Date/Time
Date(s) - 04/12/2025
11:30 am - 1:00 pm

Location
LRW 1003

Research in Progress Seminar (RIPS)

Between Entangled Memories and Divided Belongings: Rethinking Peacebuilding from Post-Conflict Northern Cyprus

Beyza Hatun Kiziltepe
PhD Student, Political Science (International Relations)
McMaster University

This research addresses one of the most persistent challenges in divided and post-conflict societies: rebuilding trust, belonging, and coexistence in the aftermath of the conflict. Focusing on Northern Cyprus, it investigates how divergent yet entangled memory narratives among native Turkish Cypriots and naturalized citizens of the de facto state TRNC of mainland origin shape intra communal othering and social boundaries. It centers on the relationship between these two communities and explores how the politics of memory mediates their experiences of belonging, exclusion, and every day (in)securities in a de facto state defined by contested sovereignty and unresolved trauma. This research rethinks conflict resolution beyond the dominant bi-communal lens, challenging homogenizing assumptions about both natives and “settlers,” and endeavors to advance an understanding of memory, belonging, and security that accounts for the multi-layered everyday dynamics of inclusion and exclusion in a de facto state. By integrating interdisciplinary literatures and centering everyday experiences and memory-making practices over formal, top down, and bureaucratic peace negotiations, this study aims to generate localized insights and theoretical innovation that contribute to a more human-centered understanding of reconciliation and peacebuilding.

Beyza’s research examines the politics of memory and everyday peace and reconciliation in post-conflict Northern Cyprus, focusing on the relationship between native Turkish Cypriots and naturalized citizens of the de facto state TRNC of mainland origin (Türkiyeliler). Her work explores how memory narratives shape othering formations, everyday (in)securities, and approaches to reconciliation within a de facto state marked by contested sovereignty. Drawing on political sociology, memory studies, vernacular and everyday turns in IR, and feminist methodologies, her research analyzes how historical trauma, demographic shifts, and nationalist discourses mediate belonging and exclusion in divided societies. By highlighting marginalized voices and everyday practices of coping with uncertainty, her work challenges dominant bi-communal frameworks in the Cyprus conflict and contributes to broader debates on memory, identity, and postcolonial conflict resolution.