Synthesis 10 (Fall 2017) 116 Turkish Cypriot identity after 1974: Turkish Cypriots, Turks of Cyprus or Cypriots? Ioannis Moutsis Abstract The hopes created by the unexpected triumph of Mustafa Akıncı in the Turkish Cypriot parliamentary elections in 2015 opened once again the debate about Turkish Cypriot identity. Despite the various works on the issue since the opening of the borders in 2003, the issue of identity in the Turkish Cypriot community still remains under-researched. The hope of the Turkish Cypriots for reunification and an end to political isolation was replaced by skepticism after the rejection of the 2004 Annan Plan by the Greek Cypriots in a national referendum. Nevertheless the election of Mustafa AkLjncı with an overwhelming sixty percent proves that the Turkish Cypriots should not be considered as loyal to the AKP-controlled Turkish political order as perhaps they were once thought to be. This article will attempt to examine the various aspects of Turkish Cypriot identity, as this has been formed by the Cyprus issue, their fifty-year-long isolation and the hope for an end of the present status quo that will open a window to the outside world forty-one years after the 1974 war and eleven years after the Annan Plan referenda. Until recently Greek Cypriot historiography and to a certain extent international historiography too often neglected the Turkish Cypriot community when dealing with the history and politics of Cyprus. This was especially true in the case of Greek Cypriot scholars, who, when referring to Cyprus, usually meant the Greek Cypriot community. Since the opening of the borders in 2003 and the Annan Plan referenda in 2004, the Turkish Cypriot community have attracted the interest of academics and journalists in an attempt to explain and analyse the structure of the community that has lived in Cyprus for centuries but has not been researched in detail due to political and ideological reasons. 1 While Greek Cypriot scholars are expected to write extensively about their own community, international scholars also ignored the Turkish Cypriots for reasons that include their marginalisation until the establishment of the Republic of Cyprus in 1960 and the relatively small size of the community. In order to better understand the evolution of communal identity, this paper will look at the transition from the Ottoman era to the British