Enduring Friendships of Greek and Turkish Cypriots in Australia

Youth organisation the Bicommunal Network of Cypriot Youth is hosting an online talk on Saturday with foreign policy expert at the Australian federal government Dr Stephanie Jacobs, discussing ‘Cypriots down under: enduring friendships of Greek and Turkish Cypriots in Australia’. More specifically, it will investigate the history of Cypriot migration to Australia.

The discussion, starting at 1pm on Zoom, will explore how Cyprus’ status as a British Protectorate, a Crown Colony, a Republic, and as a divided island affected migration patterns. It will analyse how the changing political climate in Cyprus affected those patterns, and how Australian and Commonwealth immigration policies impacted Greek and Turkish Cypriots seeking settlement in Australia. Further, it will examine the barriers faced by prospective Cypriot migrants to Australia, and how these were overcome.

Dr Jacobs will use first-hand oral testimonies of 32 Cypriot migrants to Australia, along with census data and immigration archives, to examine the interactions between Greek and Turkish Cypriots upon their migration to Australia. Who welcomed and assisted new migrants to settle? Did Greek Cypriots assimilate with Greek, and Turkish Cypriots with Turkish migrant populations? Did each group maintain a strong Cypriot identity? How can relations between the two groups be characterised today?

Participants will get to hear some of these migration stories and how they are intertwined with stories of friendships between Greek and Turkish Cypriots. Friends from the two groups had migrated together, or encouraged others to join them in Australia, and many had also forged new friendships with the ‘other’. Significantly, many friendships survived political unrest and the intercommunal wars in Cyprus throughout the 1960s and in 1974, and the decades-long division of the island.

One of these friendships, which also inspired Dr Jacobs’ PhD thesis, was the loving friendship between her Greek Cypriot grandfather and his Turkish Cypriot best friend. This stirred Dr Jacobs to begin an ethnographical study of the inter-communality of Greek and Turkish Cypriots in the former mixed villages of Cyprus from the 1930s to 1960s and the experiences of the Cypriot diaspora in Australia. This Saturday she is tuning in online with the Bicommunal Network of Cypriot Youth for a fascinating look at the stories of Cypriots in Australia. Watch the discussion for free here or broadcasted live from the Youth Organisation’s page on Facebook (@BNCY19).

Cypriots Down Under: Enduring friendships of Greek and Turkish Cypriots in Australia

Live discussion with foreign policy expert with the Australian federal government, Dr Stephanie Jacobs on the history of Cypriot migration to Australia. Hosted by the Bicommunal Network of Cypriot Youth. February 13. Via Zoom or live broadcast on the Youth Organisation’s Facebook Page. 1pm. Free