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Identity, visibility and legitimacy in Turkish Cypriot tourism development

Scott, Julie (1995) Identity, visibility and legitimacy in Turkish Cypriot tourism development. Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) thesis, University of Kent. (doi:10.22024/UniKent/01.02.86016) (KAR id:86016)

Abstract

Since the division of Cyprus in 1974, political, cultural and economic means have been used to underpin and legitimise the conflicting national claims of the Greek and Turkish Cypriot communities. Turkish Cypriot efforts to develop tourism in the north and to market Northern Cyprus as a tourist attraction highlight the contested identity of Cyprus and place of Turkish Cypriots in its past, present and future.

The aim of this thesis is to explore the issues of Turkish Cypriot identity, visibility and legitimacy through the lens of tourism development in the north. Access to the capital resources of land and finance; business relationships and job-seeking behaviour; and the packaging of local culture and the construction of history and landscape for tourists, are all analysed in terms of their relevance to the goal of 'tanitma' [lit: "making known"], which is a central concept in Turkish Cypriot tourism development, and which can be understood in three ways: as the activity of marketing and promoting tourism in Northern Cyprus; as the goal of gaining international recognition for the existence of a Turkish Cypriot political, social and cultural entity; and as the project of creating and making known to its own citizens as a Turkish Cypriot state based simultaneously on the idea of historical continuity - the long-standing presence of Turks in Cyprus and their cultural imprint on the island - with discontinuity - the creation of a Turkish Cypriot state in the north.

The thesis also incorporates an examination of the relationship between tourism and anthropological theory in order to offer a critique of models of culture, identity and causation which feature widely in the tourism literature. I examine the encounter between the "professionalised" international tourism sector and internal social networks; between "hosts" and "guests"; and between locals and migrant workers; and discuss how the meanings generated by these encounters illuminate the issues of identity, culture and boundaries, and the categories of "inside" and "outside".

Item Type: Thesis (Doctor of Philosophy (PhD))
DOI/Identification number: 10.22024/UniKent/01.02.86016
Additional information: This thesis has been digitised by EThOS, the British Library digitisation service, for purposes of preservation and dissemination. It was uploaded to KAR on 09 February 2021 in order to hold its content and record within University of Kent systems. It is available Open Access using a Creative Commons Attribution, Non-commercial, No Derivatives (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/) licence so that the thesis and its author, can benefit from opportunities for increased readership and citation. This was done in line with University of Kent policies (https://www.kent.ac.uk/is/strategy/docs/Kent%20Open%20Access%20policy.pdf). If you feel that your rights are compromised by open access to this thesis, or if you would like more information about its availability, please contact us at ResearchSupport@kent.ac.uk and we will seriously consider your claim under the terms of our Take-Down Policy (https://www.kent.ac.uk/is/regulations/library/kar-take-down-policy.html).
Uncontrolled keywords: Cyprus; Turkish Cypriots; tourism; identity
Subjects: G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > GV Recreation. Leisure
H Social Sciences > HF Commerce
SWORD Depositor: SWORD Copy
Depositing User: SWORD Copy
Date Deposited: 29 Oct 2019 16:25 UTC
Last Modified: 16 Nov 2021 10:27 UTC
Resource URI: https://kar.kent.ac.uk/id/eprint/86016 (The current URI for this page, for reference purposes)

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