Nationalism in the Troubled Triangle: Cyprus, Greece and Turkey

Department of Turkish and Middle Eastern Studies, University of Cyprus, is planning to hold a international conference titled as ‘Nationalism in the Troubled Triangle: Cyprus, Greece and Turkey.’ This conference will take place in Nicosia on the 10th and 11th November, 2006.

As Hans Kohn once said ‘in order to understand the phenomenon of nationalism one has to compare different nationalisms.’ This statement seems to be more than true for Greek and Turkish nationalisms. The aim of this conference is to discuss the issues related to nation-building and nationalism in Greece and Turkey and consecutively follow the rise of nationalisms in Cyprus. Although the process of nation building in Greece and Turkey has been completed long ago, unfortunately certain ‘infantile disorders’ that we observe in the early years of nation building in general continue to exert their presence in the making of politics on both sides of the Aegean. Greek and Turkish foreign policy and the general texture of policy making is still under the influence of nationalism. In addition to this, the Greek and Turkish Cypriots not only have failed in building a common state on the island, but the nature of ‘Cyprus conflict’ still shapes the making of foreign policy both in Greece and Turkey…..click [sursa]