and was reflected in the Turkish/Turkish Cypriot public opinion as well as the literature. In addition, the cultural life in Cyprus carries a religious connotation as well. In this essay, we will evaluate some books of travel as well as literary works on the basis of culture and literature, and in the framework of Islam in Cyprus, such as Huseyin Karatay's novel named Kıbrıslı (1970), Emine Senlikoglu's Kıbrıs Sular İçinde Bir Yetim (1993), Muhammad Safvat El-Sakka Emini's Müslüman Kıbrıs (1982) and some introductory books such as Huseyin Mehmet Atesin's Kıbrıs’ta İslâmî Kimlik Davası (1996), Mustafa Hasim Altan's Kıbrıs’ta Rumlaştırma Hareketleri (2003).