ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book offers a critical exploration into the prehistory, in the sense of a background to the struggles generally depicted as beginning in the 1950s, of Turkish nationalism in Cyprus. It highlights the interwar period was still of paramount importance not only in the history of Cyprus but also in the history of the whole region of the eastern Mediterranean. The book provides a historical background, along with some considerations on Turkish nationalism and the ethnic origins of the Muslim Cypriots. It examines the events of the period within Cypriot socio-economic context, which therefore involves discussing the urbanisation of Cypriot society and the so-called modernisation that British rule initiated. The book analyzes the political participation of the Muslim community in the political bodies of the island. It discusses the relations that the Muslim community had with the British administration and its Greek counterpart.
