The culture of Northern Cyprus is the pattern of human activity and symbolism associated with Northern Cyprus and Turkish Cypriots. It features significant elements influenced by or developed upon the culture of Turkey, but combines these elements with a unique Cypriot approach and local traditions (in common with Greek Cypriots), as well as several other influences, such as the British and contemporary western cultures.
Music
Contemporary music Turkish Cypriot cities and towns regularly organize festivals that include performances of local and international singers and bands. Some Turkish Cypriot singers, such as Ziynet Sali and Işın Karaca, have achieved fame in Turkey. The Turkish Cypriot band Sıla 4 produced music that is considered essential for the Turkish Cypriot identity, and also acquired fame in Turkey. Rock and pop music are popular with the public in Northern Cyprus, important singers and bands include SOS and Fikri Karayel.
Folk music
Turkish Cypriot folk music consists of a rich variety of local tunes, influenced by the mainland Turkish music to a limited extent. Historically, it was shaped around the tradition of weddings, the primary social gatherings at the time. Violin, goblet drum, known locally as "darbuka", zurna and other drums were heavily used in these gatherings, and a large number of traditional songs developed based on this legacy. Many traditional songs are shared with the Greek Cypriot community. The songs were not only used for entertainment at weddings, but also at other special occasions such as bayrams, circumcision ceremonies and wrestling matches, when a band, called "ince saz" ("shrill ensemble") consisting of a darbuka player, violinist, tambourine and cymbals players would be assembled. The name was given with reference to the shrill and loud sounds of the instruments that could be heard from miles away, signalling entertainment. In the distant past, when the society was gender-segregated, blind violinists would be hired to come and play at women's quarters as men were not allowed to see them, these violinists frequented the Kumarcilar Han in Nicosia.
Turkish Cypriot folk music can be categorized into two groups: the türküs and "oyun havaları", music that was meant to accompany folk dances and entertainment during weddings. Among the türküs, some important ones are "Dillirga", "Kebapçıların şişi" ("the skewers of the kebab makers") and "Portakal atışalım" ("let's throw each other oranges").
Whilst Kamran Aziz mostly composed non-folkloric pieces, many of her compositions are now considered to be part of the Turkish Cypriot folk music canon. She is also considered to have started Turkish Cypriot pop music in its modern sense.
Classical music
In Northern Cyprus, both western and Ottoman styles of classical music are performed.
The Northern Cyprus State Symphony Orchestra was established in 1975, but the efforts to develop and promote it never met with success. In 2014, the Presidential Symphony Orchestra was established. It was initially intended to consist of 39 musicians, but delivered its first concert in the Bellapais Abbey in Kyrenia with 61 participating musicians, all of whom were Turkish Cypriots. The Bellapais Abbey hosts international festivals of classical music, including the Bellapais International Festival of Classical Music, and is considered in important platform of classical music. The International Northern Cyprus Music Festival is also an important musical event, held in September and October in the Bellapais Abbey, ancient city of Salamis and the Kyrenia Castle, holding concerts and shows of classical music, tango, symphonic rock, chamber orchestras, flamenco and Romani music. North Nicosia has its own Lefkoşa Municipal Orchestra that performs at open spaces, such as parks and squares, and is also home to the annual Walled City Jazz Festival. Rüya Taner is a Turkish Cypriot pianist who has achieved international acclaim.
The first Ottoman classical music establishment in Cyprus was founded in 1924 and was called Darül-Elhan. It was involved in education and performances, and dissolved in 1953 to be replaced by several groups. In 1985, the State Turkish Music Choir was established to officially institutionalize the activities. The choir is still active and frequently delivers concerts throughout Northern Cyprus.
Dance
Folk dances
Turkish Cypriot culture also incorporates a great diversity of folk dances with various influences, including different versions of karsilamas, çiftetelli and zeybek. There is no definite number of Turkish Cypriot folk dances and dances have different names and styles in different regions. Dances could be exclusively for men, women or for mixed groups These folk dances were a crucial part of the weddings in the past, along with folk music. and carry motifs of traditional entertainment, lifestyles and important occasions. A folk dance tradition that still exists among Turkish Cypriots is the "testi oyunu", where an earthen pot is filled with coins, almonds, raisins and candies before weddings by the mother and in-laws of the bride-to-be and young women dance around the pot and finally break it during the dance. The scattered candies are then picked up by children.
Since the 1980s, there has been a revival of the traditional folk dances in Northern Cyprus due to the intensive activities of the folk dance groups established by the Ministry of Education, municipalities and various associations. This has led to the revival of previously forgotten traditions such as the henna night dances and also paved the way for the mixed practice by men and women of dances traditionally associated with one sex only, such as "testi oyunu". Turkish Cypriot folk dance groups practice their traditions in festivals in several European countries. Since the 1980s, the country has also organized international folk dance festivals and competitions, in Trikomo/İskele and Gönyeli. The first folk dance and folklore association in Northern Cyprus, HASDER, was founded in 1977.
Other styles of dance
The universities of Northern Cyprus are sources of diversity in terms of dance, as they hold nights where the students from tens of countries and continent perform their traditional dances.
Northern Cyprus hosts annual dance festivals in several styles. Salsa Jam is an annual festival of salsa, held in Kyrenia and the International Cyprus Tango Festival takes place in the Bellapais Abbey every year, organized by the Cyprus Tango Culture and Arts Association. Shows of other styles of dance, such as traditional Chinese dance, occasionally take place.
Several modern dance activities also take place in North Nicosia, where a number of dance schools are established. Internationally renowned musicals and dance shows are performed in front of crowded audiences in the Atatürk Culture and Congress Center. In 2010, North Nicosia was part of the international Earthdance activity, which was witnessed by thousands of locals.
Literature
Poetry
Poetry is the most widely published form of literature in Northern Cyprus. Turkish Cypriot poetry is based on both the effects of Turkish literature and the culture of the island of Cyprus, along with some reflection of the British colonial history.
Early Turkish Cypriot poets include Kaytazzade Mehmet Nazım, Aşık Kenzi and Hasan Hilmi Efendi, who was called "the sultan of poets" by the Ottoman sultan Mahmud II.Gazioğlu, Ahmet C. (1990). The Turks in Cyprus: a province of the Ottoman Empire (1571–1878), 293–295, K. Rüstem. However, these poets are often not included in a distinct Turkish Cypriot literature as their writing identified with the Ottoman Empire and the Islamic community rather than Turkish Cypriots, whose literary identity had not been established at this time.
The first era of Turkish Cypriot poetry after the introduction of the Latin alphabet, characterised by poets such as Nazif Süleyman Ebeoğlu, Urkiye Mine Balman, Engin Gönül, Necla Salih Suphi and Pembe Marmara, had strong nationalistic elements due to the political attitudes of Turkish Cypriots at the time and stylistically reflected the poetry of the Turkish mainland. Meanwhile, other poets, such as Özker Yaşın, Osman Türkay, who was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature twice,Kozmik şiirin yazarı (Hürriyet), retrieved on 31 December 2014. and Nevzat Yalçın sought to write in more original styles, with the influence of nascent poetic styles in Turkey and those in Britain. This group of poets were very prolific and increased the popularity of poetry in the Turkish Cypriot community, and are seen as key figures in Turkish Cypriot literature.Turan, Metin. Çağdaş Kıbrıs Türk Şiirinde Eğilimler/ Yönelimler (Çukurova University) Retrieved on 27 May 2012.
In the 1960s, some poets attempted to popularize the then-mainstream poetic movements in Turkey. However, these attempts failed as the Turkish Cypriot society had a different political and cultural background. During this period, poets such as Fikret Demirağ, who followed a writing style in line with Turkey, developed a movement of abstract poetry in Cyprus.
The nationalism gave way to a notion of Cypriotness in the 1970s, with the influence of Yaşın, Türkay and Yalçın. During this period, the so-called "1974 generation of poets" arose, led by poets including Mehmet Yaşın, Hakkı Yücel, Nice Denizoğlu, Neşe Yaşın, Ayşen Dağlı and Canan Sümer. The poetry of this generation was characterized by the appreciation of the Turkish Cypriot identity as distinct from Turkish identity and the identification of Cyprus as the Turkish Cypriot homeland instead of Turkey, in contrast to the previous nationalist poetry. This approach is often called the "Cypriot poetry of rejection" as it resists the influence of Turkey, highlighting the cultural rift between Turkey and Cyprus due to the recent experience of war and therefore the independence of the Turkish Cypriot poetry and identity. This was followed by an increased adoption of the Mediterranean identity in the 1980s, accompanied by the effects of the liberalization of the Turkish Cypriot society, as reflected in the feminist elements, of which a particular example is Neriman Cahit.“Boşluğun hasadı kalemledir” (Radikal) retrieved on 31 December 2014.Yaşın, Mehmet. Kıbrıslıtürk şiiri antolojisi: 18. yy-20. yy : 3 kuşak, 3 kimlik, 3 vatan arasında bir Türk azınlık şiiri (1994), Yapı Kredi Yayınları, p. 58-60
Neşe Yaşın mainly writes in Turkish although a considerable number of her works of prose have been translated into Greek and English. In 2002 her novel Secret History of Sad Girls was banned in the TRNC and Turkey and she received multiple threats from Turkish nationalists.Poet battles abuse from Turkish nationalists Goodbye to Freedom Urkiye Mine Balman has written in a wide variety genres, but her works are mostly romantic poems describing sometimes a lonesome village girl or country life and long-distance romances. Balman has published her works in Yesilada, Türk Dili, and Türk'e Dogru literary magazines in Turkey.
Oral literature