New book documents history of TCs’ struggle
A NEW book that charts the history of Cyprus through the medium of theatre and old photographs will be presented at an event in Girne on Tuesday.
Turkish Cypriot author and radio, TV and stage presenter Sevil Emirzade will present the English version of her book Farewell to the ‘Old Cyprus Stories With Blue Shutters’, May new ones be written with Friendship and Pomegranates at the Girne Municipality Art Gallery on Cengizhanlı Sokak from 3pm to 4.30pm on Tuesday, November 9.
The book features six plays that document the history of Cyprus from 1821 to the 1960s, which are accompanied by a selection of historical photographs, newspaper cut-outs, biographies, and other historical documents.
The aim of the book is to document Cyprus’s traditions, as well as its cultural and social behaviours and norms. The book presentation will also feature a “mini concert” from Grammy award nominee soprano Demetra George Mustafaoğlu.
Speaking about her book, which has also been published in German, Greek and Turkish, Mrs Emirzade said: “In my book, you will find six historic documentary short theatre plays with interesting Cyprus realities reaching as far back as 200 years ago to 1821.
“In these plays, you will come across not often discussed political, social, cultural and economic events from the years 1821, 1915, 1930, 1931, 1944 and 1963.
“I have included photos from those years, documents and biographies directly relating to these historic events, places, buildings, settings, materials and characters in my plays.
“There are events that have occurred in the history of Cyprus that most people have either forgotten or never have known, yet these events contain interesting messages and lessons.”
Prof Dr Bülent Evre, of the Kıbrıs Bahçeşehir University, wrote in the foreword for the book: “The book . . . can easily be considered as one of the pioneering examples of the documentary theatre genre, which is rarely seen in Turkish theatre or Turkish Cypriot theatre . . . The plays are based on themes such as the participation of Turkish Cypriots in the British army in the First World War while Cyprus was under the British Colonial Administration; Mehmet Necati Özkan, who won the Kavanin-Legislative Assembly elections in 1930 with the support of especially the younger generation of Turkish Cypriots; the 1930 revolt against the British Colonial Administration led by Greek Orthodox priests; the establishment of the Cyprus National Turkish People’s Party in 1944 by the Turkish Cypriot leaders; the memorandum given to the British Colonial Administration and the inter-communal conflicts that broke out in 1963 during the Republic of Cyprus; and the experiences of the Turkish Cypriots, which the author portrays based on her own experiences, observations and interviews. The main theme across all six plays is struggle . . . In a sense, history has been recorded with the publication of these plays, which are all equally fluid and exciting.”