Farid Mirbagheri - Historical Dictionary of Cyprus

Farid Mirbagheri was born and raised in Iran and left for the United Kingdom in 1978 to complete his secondary education. He attended Fettes College in Edinburgh and later received his BA and PhD in international relations from Keele University, England. His PhD thesis concentrated on the problem of Cyprus, upon the completion of which he produced, in 1998, his first book on International Peacemaking in Cyprus. He assumed the editorship of The Cyprus Review, the leading internationally refereed academic journal on Cypriot affairs, at the University of Nicosia from 1999 to 2006, and currently serves as a member of the editorial board of the journal. He currently holds the Dialogue Chair in Middle Eastern Studies (sponsored by the A.G. Leventis Foundation) in the Department of International Relations at the University of Nicosia and is the Director of Research at the Centre for World Dialogue in the same city. He also serves as an associate editor of Global Dialogue, the biannual journal of the Center. His areas of interest include, inter alia, the Middle East, war and peace in Islam, and Sufism and political philosophy. He is a reviewer for Review of International Studies, Roundtable, The Cyprus Review, and other publications. He is currently finishing a book on war and peace in Islam for Palgrave.

It is difficult, if not impossible, to list the names of all those who have directly or indirectly assisted me in compiling this work. Therefore, I would like to express my appreciation to all of them and apologize if their names are not mentioned here.

First and foremost, I would like to thank the A.G. Leventis Foundation, whose generous and unremitting support of the Dialogue Chair in Middle Eastern Studies afforded me the time and the space required to complete this work. My dedicated group of researchers, Maria Kouppi, Arzu Izveren, and Alexia Sakodaki, deserve to be noted and thanked for their efforts. Arzu Izveren was very helpful with regard to information on Turkish Cypriots. Maria Kouppi, in particular, devoted much time and energy and assisted me tirelessly in visiting different places to collect information. I owe them my gratitude.

The Press and Information Office of the Republic of Cyprus also spared no effort in providing me with the required information; nor did the relevant authorities of the Turkish Cypriot community. I am grateful for their cooperation.

My learned colleague Naya Roussou and the Mediterranean Institute of Gender Studies, University of Nicosia, as well as the United Nations Mission in Cyprus, should also be thanked for their help.

I am indebted to my erudite colleague and historian, Emilios Solomou at the University of Nicosia, who provided invaluable comments on this edition. His suggestions on the various aspects of this work were most useful. This volume has undoubtedly benefited from them.

Louise Carroll has been an indispensable part of this project, without whom its completion would have been a near-impossible task. Her precise and unfailing organization of data was pivotal to this book. She consistently labored through chunks of material and endured my editorial comments and squabbles, patiently reproducing draft after draft. I am deeply appreciative for her persistent organization and very insightful comments, especially when family matters demanded her attention. Anna Zobnina offered her time and skills lavishly toward the end of this work, for which I thank her. This work has also benefited greatly from the meticulous and systematic approach of my assistant, Sladjana Simic, at a time when it was very much needed. Her incisive comments have been most helpful. I owe her special thanks for those and for her generosity of character.

I should also thank Jon Woronoff, the series editor, who put up with my delays in producing this work. His comments were sharp and to the point and saved me much time and effort.

Scarecrow Press should most definitely be thanked for having provided me with the opportunity to prepare and complete this project. Their approach all along was nothing less than professional.

Last but not least, I would like to thank my wife, Maria, and our children, Danial David and Ariana Michelle. Their support, encouragement, and understanding enthused me throughout. The work on this project was made possible because they allowed family time and space to be used elsewhere. I am forever grateful to them.

Any mistakes, factual or otherwise, however, are mine and mine alone.

The bibliography consists mainly of literature in English, Greek, and French. However, there are a few titles in Turkish, Italian, and German. The diversity of the languages in sources is due to Cypruss turbulent history and its conquest by many powers. A number of authors are either Turks or from a Turkish background, though few sources are in the Turkish language. This is because sources on Cyprus in the Turkish language are relatively recent, starting mainly after the 1974 events; previous materials (in Turkish) are in comparison rather few and consist primarily of newspaper articles rather than academic literature. The variety of sources reflects the wealth of literature available on Cyprus. Nevertheless, there is still a shortage of material to address all aspects of the island in a sufficiently all-encompassing manner. Of late, with the entry of Cyprus into the European Union, interest in the island has increased, and more researchers are now choosing Cyprus as the focus of their work. The protracted Cyprus problem has added to the attraction, and to this day, some regard the political problem of the island as a treasure trove for original research.