Misplaced Pages

#355644

110-482: North Nicosia or Northern Nicosia ( Turkish : Kuzey Lefkoşa [kuˈzej lefˈkoʃa] ; Greek : Βόρεια Λευκωσία ) is the capital and largest city of the de facto state of Northern Cyprus . It is the northern part of the divided city of Nicosia , and is governed by the Nicosia Turkish Municipality . As of 2011, North Nicosia had a population of 61,378 and a metropolitan area with

220-548: A centre of commerce as the construction of offices grew by 74.2%. Recently, programmes have been put to place to regulate the growth of the city that has expanded uncontrollably. North Nicosia has been identified as a city with a high amount of development and welfare. One aspect of North Nicosia that gives it the advantage for economical growth is its central position in Northern Cyprus, where transport links from Kyrenia , Famagusta and Morphou intersect. North Nicosia

330-475: A form of consonant mutation whereby a voiced obstruent, such as /b d dʒ ɡ/ , is devoiced to [p t tʃ k] at the end of a word or before a consonant, but retains its voicing before a vowel. In loan words, the voiced equivalent of /k/ is /g/; in native words, it is /ğ/. This is analogous to languages such as German and Russian , but in the case of Turkish it only applies, as the above examples demonstrate, to stops and affricates, not to fricatives. The spelling

440-415: A negative suffix -me to the verb (the suffix comes after the stem but before the tense): Necla okula gitmedi ('Necla did not go to school'). In the case of a verbal sentence, an interrogative clitic mi is added after the verb and stands alone, for example Necla okula gitti mi? ('Did Necla go to school?'). In the case of a nominal sentence, then mi comes after the predicate but before

550-494: A new exhibition hall was unveiled in the Near East University, whose students participate in organisations abroad. Photography exhibitions and competitions take place in the city, organised by the state and private institutions alike. Traditional handicrafts are also actively practised, with exhibitions taking place. The city is home to a number of museums. The Dervish Pasha Mansion is similar in architecture to

660-544: A population of 82,539. The city is the economic, political and cultural centre of Northern Cyprus, with many shops, restaurants and shopping malls. It is home to a historic walled city, centred on the Sarayönü Square , and a modern metropolitan area, with the Dereboyu region as its centre of business and entertainment. Described as a city with high levels of welfare, it has seen great urban growth and development in

770-658: A protected area by the Turkish Cypriot Department of Antiquities, and 672 buildings and places of historical value have been registered in it. At the centre of the walled city lies the Atatürk Square , widely known as Sarayönü. The square has been dubbed as "the heart of Nicosia" and historically has been the cultural center of the Turkish Cypriot community, with the visiting Turkish prime ministers having delivered speeches before and during

880-614: A supercomputer that ranks the 13th in the world and the first in the region in terms of computation speed and capacity, used to help universities from Turkey in their research along with the university itself, and has participated in the Large Hadron Collider experiment at CERN , as well as Ebola virus disease treatment research. The NEU has also locally developed and manufactured a completely solar energy-powered car and has research centers in topics ranging from tissue engineering to history. The Cyprus International University

990-407: A verb in the form of the copula ol or y (variants of "be"). Examples of both are given below: The two groups of sentences have different ways of forming negation. A nominal sentence can be negated with the addition of the word değil . For example, the sentence above would become Necla öğretmen değil ('Necla is not a teacher'). However, the verbal sentence requires the addition of

1100-403: Is subject–object–verb . Turkish has no noun classes or grammatical gender . The language makes usage of honorifics and has a strong T–V distinction which distinguishes varying levels of politeness, social distance , age, courtesy or familiarity toward the addressee. The plural second-person pronoun and verb forms are used referring to a single person out of respect. Turkish is a member of

1210-494: Is a list of mayors of the Nicosia Turkish Municipality since its establishment in 1958: Nicosia is divided into several administrative divisions known as mahalleler (singular: mahalle ) or quarters. Each of these quarters are headed by a muhtar , who is elected by the residents in local elections. There are 25 quarters within the jurisdiction of the Nicosia Turkish Municipality, of which 12 are in

SECTION 10

#1732765129356

1320-836: Is also home to three museums: the Communications Museum, the Art Museum and the Classical Cars Museum. The Turkish Cypriot State Theatre and Nicosia Municipal Theater are headquartered in Nicosia and put on a number of plays each year. The Nicosia Turkish Municipality organises the Cyprus Theatre Festival annually, and prominent theatrical groups from Turkey as well as the Nicosia Municipal Theatre participate in

1430-663: Is also located in the Selimiye Square. Among the quarters of the old city are Yenicami and Arabahmet . Yenicami hosts the Haydar Pasha Mosque that used to be the second largest church in the city before its conversion by the Ottomans, and with its Gothic architecture, it is home to richly carved doorways. The Arabahmet neighbourhood hosts the Arabahmet Mosque , which was built in 1845. Outside

1540-658: Is another theatrical group that is active in the city. Nicosia Turkish Municipality founded its Lefkoşa Municipal Orchestra in 1987. Since then, the orchestra has grown and developed several branches, including the Children's Choir, Folk Music Choir, Pop Orchestra, Latin Orchestra and the Chamber Music Orchestra, with about 90 participants, most of whom are volunteers. The orchestra frequently delivers concerts and participates in big musical festivals held in

1650-531: Is based on the dialect of Istanbul . This Istanbul Turkish ( İstanbul Türkçesi ) constitutes the model of written and spoken Turkish, as recommended by Ziya Gökalp , Ömer Seyfettin and others. Dialectal variation persists, in spite of the levelling influence of the standard used in mass media and in the Turkish education system since the 1930s. Academic researchers from Turkey often refer to Turkish dialects as ağız or şive , leading to an ambiguity with

1760-500: Is connected to the other cities with modern, four-lane highways: the D-30 highway from Morphou to Famagusta passes through Nicosia, D-25 to Kyrenia . Ercan International Airport has been used for international flights. There is no train or metro system nor plans to develop one. In 2011, plans to build a tram system were put forward but rejected, yet the popular opinion is strongly in favour of establishing one. North Nicosia has seen

1870-551: Is filled with numerous shops and restaurants. A project is underway as of 2015 to redesign the area with a better infrastructure, visual quality and accessibility. Near the entrance of the walled city, to the west of the Girne Avenue, lies the Samanbahçe neighbourhood, built in the 19th century by the government, considered to be the first example of social housing in the island. The houses are uniform and contiguous, and in

1980-558: Is frequented by tourists. Nearby Büyük Han , the largest caravanserai in the island and considered to be one of the finest buildings in Cyprus, was built in 1572 by the Ottomans . The building has 68 rooms and a small mosque in the middle, and currently functions as a tourist-frequented cultural centre, with souvenir and handicraft shops, cafés with traditional food and cultural activities such as small-scale opera concerts. Just across from

2090-535: Is governed by the Nicosia Turkish Municipality , which is recognised by the constitution of the Republic of Cyprus. The Nicosia Turkish Municipality is headed by the mayor, Mehmet Harmancı from the Communal Democracy Party (TDP). He came to power in the local elections in 2014 with 38% of the popular vote, defeating the candidates of two major parties who were considered to be candidates with

2200-513: Is home to eight research centers. Examples of research conducted include excavations that have uncovered the earliest human bones that have ever been found in Cyprus and possible devices that could be implanted on the human body to facilitate communication. The Grand Library of the Near East University is home to over 1 million printed and 150 million electronic resources and is visited by more than 7000 people daily, and agreements have been signed to share these resources with Turkish institutions. In

2310-594: Is home to the Nicosia International Fair and an Organised Industrial Area, where many businesses and manufacturers are located. Their location, along with other facilities such as the large sports complex, were chosen to be on the connection between the highways linking Morphou to Famagusta. North Nicosia hugely influences the economy of the surrounding district, as far as the Ercan International Airport , along with Dikomo in

SECTION 20

#1732765129356

2420-578: Is located on the Bedrettin Demirel Avenue . The city has seen great urban growth in the last decades, but the authorities have been criticised over the lack of city planning. Between 2008 and 2010, the construction rates in the North Nicosia urban area grew by 23.9%, with the largest boom observed in the construction of new industrial facilities in the city, which grew by 87.5% over two years. North Nicosia also grew in importance as

2530-654: Is mutually intelligible with Azerbaijani . In particular, Turkish-speaking minorities exist in countries that formerly (in whole or part) belonged to the Ottoman Empire , such as Iraq, Bulgaria, Cyprus , Greece (primarily in Western Thrace ), the Republic of North Macedonia , Romania, and Serbia. More than two million Turkish speakers live in Germany; and there are significant Turkish-speaking communities in

2640-635: Is one of the official languages of Cyprus . Turkish has official status in 38 municipalities in Kosovo , including Mamusha, , two in the Republic of North Macedonia and in Kirkuk Governorate in Iraq. Cyprus has requested the European Union to add Turkish as an official language, as it is one of the two official languages of the country. In Turkey, the regulatory body for Turkish is

2750-835: Is the current mayor of the Nicosia Turkish Municipality , the local government of the Turkish Cypriot capital North Nicosia . He was born in Nicosia. He studied international relations in the Eastern Mediterranean University and completed his master's degree on the EU in John Moores University in Liverpool . He began his political life in the youth wing of the Communal Liberation Party and after its merger with

2860-442: Is the greatest electronic music organisation in the island. The Dereboyu region has become a centre of entertainment, where street parties, festivals and concerts of local bands and singers take place. The walled city has also seen investment in the recent years, with cultural centres and bars being opened. To reinvigorate the region, monthly street parties are organised. The city has fine arts institutions at university levels, with

2970-686: Is the seat of four Turkish Cypriot universities, namely the Near East University (NEU), Cyprus International University (CIU), University of Mediterranean Karpasia and the American University of Cyprus . It also hosts a campus of the Turkish Anadolu University , along with two vocational schools (Atatürk Academy of Teachers and the Police Academy) that are equivalent to universities. As of

3080-642: Is usually made to match the sound. However, in a few cases, such as ad 'name' (dative ada ), the underlying form is retained in the spelling (cf. at 'horse', dative ata ). Other exceptions are od 'fire' vs. ot 'herb', sac 'sheet metal', saç 'hair'. Most loanwords, such as kitap above, are spelled as pronounced, but a few such as hac 'hajj', şad 'happy', and yad 'strange' or 'stranger' also show their underlying forms. Native nouns of two or more syllables that end in /k/ in dictionary form are nearly all /ğ/ in underlying form. However, most verbs and monosyllabic nouns are underlyingly /k/. The vowels of

3190-486: Is usually referred to as yumuşak g ("soft g"), written ⟨ğ⟩ in Turkish orthography , represents a vowel sequence or a rather weak bilabial approximant between rounded vowels, a weak palatal approximant between unrounded front vowels, and a vowel sequence elsewhere. It never occurs at the beginning of a word or a syllable, but always follows a vowel. When word-final or preceding another consonant, it lengthens

3300-713: The Aegean region, with its usage extending to Antalya . The nomadic Yörüks of the Mediterranean Region of Turkey also have their own dialect of Turkish. This group is not to be confused with the Yuruk nomads of Macedonia, Greece, and European Turkey, who speak Balkan Gagauz Turkish . The Meskhetian Turks who live in Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and Russia as well as in several Central Asian countries, also speak an Eastern Anatolian dialect of Turkish, originating in

3410-646: The Alevi Cultural Association is headquartered in Nicosia. The Near East University annually holds a spring fest, during which famous Turkish Cypriot, Turkish and international singers and bands perform, dance festivals, sports and board game competitions are held. In 2014, the university built the Park Near East on an area of 220,000 square metres, and the concerts of Deep Purple and Turkish bands such as Yüksek Sadakat drew tens of thousands of spectators from Cyprus and Turkey. During

North Nicosia - Misplaced Pages Continue

3520-523: The BDH , continued in the Communal Democracy Party . He worked as a director in a tourism agency between 2005 and 2008. From June till September 2013, he served as the Minister of Tourism, Environment and Culture in a transition cabinet headed by Sibel Siber . In the local elections of 2014 , he got 38.6% of the votes and was elected the mayor of North Nicosia. This article about a Cypriot politician

3630-636: The Cyprus crisis of 1963–64 , in the aftermath of unilateral constitutional changes by the Greek Cypriots , intercommunal violence broke out. Nicosia was divided into Greek and Turkish Cypriot quarters by the Green Line , named after the colour of the pen used by the United Nations officer to draw the line on a map of the city. This resulted in the ceasing of Turkish Cypriot participation in

3740-683: The Germanic runic alphabets . With the Turkic expansion during Early Middle Ages ( c.  6th –11th centuries), peoples speaking Turkic languages spread across Central Asia , covering a vast geographical region stretching from Siberia all the way to Europe and the Mediterranean . The Seljuqs of the Oghuz Turks , in particular, brought their language, Oghuz —the direct ancestor of today's Turkish language—into Anatolia during

3850-604: The Girne District . The economy in the walled city has stagnated through the 2000s and 2010s, with the central Municipal Market losing its popularity, even though it has started to receive investment as of 2014 and programs have been put to place to reinvigorate the region with cultural activities being organised. In 2014, the Arasta shopping region close to the Ledra Street crossing was pedestrianised, which increased

3960-769: The Hadjigeorgakis Kornesios Mansion , reflecting typical late Ottoman urban architecture, and functions as an ethnographic museum today. It hosts artefacts relating to the Ottoman era and the archaeological history of Cyprus. Another example of a house preserved as such is the Lusignan House , reflecting the architecture of the Lusignan era and the Gothic style, and is furnished with Lusignan and Ottoman items. The Mevlevi Tekke Museum used to be

4070-623: The Laz language ). Kastamonu is spoken in Kastamonu and its surrounding areas. Karamanli Turkish is spoken in Greece, where it is called Kαραμανλήδικα . It is the literary standard for the Karamanlides . At least one source claims Turkish consonants are laryngeally-specified three-way fortis-lenis (aspirated/neutral/voiced) like Armenian, although only syllable-finally. The phoneme that

4180-539: The Ledra Palace crossing was opened through the Green Line, the first time that crossing was allowed since 1974. This was followed by the opening of Ayios Dometios crossing point on 9 May 2003. On 3 April 2008, the Ledra Street crossing was also reopened. As the capital, North Nicosia is Northern Cyprus's political, economic and cultural centre. North Nicosia hosts the ministries of Northern Cyprus. The city

4290-644: The Oghuz group of the Turkic family. Other members include Azerbaijani , spoken in Azerbaijan and north-west Iran , Gagauz of Gagauzia , Qashqai of south Iran and the Turkmen of Turkmenistan . Historically the Turkic family was seen as a branch of the larger Altaic family, including Japanese , Korean , Mongolian and Tungusic , with various other language families proposed for inclusion by linguists. Altaic theory has fallen out of favour since

4400-437: The Ottoman Empire period ( c.  1299 –1922) is termed Ottoman Turkish , which was a mixture of Turkish, Persian, and Arabic that differed considerably and was largely unintelligible to the period's everyday Turkish. The everyday Turkish, known as kaba Türkçe or "vulgar Turkish", spoken by the less-educated lower and also rural members of society, contained a higher percentage of native vocabulary and served as basis for

4510-583: The Ottoman Empire —spread as the Ottoman Empire expanded. In 1928, as one of Atatürk's reforms in the early years of the Republic of Turkey, the Perso-Arabic script -based Ottoman Turkish alphabet was replaced with the Latin script -based Turkish alphabet . Some distinctive characteristics of the Turkish language are vowel harmony and extensive agglutination . The basic word order of Turkish

North Nicosia - Misplaced Pages Continue

4620-505: The Seljuq Turks , who are both regarded as the ethnic and cultural ancestors of the Ottomans , the administrative language of these states acquired a large collection of loanwords from Arabic and Persian . Turkish literature during the Ottoman period, particularly Divan poetry , was heavily influenced by Persian, including the adoption of poetic meters and a great quantity of imported words. The literary and official language during

4730-539: The Trabzon region of northeastern Turkey follows the reduced vowel harmony of Old Anatolian Turkish , with the additional complication of two missing vowels (ü and ı), thus there is no palatal harmony . It is likely that elün meant "your hand" in Old Anatolian. While the 2nd person singular possessive would vary between back and front vowel, -ün or -un, as in elün for "your hand" and kitabun for "your book",

4840-590: The Turkish Language Association ( Türk Dil Kurumu or TDK), which was founded in 1932 under the name Türk Dili Tetkik Cemiyeti ("Society for Research on the Turkish Language"). The Turkish Language Association was influenced by the ideology of linguistic purism : indeed one of its primary tasks was the replacement of loanwords and of foreign grammatical constructions with equivalents of Turkish origin. These changes, together with

4950-505: The intercommunal violence of the 1960s, the capital of Republic of Cyprus was divided between the island's Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot communities in the south and north respectively in 1963. A coup by the Greek military junta in an attempt to unite the island with Greece in 1974 led to the Turkish invasion of Cyprus , and the international community considers North Nicosia to have been under Turkish occupation since then. During

5060-586: The 11th century. Also during the 11th century, an early linguist of the Turkic languages, Mahmud al-Kashgari from the Kara-Khanid Khanate , published the first comprehensive Turkic language dictionary and map of the geographical distribution of Turkic speakers in the Dīwān Lughāt al-Turk ( ديوان لغات الترك ). Following the adoption of Islam around the year 950 by the Kara-Khanid Khanate and

5170-411: The 1940s tend to use the older terms of Arabic or Persian origin, the younger generations favor new expressions. It is considered particularly ironic that Atatürk himself, in his lengthy speech to the new Parliament in 1927, used the formal style of Ottoman Turkish that had been common at the time amongst statesmen and the educated strata of society in the setting of formal speeches and documents. After

5280-457: The 1960s, and a majority of linguists now consider Turkic languages to be unrelated to any other language family, though the Altaic hypothesis still has a small degree of support from individual linguists. The nineteenth-century Ural-Altaic theory, which grouped Turkish with Finnish , Hungarian and Altaic languages, is considered even less plausible in light of Altaic's rejection. The theory

5390-480: The 2014–2015 educational year, North Nicosia was home to a student population of over 34,000; Near East University is the largest university in Northern Cyprus with 25,068 students; Cyprus International University has 8324 students and the University of Mediterranean Karpasia has 632. The universities are home to great diversity, with the Near East University and Cyprus International University having students from 96 and 64 countries respectively. The Near East University

5500-416: The 21st century, including the construction of new highways and high-rises. It hosts a significant number of tourists and a variety of cultural activities, including its international festivals of theatre and music. With a student population over 34,000, North Nicosia is an important centre of education and research and is home to four universities, of which the Near East University is the biggest. Following

5610-414: The Ayluka/Ayios Loukas quarter in 1963, and from the Trachones/Kızılbaş and Küçük Kaymaklı/Omorphita quarters in 1974. The number of Greek Cypriots displaced from these quarters in 1974 was around 4700. North Nicosia is the financial and economic centre of Northern Cyprus. In 2012, Lefkoşa District had 39.9% of the workplaces and 49.5% of the employees in Northern Cyprus. The Central Bank of Northern Cyprus

SECTION 50

#1732765129356

5720-423: The French loanword parti ). Some words restored from Old Turkic have taken on specialized meanings; for example betik (originally meaning "book") is now used to mean " script " in computer science . Some examples of modern Turkish words and the old loanwords are: Turkish is natively spoken by the Turkish people in Turkey and by the Turkish diaspora in some 30 other countries. The Turkish language

5830-460: The Köşklüçiftlik and Çağlayan areas, which characterise these central quarters today. The Yenişehir quarter was planned by the British administration in the 1940s in an optimal design to minimise distances and allow healthy social interaction, and the quarter is still considered as a masterpiece of city planning in Cyprus. North Nicosia is mainly inhabited by Turkish Cypriots and Turkish settlers (including migrant workers). Turkish settlers make up

5940-409: The Latin alphabet for speakers of eastern dialects. Some immigrants to Turkey from Rumelia speak Rumelian Turkish , which includes the distinct dialects of Ludogorie , Dinler, and Adakale, which show the influence of the theorized Balkan sprachbund . Kıbrıs Türkçesi is the name for Cypriot Turkish and is spoken by the Turkish Cypriots . Edirne is the dialect of Edirne . Ege is spoken in

6050-567: The Latin script, encoded for many of the dialectal variations between Turkish dialects, the modern Latin script fails to do this. Examples of this are the presence of the nasal velar sound [ŋ] in certain eastern dialects of Turkish which was represented by the Ottoman letter /ڭ/ but that was merged into /n/ in the Latin script. Additionally are letters such as /خ/, /ق/, /غ/ which make the sounds [ɣ], [q], and [x], respectively in certain eastern dialects but that are merged into [g], [k], and [h] in western dialects and are therefore defectively represented in

6160-446: The North Nicosia urban area there are 21 state-owned institutions that offer primary education, along with three special institutions for children with disabilities. The city hosts three kinds of high schools: state-owned highschools (lise) that teach in Turkish, state-owned "colleges" (kolej) that teach in English and private high schools. The Türk Maarif Koleji is a state-owned high school with over 1000 students that teaches in English,

6270-409: The Roman era, indicating the possible presence of a Byzantine church before its construction. It used to be the place of coronation of Lusignan kings, and was converted to the largest mosque in the island by the Ottomans in 1571. It remains as a chief landmark of the city. Next to the mosque is the Bedesten , a large Greek church in the Byzantine and Gothic styles, built in the 6th and 14th centuries. It

6380-435: The SOV structure has diminished relevance and may vary. The SOV structure may thus be considered a "pragmatic word order" of language, one that does not rely on word order for grammatical purposes. Consider the following simple sentence which demonstrates that the focus in Turkish is on the element that immediately precedes the verb: Ahmet Ahmet yumurta-yı Mehmet Harmanc%C4%B1 Mehmet Harmancı , (born 1977)

6490-420: The TDK were newly derived from Turkic roots, it also opted for reviving Old Turkish words which had not been used for centuries. In 1935, the TDK published a bilingual Ottoman-Turkish /Pure Turkish dictionary that documents the results of the language reform. Owing to this sudden change in the language, older and younger people in Turkey started to differ in their vocabularies. While the generations born before

6600-539: The Turkish language are, in their alphabetical order, ⟨a⟩ , ⟨e⟩ , ⟨ı⟩ , ⟨i⟩ , ⟨o⟩ , ⟨ö⟩ , ⟨u⟩ , ⟨ü⟩ . The Turkish vowel system can be considered as being three-dimensional, where vowels are characterised by how and where they are articulated focusing on three key features: front and back , rounded and unrounded and vowel height . Vowels are classified [±back], [±round] and [±high]. The only diphthongs in

6710-405: The United States, France, the Netherlands, Austria, Belgium, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. Due to the cultural assimilation of Turkish immigrants in host countries, not all ethnic members of the diaspora speak the language with native fluency. In 2005, 93% of the population of Turkey were native speakers of Turkish, about 67 million at the time, with Kurdish languages making up most of

SECTION 60

#1732765129356

6820-437: The adoption of the new Turkish alphabet in 1928, shaped the modern Turkish language spoken today. The TDK became an independent body in 1951, with the lifting of the requirement that it should be presided over by the Minister of Education. This status continued until August 1983, when it was again made into a governmental body in the constitution of 1982 , following the military coup d'état of 1980 . Modern standard Turkish

6930-406: The aim of conducting research on Turkish. One of the tasks of the newly established association was to initiate a language reform to replace loanwords of Arabic and Persian origin with Turkish equivalents. By banning the usage of imported words in the press, the association succeeded in removing several hundred foreign words from the language. While most of the words introduced to the language by

7040-407: The areas of Kars, Ardahan, and Artvin and sharing similarities with Azerbaijani , the language of Azerbaijan. The Central Anatolia Region speaks Orta Anadolu . Karadeniz , spoken in the Eastern Black Sea Region and represented primarily by the Trabzon dialect, exhibits substratum influence from Greek in phonology and syntax ; it is also known as Laz dialect (not to be confused with

7150-401: The bottom of the column, even though the statue of the lion on it has been replaced with a copper ball. The square used to be the seat of a Lusignan palace, which was replaced with the present-day law courts by the British government. The Girne Avenue connects Sarayönü to the Kyrenia Gate and the İnönü Square in front of it. The avenue has been described as "the symbol of the walled city", and

7260-425: The center of the neighbourhood is a historic fountain. Still a residential area, the neighbourhood is considered to be one of the best representations of the Cypriot culture. Further south, next to the Ledra Street checkpoint, is the Arasta area. The area was pedestrianised in 2013 and is home to a network of historic shopping streets, reflecting an eastern shopping tradition with food and traditional items. The area

7370-401: The city in parks and squares. Several modern dance activities also take place in the city, where several dance schools are established. Internationally renowned musicals and dance shows are performed in front of crowded audiences in the Atatürk Culture and Congress Centre. In 2010, the city was part of the international Earthdance activity, which was witnessed by thousands of locals. Nicosia

7480-425: The city, a number large and imposing villas have been built that belong to the middle and upper-classes. Upper and middle class Turkish Cypriots have left the walled city to settle in areas such as Küçük Kaymaklı and Hamitköy, which have seen a corresponding boom in economic and commercial activity. As the city started to expand out of the walled city in the first half of the city, large and imposing houses were built in

7590-434: The conflict in Cyprus. It still hosts mass rallies during political campaigns and the headquarters of the National Unity Party . In the middle of the square stands the Venetian Column, known simply as "the Obelisk" ("Dikiltaş") to the locals and symbolic of the country's government. The column was brought from the ancient city of Salamis by the Venetians in 1550. The coats of arms of six Italian noble families still remains at

7700-503: The construction of large hotels in the late 2000s and early 2010s. The constructions have changed the city's skyline, with the newly constructed Merit Hotel on the Bedrettin Demirel Avenue and the Golden Tulip Hotel in the Dereboyu region being highly visible high-rises. The country's oldest hotel, the Saray Hotel was also renovated and each of the three hotels has its own casino, with a total capacity of around 700 people. The city saw around 117 million Turkish liras of new construction in

7810-484: The construction of new highways and roads recently to solve its traffic problem, including the construction of two ringroads in the 2010s. One of these links the Metehan area and indirectly the Dereboyu region to Alayköy and indirectly the highway to Morphou, and was completed and opened to public traffic in 2014. The other one, the Nicosia Northern Ringroad, is currently under construction and will connect D-30 from Famagusta to Morphou directly to D-25 from Kyrenia, preventing

7920-562: The continuing work of the TDK to coin new Turkish words to express new concepts and technologies as they enter the language, mostly from English. Many of these new words, particularly information technology terms, have received widespread acceptance. However, the TDK is occasionally criticized for coining words which sound contrived and artificial. Some earlier changes—such as bölem to replace fırka , "political party"—also failed to meet with popular approval ( fırka has been replaced by

8030-530: The country is very high. The rising presence of this very similar language in Azerbaijan and the fact that many children use Turkish words instead of Azerbaijani words due to satellite TV has caused concern that the distinctive features of the language will be eroded. Many bookstores sell books in Turkish language along Azerbaijani language ones, with Agalar Mahmadov, a leading intellectual, voicing his concern that Turkish language has "already started to take over

8140-451: The country. At times, the orchestra delivers concerts at open spaces, such as parks and squares. It also holds composing contests. The Presidential Symphony Orchestra of Northern Cyprus, founded in 2015, is based in North Nicosia and as of 2018, the works for building a concert hall and headquarters for the orchestra are underway. The city is home to the annual Nicosia Walled City Jazz Festival, at which both local and Turkish jazz musicians take

8250-523: The discovery and excavation of these monuments and associated stone slabs by Russian archaeologists in the wider area surrounding the Orkhon Valley between 1889 and 1893, it became established that the language on the inscriptions was the Old Turkic language written using the Old Turkic alphabet , which has also been referred to as "Turkic runes" or "runiform" due to a superficial similarity to

8360-404: The displaced") was founded to resettle these displaced people. The Arab Ahmet quarter had had an Armenian Cypriot presence since the Ottoman conquest; having been a minority until the 1920s, they constituted the overwhelming majority of the area by the 1950s. 200 Armenians from Arab Ahmet, Köşklüçiftlik and Kumsal fled the quarter during the inter-communal violence of 1963. Greek Cypriots fled from

8470-454: The entry of vehicles from Kyrenia going to the airport and from Famagusta to Kyrenia, Gönyeli or Morphou into the city. While the construction stalled for a time due to land disputes, the work on the project recommenced in 2018. The company of LETTAŞ provides bus services in North Nicosia. Buses are the only form of public transport available, and the system is considered unreliable due to the unplanned city growth, resulting in private cars being

8580-541: The festival that takes place in the Atatürk Culture and Congress Centre of the Near East University. Theatre is very popular in Northern Cyprus, and as such, long queues form for the ticket sales of the festival, with the number of theatre-goers increasing every year. The Nicosia Municipal Theatre children as well and the Gönyeli municipality holds its own theatre workshop that puts on plays. Nicosia Artistic Theatre

8690-642: The festival, the Moscow State Ballet also performed in the university. It also hosts the annual Rock 'n Cyprus festival, at which bands from Turkey perform, and organises the NEU Nicosia Carnival at the Dereboyu region of the city, at which the students display their culture and the locals crowd into the streets. The city has hosted other musical organisations, such as the Shark Virgin Island Festival, which

8800-552: The fine arts faculties of the Near East University and Cyprus International University . The universities contribute to the artistic culture of the city by participating in exhibitions and competitions, and students are involved in creating artistic depictions of Nicosia. In 2014, an arts and culture centre in the Arabahmet region was reopened with the contribution of the Girne American University . In 2013,

8910-490: The government, and following more intercommunal violence in 1964, a number of Turkish Cypriots moved to the Turkish quarter of Nicosia, causing serious overcrowding. On 15 July 1974, there was an attempted coup d'état led by the Greek military junta to unite the island with Greece . The coup ousted Archbishop Makarios III as President of Cyprus , replacing him with pro- enosis nationalist Nikos Sampson . In response to

9020-727: The headquarters of the Mevlevi sect, associated with the Whirling Dervishes . It was designed for purposes that are similar to monasteries, and now functions as an ethnographic museum as well, reflecting the rites of the sect. The Lapidary Museum was originally built as a guesthouse for the pilgrims visiting the St. Sophia Cathedral (now the Selimiye Mosque ). It hosts a collection of architectural artefacts and antiquities that have been excavated. The Near East University campus

9130-763: The highest chances by the Turkish Cypriot media in a feat that was seen as a major surprise victory. The organisation of the municipality features a 22-member City Council, composed of 8 councillors from the Republican Turkish Party (CTP), 6 from the National Unity Party (UBP), 6 from the Communal Democracy Party, 1 from the Democratic Party (DP-UG) and 1 from the New Cyprus Party (YKP). Below

9240-473: The lack of ü vowel in the Trabzon dialect means -un would be used in both of these cases — elun and kitabun . With the exceptions stated below, Turkish words are oxytone (accented on the last syllable). Turkish has two groups of sentences: verbal and nominal sentences. In the case of a verbal sentence, the predicate is a finite verb, while the predicate in nominal sentence will have either no overt verb or

9350-466: The language are found in loanwords and may be categorised as falling diphthongs usually analyzed as a sequence of /j/ and a vowel. The principle of vowel harmony, which permeates Turkish word-formation and suffixation, is due to the natural human tendency towards economy of muscular effort. This principle is expressed in Turkish through three rules: The second and third rules minimize muscular effort during speech. More specifically, they are related to

9460-429: The language reform, the Turkish education system discontinued the teaching of literary form of Ottoman Turkish and the speaking and writing ability of society atrophied to the point that, in later years, Turkish society would perceive the speech to be so alien to listeners that it had to be "translated" three times into modern Turkish: first in 1963, again in 1986, and most recently in 1995. The past few decades have seen

9570-525: The linguistic concept of accent , which is also covered with these words. Several universities, as well as a dedicated work-group of the Turkish Language Association, carry out projects investigating Turkish dialects. As of 2002 work continued on the compilation and publication of their research as a comprehensive dialect- atlas of the Turkish language. Although the Ottoman alphabet, being slightly more phonetically ambiguous than

9680-427: The majority of the population in the walled city, while Turkish Cypriots predominantly inhabit the areas of the city outside the walls. Turkish Cypriots follow a more secularised lifestyle than the more conservative settlers, leading to tension between the communities. However, in the 2010s, a significant number of settled workers in the walled city left Northern Cyprus. Historically, Turkish Cypriots had concentrated to

9790-402: The modern Turkish language. While visiting the region between Adıyaman and Adana , Evliya Çelebi recorded the "Turkman language" and compared it with his own Turkish: Reforms Kemalism After the foundation of the modern state of Turkey and the script reform , the Turkish Language Association (TDK) was established in 1932 under the patronage of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk , with

9900-405: The municipality of Alayköy and the village of Kanlıköy under the jurisdiction of Gönyeli, where North Nicosia is projected to grow. The metropolitan area has an area of 165.2 square kilometres. The quarters of Nicosia outside the walled city are more spacious than the walled city, with wider roads and junctions. These areas are characterised by multi-floor concrete buildings. In the outskirts of

10010-410: The national and natural dialects of Azerbaijan". However, the presence of Turkish as foreign language is not as high as Russian. In Uzbekistan, the second most populated Turkic country, a new TV channel Foreign Languages TV was established in 2022. This channel has been broadcasting Turkish lessons along with English, French, German and Russian lessons. Turkish is the official language of Turkey and

10120-489: The north of the riverbed and Greek Cypriots to the south. The Green Line was drawn to separate the Turkish quarters of the city from the Greek quarters, and 7000 Turkish Cypriots, around 30% of the Turkish population of Greater Nicosia, were displaced from quarters of the walled city and some suburbs such as Küçük Kaymaklı/Omorphita. North Nicosia also received a great number of displaced Turkish Cypriots from surrounding villages. The Göçmenköy quarter (literally meaning "village of

10230-489: The personal ending, so for example Necla, siz öğretmen misiniz ? ('Necla, are you [formal, plural] a teacher?'). Word order in simple Turkish sentences is generally subject–object–verb , as in Korean and Latin , but unlike English, for verbal sentences and subject-predicate for nominal sentences. However, as Turkish possesses a case-marking system, and most grammatical relations are shown using morphological markers, often

10340-435: The phenomenon of labial assimilation: if the lips are rounded (a process that requires muscular effort) for the first vowel they may stay rounded for subsequent vowels. If they are unrounded for the first vowel, the speaker does not make the additional muscular effort to round them subsequently. Grammatical affixes have "a chameleon-like quality", and obey one of the following patterns of vowel harmony: Practically,

10450-473: The popularity of the area. Tourism is an important sector of the economy. In 2012, North Nicosia hosted more than 146,000 tourists, accounting for 13.8% of the total touristic stays in Northern Cyprus. In 2008, after the opening of the Ledra Street crossing, the Arasta area saw an influx of visitors as around 2300 Greek Cypriots and tourists used the crossing to cross into the area daily. The city has seen

10560-638: The preceding vowel. In native Turkic words, the sounds [c] , [ɟ] , and [l] are mainly in complementary distribution with [k] , [ɡ] , and [ɫ] ; the former set occurs adjacent to front vowels and the latter adjacent to back vowels. The distribution of these phonemes is often unpredictable, however, in foreign borrowings and proper nouns. In such words, [c] , [ɟ] , and [l] often occur with back vowels: some examples are given below. However, there are minimal pairs that distinguish between these sounds, such as kar [kɑɾ] "snow" vs kâr [cɑɾ] "profit". Turkish orthography reflects final-obstruent devoicing ,

10670-425: The primary means of transport. There is a bus terminal in the region of Yenişehir . The walled city has been facilitated to be easily navigable on foot, but the municipality has been criticised over the lack of a reliable system of public transport. Turkish language To the west, the influence of Ottoman Turkish —the variety of the Turkish language that was used as the administrative and literary language of

10780-440: The principles of i-type vowel harmony in practice: Türkiye' dir ("it is Turkey"), kapı dır ("it is the door"), but gün dür ("it is the day"), palto dur ("it is the coat"). These are four word-classes that are exceptions to the rules of vowel harmony: The road sign in the photograph above illustrates several of these features: The rules of vowel harmony may vary by regional dialect. The dialect of Turkish spoken in

10890-575: The prospect of enosis , on 20 July 1974, the Turkish Army invaded the island, and from then occupied the 37% of the north part of the Republic of Cyprus. The invasion included two phases. The second phase was performed on 14 August 1974, where the Turkish Army advanced their positions, eventually capturing a total of 37% of Cypriot territory, including the northern part of Nicosia and the cities of Kyrenia and Famagusta . On 23 April 2003,

11000-401: The remainder. Azerbaijani language , official in Azerbaijan, is mutually intelligible with Turkish and speakers of both languages can understand them without noticeable difficulty, especially when discussion comes on ordinary, daily language. Turkey has very good relations with Azerbaijan, with a multitude of Turkish companies and authorities investing there, while the influence of Turkey in

11110-557: The road is the Kumarcılar Hanı (Gamblers' Inn), built in the 17th century as a typical example of Ottoman trading inns. Another central point in the walled city is the Selimiye Mosque , originally built as the St. Sophia Cathedral. The mosque is the chief religious centre in Northern Cyprus. It was built between 1209 and 1228 by the Latin Church of Cyprus, in a Gothic style resembling French cathedrals. Its columns are older, from

11220-552: The stage. The city hosts several folk dance groups, which organise annual festivals to perform Cypriot folk dances. The foreign students or delegations visiting universities perform their own traditional dances. The city hosts folk dance shows of children from other countries in the annual children's day on 23 April. North Nicosia annually hosts the Nicosia International Folk Dance Festival, where groups from various countries perform all around

11330-432: The twofold pattern (also referred to as the e-type vowel harmony) means that in the environment where the vowel in the word stem is formed in the front of the mouth, the suffix will take the e-form, while if it is formed in the back it will take the a-form. The fourfold pattern (also called the i-type) accounts for rounding as well as for front/back. The following examples, based on the copula -dir ("[it] is"), illustrate

11440-404: The walled city and 13 are outside, and below is list of them sorted according to population according to the 2011 census: The walled city of Nicosia is very rich in history, culture and architecture. The northern part is richer in historical buildings and cultural works, with its Selimiye quarter retaining its complete historical character and atmosphere. The walled city overall has been declared

11550-489: The walled city, North Nicosia has expanded to become a large city, with an urban area that has absorbed the neighbouring town of Gönyeli and the former village of Hamitköy that is part of the Nicosia Turkish Municipality. The larger North Nicosia metropolitan area by definition includes the Haspolat region which is also considered to be a part of the city proper as it is within the Nicosia Turkish Municipality jurisdiction,

11660-622: The year 2011 alone. In this year, a large amount of construction of dwellings was observed especially in the Hamitköy area and Gönyeli , which is part of the Nicosia urban area, but also in the regions of Küçük Kaymaklı and Aydemet region, indicating a residential growth in these areas. North Nicosia is home to cultural diversity. Students from different backgrounds in the universities celebrate their national festivals with activities, at which their national dances and traditions are performed. Different religious groups conduct cultural activities;

11770-489: Was based mostly on the fact these languages share three features: agglutination , vowel harmony and lack of grammatical gender. The earliest known Old Turkic inscriptions are the three monumental Orkhon inscriptions found in modern Mongolia . Erected in honour of the prince Kul Tigin and his brother Emperor Bilge Khagan , these date back to the Second Turkic Khaganate (dated 682–744 CE). After

11880-709: Was established in 1964 and prepares students for the British educational system. The private high schools in Nicosia are the Near East College , the Levent College and the TED College. There are also the state-owned Anadolu High School of Fine Arts and four vocational high schools. North Nicosia is a major transport hub in Northern Cyprus, where the highways from the other major cities of Northern Cyprus, Famagusta , Kyrenia and Morphou intersect. It

11990-470: Was founded in 1988 and its campus is a few kilometres away from Nicosia proper. The Cyprus International University followed in 1997 with a campus that is located at the Haspolat region, outside the proper city of Nicosia. The University of Mediterranean Karpasia was founded in 2011, and is located at a building in the Küçük Kaymaklı region, within the city of Nicosia. The Near East University owns

12100-451: Was used as a marketplace in the Ottoman era. Today, it is used as a cultural centre where various cultural activities such as concerts and festivals take place. The two buildings overlook a square, named the Selimiye Square, which also hosts cultural activity and occasional dance shows. The Library of Sultan Mahmud II , which hosts manuscripts in Turkish, Arabic and Persian that are over 500 years old and considered fine examples of calligraphy,

#355644