Vamık Volkan:

We were like birds in a cage

Vamık Volkan, who left Cyprus in 1950 for Turkey, then America to study medicine, has been away from his homeland for 57 long years. The author of several books which have been published in many different languages, Volkan is the leading figure in the field of political psychology. Prof. Dr. Vamık Volkan visits the island for holiday every summer...


You have been away from Cyprus for 57 years. What was your relationship to the island in this long period?
Cyprus was always in my heart. Let me explain: In 1957, I went to America and three months later I received a letter from my father. Attached to the letter, there was a newspaper clipping with a picture of Erol, my flatmate in Ankara. Upon his return to Cyprus after he learnt that his mother was sick, Erol was killed by the Greek Cypriots. I was not aware of the true extent of this event's influence on me. There is a famous approach in psychology: “Survivor guilt.” I was affected by this syndrome. I was not able to leave American until 1968. It was a long time since I've been home, I nearly forgot my native tongue. Of course, while I was away, the unfortunate events unfolded. In this period, I had no contact with my family except for the occasional letter which a friend of mine brought on his return from his visits to Cyprus. The 1968 intervention of Turkey opened the doors of the ghetto. I was immediately on the island. After that year, Cyprus became a part of me.

I believe you regularly visit the island...
Yes, insofar as I find the economic opportunity. Additionally, I have a mission. In every conference I attend, in every book I write, I mention and present Cyprus to other people. Even when I write on schizophrenia, for instance, I mention Cyprus.

You have been living in the USA for 50 years. Which country makes you feel at home?
Definitely Cyprus. After I began to visit the island regularly, I cry every time on the way from the airport to my house. Every day, I wake up before the sunrise, touch and smell the soil in my garden. The garden of my house in America is nearly ten times larger than the one in Cyprus, but I don’t feel like smelling the soil there. It’s an interesting emotion.

CUTTING THROUGH THE FABRIC OF THE TENT
First you studied psychiatry, then psychoanalysis, and finally, the less known field of political psychology...
Actually this story is a bit accidental. In America, I was studying on psychoanalytic psychiatry, and, despite my young age, I was writing books and giving lectures. At that time, an association called "Psychiatry and Foreign Policy" was established. Together with a Greek friend of mine, I was selected to be the youngest member of this association. Usually, we were invited for a drink and chatted with other members! Of course, it was a pleasant situation. We were drinking for free! When we were not around, they were actually working on Turkish-Greek relations...

So, were these meetings influential in shaping your interest in political psychology?
While we were attending these meetings, the Egyptian President of the time Enver Sedat stated on his visit to Israel that the reason behind the conflict between Arabs and Israelis is psychological. Ecevit told the same thing for the Turkish-Greek conflict, but no one paid attention. What was happening was that the historical aspects of these conflicts were overemphasized with regard to their psychological aspects. After the statement of Enver Sedat, a council was founded and the USA sponsored studies in political psychology. Trips to Egypt and Israel were made. Three years later, I was the head of this group. Of course, when you are the head of such a group, you must learn and accumulate a wide range of knowledge. So, I started studying political psychology. This went on until 1986. During that period, we made preliminary studies for the dialogues between the Russians and the Americans. A team including psychiatrists and diplomats was formed. Then I visited the Soviet Union. We worked with Gorbachev for two years. I never met Reagan, but I am sure Gorbachev found our studies useful.

Then you visited many other sites of conflict, such as Israel, Albania, Palestine... Did you see common reasons for these ethnic-religious problems?
Actually, they are all the same. Only when religion is involved, things get a bit more complicated. The most important concept in these cases is the “large group identity”, that is to say, superidentites like Turkish, Kurdish, Catholic. Generally, all human beings belong to a superidentity which might change a little when we are drunk or asleep, but most of the time remains constant. We live in a tent together with thousands, even millions of different people. I use "tent" as an analogy for the concept of large group identity. The fabric of the tent represents the large group identity. There is a political pole which holds the tent upright. Every morning, we wake up under the Turkish flag, we read Turkish newspapers and we live a Turkish life. Yet, most of the time, we do not go through this consciously or it does not strike us as something special to be noticed. But whenever someone tries to cut through the fabric of the tent or whenever the political pole is not holding the tent strongly —and this is what is exactly happening in Turkey right now— everyone pays attention to the tent and is concerned about its continued existence. As the fabric of the tent is damaged, you cannot even think about the clothes you wear, an analogy for subidentities. This is the story of group identity... We are living in an age of ethnicity. Identity conflicts, questions like "who are we?", "how are we different?". The whole world is in decline and the worse is yet to come because religion is gaining significance, too.

TURKISH CYPRIOTS ARE NOT KNOWN
How do you analyze the Cyprus problem in light of this?
All large groups have their own processes. So does the current trauma lived in Cyprus. Turkish Cypriots can visit any place around the world, but without a passport that can show who they really are. This causes a big misrecognition. We can give many examples to this. For instance, the Serbian leader Milosevic was able to mobilize Serbian nationalism by making references to certain historical figures. He showed around and exhibited for one long year from village to village, and finally brought to Kosovo, the dead body of a Serbian killed 600 years ago during the Ottoman period. The body was buried every night but only to be digged up on the next day to repeat this cruel exhibit again and again. Can you imagine the consequences of such an event? Are there no reasonable people in Serbia? Is every Serbian born a killer? All great human tragedies are the result of such traumatic processes.

Is there any way to prevent these tragedies?
We may not prevent this once and for all, but we must surely enrich our diplomatic skills. The groups in conflict must gain an awareness regarding each others’ thoughts and this might help us develop arguments better suited to the psychological process. And this takes time.

As a Turkish Cypriot, how can you describe the psychological condition of your community?
I really want to make a serious study on this topic. My general theories might be correct with respect to Turkish Cypriots as well. Nevertheless, detailed research is necessary. 20- or 21-year-old young people do not know anything about the years of war. The new generations must be informed of their past. Most of us think of Cyprus as the whole world, as if there is nothing beyond Cyprus. The annual budget of a hospital that I worked with at the Virginia University is more than the annual budget of the TRNC!

As a Turkish Cypriot who have worked in many different countries, how do you think the world perceives the Cyprus problem?
Turkish Cypriots are not known in the world. This island has only one recognized state: The Republic of Cyprus, a EU member state. Those who learn that there are Turkish people and a political problem in Cyprus say "then, let's make everyone Cypriot". Maybe one day everyone can feel themselves to be Cypriot, but this is very unlikely for the moment. A Greek Cypriot can completely feel that he is a Cypriot. But what is his large group identity? No doubt that it is the one thousand year old Greek identity and you cannot expect that he will easily get over this identity. This goes for the Turks as well; and we are currently trying to figure out our identity! Hypothetically speaking, if a Greco-Ottoman empire was to be established, all the problems would have been solved. But, no! They have transferred the Turkish-Greek strife to a smaller country.

THE SPONGY CHEESE THEORY
During the Annan Plan period, you came up with a theory called “Spongy Cheese”. Has this theory worked in practice?
Actually what is happening now reflects what I told then. During the Annan Plan period, Alvaro de Soto visited Cyprus. We talked in my home before he started working on the subject. I told him my “spongy cheese" theory. But I don’t know whether he took me seriously. In order for the Cypriot people to find peace, they need to grant each other their different identities. There has to be a boundary. If you establish a spongy, that is, a permeable boundary, there will be exchange —not in the sense of today's market exchange! A psychological exchange. In the past, Cyprus was always like a spongy cheese. Both in the Ottoman and British periods. For instance, it was exceptional when a Turk and a Greek married. And today, the boundary is the main reason behind the feeling of safety.

As far as we know this spongy cheese theory was inspired by your studies in Estonia. Is there a resemblance between the situation in Estonia and that in Cyprus?
We studied in Estonia for 6.5 years. There is a similar situation in Estonia. The population is 1.5 million and 500,000 of them are not Estonian, but Russian. They are not even Estonian citizens. Estonians say that if they want to be citizens, they need to learn the native language! Faced with such a condescending condition, no one wants to learn that language. We made a psychoanalytic study on 40 people consisting of the leaders of both communities. They decided on the spongy cheese solution. They wanted to preserve their private spaces and their own communities, but also keep points of exchange between the communities. In the end, this worked out. But the Cyprus problem has a chronic nature! Sometimes I find in the house newspapers printed a decade ago. Believe me, the news, even the headlines are the same. And unfortunately there is nothing we can do about it.

BIRDS IN A CAGE
What kind of a trauma was created by the “Yes” of Turks and the “No” of Greeks as a result of the Annan Plan referandum?
This proved that the condescending attitude is still present. One sincerely believes that we can live together, the other damns the possibility.

Turkish Cypriots have been isolated and embargoed for a long time. What are the psychological repercussions of this?
If you live under disadvantageous circumstances for a long time, after some time you begin to direct your reactions toward yourself. This goes for both individuals and communities. This is the case for Turkish Cypriots. There is also the “booty psychology”. My neighbor is rich, I am not; I lost my property, he became a property owner... Because of these problems, we were divided among ourselves. And we are tired of it. Now there are more issues that we have to deal with: The old rich, the new rich, the old rich; those who came from Turkey but who are now Cypriots; Greeks; Turks; those who like Greeks, those who don’t...

On the other hand, it is as if the Cyprus problem is the only problem in North Cyprus. When other problems are discussed, there is always a mention of the Cyprus problem. Isn't there a risk of awaiting for the solution to the Cyprus problem and therefore postponing the solution to other serious problems?
Yes, today we have a traditional political structure. I think, the most serious problem is the application of the laws that we made. If we are a legitimate state and we have laws, we have to learn to live with them. You will have a military, you will have a state, but most important of all, you will have laws and law-abiding people. If we become a truly legal state, our communication with the outer world will change dramatically! What we need to do is focus on our internal affairs...

What do you think about the relationship between Turkish Cypriots and Turkey?
In the 1960s, when Turkish Cypriots were forced to live in ghettos, they needed a “motherland”, a sense of security. Interestingly, almost every Turkish Cypriots had birds in their houses. I think we were like those birds. There was a motherland who fed us and looked after us. This of course meant nationalism, which today has a perverted meaning. Turkish Cypriots were a product of the patriotism in Turkey. That was the reason why Turkey intervened in Cyprus.

Finally, tell us about your new projects. Will you analyze Cyprus in the near future?
Yes, I have something in mind, but I cannot possibly change the direction of the current process. At least for now. Because it is inevitable that I will be seen as someone partial. I can easily communicate with the Turkish people. But will the Greek Cypriots listen to me? Of course not...



Who is Vamık Volkan?
Vamık Cemal Volkan was born in 1932 in Lefkoşa. He graduated from Cyprus Islamic High School in 1950, and the Medicine Faculty at the Ankara University in 1956. He went to the USA in 1957 and stayed there. He was the president of the International Political Psychology Association fo rlong years. His books have been published in Finnish, German, Japanese, Romanian, Russian, Spanish, Swedish and Turkish. In 2003, Volkan received the Sigmund Freud award in the field of psychoanalysis. In 2004, he was chosen the educator of the year in the USA. He was nominated for several international awards. Volkan still lives in the USA.