H. D. S. Greenway: Cyprus and 'Chosen Trauma'
[HDS Greenway leads the Opinion and Analysis section for GlobalPost. He has been a journalist for 50 years and recently retired from the Boston Globe after a distinguished career]
“Chosen trauma,” were the words the political psychiatrist Vamik Volkan used to described the way nations, as well as individuals, can seize upon a wrong done to them to the exclusion of any wrongs committed by themselves.
I was reminded of that the other day when the International Crisis Group, which monitors impending troubles around the globe, reported that “negotiating Greek and Turkish Cypriot leaders must join forces and embrace a collaborative, federal reunification of the island in the next few months, or see their efforts overtaken by the unstoppable dynamic of a hostile partition.”
Greek and Turkish Cypriot leaders may be trying, but a glance at the official propaganda of the two sides reveals how immersed they are in their respective chosen traumas.
As Volkan, a Turkish Cypriot himself, wrote, all the Greek majority ever wants to talk about are the sins of the Turkish occupation, while the Turkish minority is obsessed with how their people were rounded up and put to death by the Greeks before Turkey intervened.
Cyprus emerged as an independent nation in 1960, with minority rights to be guaranteed by Britain, Greece and Turkey, to the disappointment of many Greek Cypriots who fought under the banner of “enosis,” or union with Greece.
Communal strife ensued, with the Turkish minority getting the worst of it. A U.N. peacekeeping force was sent to the island in 1964, but Greek Cypriot nationalists launched a coup instigated by army officers from mainland Greece in July 1974. Five days later, Turkey invaded and took over 37 percent of the island in the name of protecting the Turkish minority.
Read entire article at NYT
“Chosen trauma,” were the words the political psychiatrist Vamik Volkan used to described the way nations, as well as individuals, can seize upon a wrong done to them to the exclusion of any wrongs committed by themselves.
I was reminded of that the other day when the International Crisis Group, which monitors impending troubles around the globe, reported that “negotiating Greek and Turkish Cypriot leaders must join forces and embrace a collaborative, federal reunification of the island in the next few months, or see their efforts overtaken by the unstoppable dynamic of a hostile partition.”
Greek and Turkish Cypriot leaders may be trying, but a glance at the official propaganda of the two sides reveals how immersed they are in their respective chosen traumas.
As Volkan, a Turkish Cypriot himself, wrote, all the Greek majority ever wants to talk about are the sins of the Turkish occupation, while the Turkish minority is obsessed with how their people were rounded up and put to death by the Greeks before Turkey intervened.
Cyprus emerged as an independent nation in 1960, with minority rights to be guaranteed by Britain, Greece and Turkey, to the disappointment of many Greek Cypriots who fought under the banner of “enosis,” or union with Greece.
Communal strife ensued, with the Turkish minority getting the worst of it. A U.N. peacekeeping force was sent to the island in 1964, but Greek Cypriot nationalists launched a coup instigated by army officers from mainland Greece in July 1974. Five days later, Turkey invaded and took over 37 percent of the island in the name of protecting the Turkish minority.