Self-Determination, Violence, Modernity: The Case of the Turkish Cypriots


Polat N.

The European Union and the Cyprus Conflict: Modern Conflict, Postmodern Union, Thomas Diez, Editör, Manchester University Press , Manchester, ss.98-116, 2002

  • Yayın Türü: Kitapta Bölüm / Araştırma Kitabı
  • Basım Tarihi: 2002
  • Yayınevi: Manchester University Press
  • Basıldığı Şehir: Manchester
  • Sayfa Sayıları: ss.98-116
  • Editörler: Thomas Diez, Editör
  • Orta Doğu Teknik Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet

Özet

The bulk of the recent interpretations of the principle of national self-determination appear to question the 'violence' in the homogenous concept of 'nationhood' which underlies the principle. Accordingly, self-determination redefined as power sharing in multi-ethnic societies, rather than outright secessionism, may be more appropriate for the exegencies of the contemporary nationhood no longer understood in purely ethnic or homogenous terms. Discussing self-determination and violence with reference to the specific case of the Turkish Cypriot claim to self-determination, embodied in the 1983 declaration of the runaway entity the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, this article remains somewhat unconvinced by the recent attempts to domesticate self-determination. The article argues instead that violence which characterizes self-determination is violence inherent in modernity, marked by a fundamental distinction between the self and the other, a dichotomy at once constitutive of modern states system.