National Anthem and Turkish Cypriots
Nation Identity:
The National Anthem, the 101st anniversary of which we celebrate, which has a very important place in shaping the national identity, will become an anthem that Turkish people embrace wholeheartedly and find their own essence, not only in Anatolian geography, but also in geographies outside the borders of the National Pact. In this context, there are Turkish Cypriots among those who support the National Anthem. The National Anthem will be the enthusiasm and motivation that brings the Turkish Cypriots together at the moments when the Greeks and Greeks on the island of Cyprus celebrate every bad news from Anatolia during the period of the National Struggle.
After receiving the news about the Turkish soldier who entered İzmir on September 9, 1922, Turkish Cypriots gathered in the squares for the first time and had the pleasure of singing the National Anthem with great enthusiasm. After the National Struggle period, the Second World War period and the visit of the Minister of Foreign Affairs Saraçoğlu to Cyprus, 28 November 1948 and 11 December 1949 Hagia Sophia Meeting, 27 January 1958 Great Meeting, 1960 National Anthem, despite the obstacles during the Republic of Cyprus, on the island on 29 October 1961 The cornerstones are the opening of the first Atatürk Statue, which was brought to the island after 25 December 1963, the singing of the National Anthem during live broadcasts from schools, sports fields and ceremonies initiated by the military flag radios established on the island, and the beginning with the National Anthem in all ceremonies continued after the 20 July 1974 Peace Operation.
The Concept of Homeland in Turkish Cypriots:
The greatest desire of the Turkish Cypriots is “When we say we are Turkish Cypriots, we consider Cyprus our homeland; but we have not forgotten that we are a part of Turkey, we will not forget. Because our most cherished parts are spread out there. We have people from every house in Turkey.” Based on the idea of peace is to live in peace. There are also Melahat Hacıbulgur, Hıfsiye Ziya Hacıbulgur and Kadriye Hacıbulgur among the intellectuals who tried to raise the awareness of the Turkish Cypriot community after the Republic, and although the lessons in schools start with the words "Long live my queen", she still manages to make the children sing the National Anthem.
After the proclamation of the republic in Turkey, Hacıbulgur Brothers made speeches about Turkey, even though it was forbidden before starting the lesson in the schools where they worked, sang the National Anthem with the students in order to raise social awareness, and then they started the lesson. The Turkish Cypriots sang the National Anthem together for the first time in Cyprus, and after the joyful news came from İzmir, the last stage of the National Struggle, on September 9, 1922, although the British authorities did not allow it and intervened with armed soldiers, the President of the Cyprus Turkish Institutions Federation and community leader Faiz Kaymak's “Turkish Cypriots were proving both their courage and their loyalty to their homeland.” It takes place in Atatürk Square in Nicosia, and a celebration is held accompanied by drums and horns.
British officials said to Faiz Kaymak, who made speeches about Turkey, Atatürk and the virtues of the republic at the school where he taught, and had the students sing the National Anthem, “Do not talk about Atatürk or the developments in Turkey during class hours. Do what you want to do at home.” they say.
Darülelhan Musuki Society:
On January 1, 1924, in Nicosia, Dr. After the Darülelhan Music Society, which was established in Hüseyin Zekai Bey's house, the Darülelhan Music School was opened in April 1925 and the Society began to give concerts all over the island, the first of which was in Paphos. The most important activity of the association is to perform the National Anthem in these meetings by means of violin, oud, qanun and tambourine. Among those who sing the National Anthem in these concerts of Darülelhan is Hatice Tahsin, one of the important names of the Turkish Cypriot Struggle History;[i]
“In 1922, in the place where Pharmacist Nebil was, Dr. Zekai Bey gave permission and a musical society called Darülelhan was established in his house. Abdülaziz Azim Bey, Nazım Ali İleri, Dentist Adnan, Dentist Derviş Bey from Lefke taught me and a few friends the National Anthem. We used to read in front of the stage at the performances. They would raise the people to their feet and read together. These self-sacrificing people were the ones who kindled the fire of Turkishness in Cyprus…”
In this period, idealists such as Hatice Tahsin, who started to spread and teach the National Anthem to large masses in order to create solidarity and social awareness through Darülelhan, faced the ban on the National Anthem brought by the British administration as before, and were asked to sing only the British national anthem. Darülelhan, who took a break from his work for a while after starting its activities, starts working again in March 1944 and always keeps the resistance power of the Turkish Cypriots high, especially with the concerts he gave in Kardeş Ocağı and started with the National Anthem on 23 April, 19 May and 30 August. Cyprus became a Crown Colony on March 10, 1925, by the order of the British King George V, through the Brotherhood in Nicosia.
After Sir Malcolm Stevenson became the first British Governor of Cyprus on May 1, 1925, services such as electricity, water, road, post, municipal services, education-related government services, which should also be provided to the Turkish community, were given to the Greeks predominantly and the pressure on the Turks. begins to be aggravated. The fact that Turkey opened a consulate (consulate) for the first time in Larnaca in December 1925 in the same year and sent Asaf Bey as a consulate is the kind that will make the hearts of the Turkish Cypriots rise. The consulate will then move from Larnaca to Nicosia:
“We used to go to celebrate Consul Asaf Bey with Vedia and Beria ladies on Republic Days. Judge Raif Bey (Rauf R. Denktaş's father), Remzi Okan Bey, owner of Söz newspaper, Süleyman Bey and many other notable Turks also visited Asaf Bey. At that time, the consulate was in a garden across from Ledra Palace. People used to go to the consulate to see the Turkish flag. The consulate was later moved across Çetinkaya. The people would gather on the fort and watch the Turkish flag…”
Obstacles:
Despite all the obstacles and reactions of the then Governor Sir Ronald Storss, both the Turkish Cypriot dignitaries who went to the consulate and those who gathered around the consulate due to national holidays and ceremonies or the Turkish Cypriots who came on the fort, sometimes sang the Turkish National Anthem with a tone that even those around them could not hear. they also say;[ii]
“Despite all the pressure and threats from the English teachers, we decorated our school with Turkish flags and flowers on October 29, 1930. We had risked everything. We were going to celebrate this big holiday even at the cost of being expelled from school. Other schools were decorated in the same way. When I left school, I saw that the Brothers' Hearth, Salim Aziz's hotel, Turkish shops and houses were decorated with Turkish flags. Only the Evkaf buildings and the minarets of the mosques belonging to the Evkaf did not have Turkish flags. The pro-British Turkish head of the Evkaf opposed the hanging of Turkish flags in mosques. High school students took to the streets, singing marches. There were also those who cried. Once upon a time, British soldiers came. They began to smash the Turkish flags with long bayonets at the ends of their weapons. The students were against it. British soldiers arrested many high school students that day. The situation in high school was even worse. Students gathered in the courtyard of the high school on October 29, demanding that the schools be closed and national holidays celebrated. Principal Grant made threats and asked students to enter the classroom. Students did not enter the classrooms and hoisted the Turkish flag on the flagpole of the school. As a result, many high school students were expelled…”
National Anthem and Flag Sensitivity in Turkish Cypriots:
One of those who will experience the same situation will be Rauf R. Denktaş's father, Raif Bey, and like all Turkish Cypriots, he will consider the consortium in Nicosia as a tremendous opportunity to salute the flag and sing the National Anthem;[iii]
“…When the entrance to Nicosia was by Ledra Palace on Fridays, the Turkish flag in the Consulate General was saluted with respect. On Fridays departures and arrivals were always through this gate to salute the flag twice. When he approached the flag, his friends, our villager Mehmet Refik, retired kavas Huseyin Bey, ConRifat, and Refet Bey would tease my father and they would say, 'You must have sweat on your head, wipe off your sweat.' My father would take off his hat as if to salute, salute the flag, and then wipe his head with his handkerchief. Because plainclothes police and administrative chiefs constantly followed the nationalists and prepared journals. When the officers who saluted the flag were questioned, they all claimed that they deleted their soldiers…”
Bedia Okan, the daughter of Mehmet Remzi Okan, the owner of Söz newspaper, who defends the rights of Turkish Cypriots, will also convey what she experienced in those years when they sang the national anthem without being noticed by anyone, with these words;[iv]
“…In our childhood, we could only see the Turkish flag in the Turkish consulate in Larnaca. Because it could only hang there. My father used to take us to the consulate in Larnaca, especially on public holidays such as April 23 and October 29. There was a Turkish flag in our house, but seeing it waving at the consulate was another excitement. It took a long time for me to raise this Turkish flag and I longed for the Turkish Cypriot flag…”
Echoes of the Celebrations of 29 October 1930:
The 29th October celebrations, which will be celebrated with such enthusiasm and excitement all over the island for the first time in Cyprus, were called “great danger” by the then Governor of Cyprus Sir Ronald Storss in 1930, and the feast was celebrated despite all prohibitions, restrictions, martial law and pressures. and thousands of people sing the National Anthem with such enthusiasm for the first time. In this period, the activities of the Greeks to change the status of the island and to annex Cyprus to Greece continued. Then, on 12 November 1931, to the Governor of Cyprus, Sir R. Storss, and
The sanctions imposed by the British Administration as a result of the extraordinary powers granted do not only cover the Greeks but also the Turks. The Constitution, Legislative Assembly, Municipal elections, political parties are suspended, the press is censored, and a strict control over education begins. "I am Turkish." It is forbidden to say, the teaching of Turkish history is restricted, and the pictures of statesmen are removed from the school walls. The band formed by the students at the Turkish High School in Nicosia was also abolished on the grounds that it performed marches instilling Turkish consciousness, especially the National Anthem. The British administration forbids hanging the Turkish flag in schools and mosques, celebrating holidays on May 19 and October 29, bringing books from Turkey, and even finding the flag and pictures of Atatürk in the books;[v]
“...The British created an environment in the December 31 rebellion and burned the governor's mansion to the Greeks. In fact, it is not the Greeks who burned it, but the English who have it burned. It immediately creates such an environment that we Turks are paying the fine and the bill. We had 5-year and 8-year schools. The British are closing them all. In other words, the British left the Turks without education. He left us ignorant…”
However, behind this behavior of the British, there is a planned attempt of the British administration to intimidate the Turkish Cypriots;[vi]
"In this period, the British's ban on Islamic High School, flag hoisting and the National Anthem is a way they used to blunt the feelings of Turkishness. We are Islam but we are Turkish. ”
Some Shared Memories:
Emir Ali Başar, on the other hand, went through this process in Cyprus, where he would later work as an educator: “… During my education, I have never seen a Turkish flag hoisted in primary, secondary and high schools. National days were not celebrated at all. Teaching or reading the National Anthem and other national anthems was also prohibited. Our generation will convey these anthems not in schools, but in courses opened by the Alumni Association…”[vii]. The British censored Turks and Greeks after the Greek Revolt of October 20, 1931, which was launched by the Greeks for the purpose of annexing the island to Greece, and then banned the raising of the Turkish flag in schools, the removal of poems and writings that instill national feelings with the Turkish flag and Atatürk's pictures from the books, and the ban on reading the National Anthem. It is resolved by the Turkish Cypriots by finding different solutions. However, while the National Anthem was strictly banned by the British administration in schools, "Look at the stone of Ankara", "My mother raised me", "They put bombs on the roads of Izmir." Poems and anthems like these become almost impossible to sing. During this period, for example, Hüseyin Şenol, who studied at Haydarpaşa Primary School (1937-1943) as a student of Zeynel Bey, said, “…we were forbidden to play or sing national songs and national anthems.” will say. Hatice Tahsin, who was teaching at the same time, narrates her experiences with the following words;[viii]
“In 1937, I was appointed as an English teacher to Hagia Sophia Girls' Primary School for the first time... In the morning, we would sing the English anthem and go to class. I also taught the National Anthem to the students and had them sing the National Anthem when I entered the classroom. I had no fear. I said to myself, "If I don't do this job, no one else can do it." This generation that grew up after the 1931 rebellion knew neither the National Anthem nor the Turkish flag. I said to the children, 'Draw a Turkish flag for me.' The children always drew the English flag on the sheets because they didn't know. That's when I drew a Turkish flag on the black board and said, 'This is our flag.'; but at night I thought that the children will still remember the Turkish flag with its black shape on the board. That's why I took a map of Turkey with the Turkish flag to the class the next day and showed it. I continued to sing the National Anthem every day…”
(To be continued)
References:
[i] Aydın Akkurt, Code Name Tulip; Memoirs and Life of Mujahideen Hatice Tahsin, Akdeniz News Agency Pub., Nicosia, November 2000, p. 11th.
[ii] Quoting from Hatice Tahsin, Aydın Akkurt, ibid, p. 16.
[iii] Rauf R. Denktaş, Karkot Deresi, Remzi Bookstore Pub., Istanbul November 2005, p. 39-40.
[iv] Neriman Cahit, Knocking on History; Hello, I'm Bedia Okan, Nicosia, March 2009, p. 151-152
[v] Interview with late Mehmet Y. Manavoğlu, a member of TMT Limassol Sanjak, on 25 August 2004 in Girne.
[vi]Interview with the late Macit Aydınova from TMT's Limassol staff on July 13, 2003 in Kyrenia.
[vii]Emir Ali Başar, My Memories, August 2017, Nicosia, p. 68.
[viii] Aydın Akkurt, ibid, p. 22-23.
