ABSTRACT
Most children in Cyprus, even the youngest among them, if asked to talk about the Turks would readily have something to say. Significantly, most of what they say, at least on the surface, is likely to be negative: the image of ‘the Turk’ as the barbaric enemy par excellence emerges with ease and occupies centre stage in their imaginations. For those familiar with the history of Cyprus, this realization should come as no surprise. The intercommunal conflicts between Greek and Turkish Cypriots in the 1960s and the Turkish invasion and occupation of 37% of Cyprus's territory provide a historical context—strategically accentuated through national education—for the formation of the undifferentiated Turk as the most negative Other for Greek Cypriot children.
