Cyprus in 1954 British Parliamentary Debates: Discursive Structures, Actors and the Colonial Imaginary

Authors : Cemal Yorgancıoğlu

Pages : 1412-1439

Doi:10.24186/vakanuvis.1700311

View : 86 | Download : 245

Publication Date : 2025-10-31

Article Type : Research Paper

Abstract :This study aims to analyse the discursive boundaries and political priorities of the colonial administration by examining the Cyprus debates in the British Parliament in 1954 in a historical context. The Cyprus question became one of the most complex issues in the 1950s in the wake of the disintegration of the British Empire and moved to the centre of London politics due to demands for enosis (annexation of the island to Greece), the search for constitutional reform and international diplomatic pressure. The study analyses these debates through the tensions between the Greek-Turkish communities, humanitarian discourses (after the 1953 earthquake) and the colonial administration’s search for legitimacy. The enosis movement, which intensified in 1954, positioned the island as “a problem at risk of international intervention”. The study draws on qualitative methods (discourse and content analysis) and is based on the minutes of 47 meetings of the House of Commons and 3 meetings of the House of Lords (Hansard, 1954). As a result, it is argued that the Cyprus question is not only a colonial problem, but also a discursive field that reflects Britain’s relationship to its identity, its colonial past and its democratic values. The parliamentary debates are seen as an example of the crystallisation of political contradictions on a local and global level.
Keywords : Kıbrıs ihtilafı, sömürge yönetimi, enosis, İngiliz parlamentosu tartışmaları, söylem analizi

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