Earthquake Politics: A Reflection on Aftershocks in Cyprus

The February 2023 earthquakes in southern Türkiye and northern Syria caused massive loss of life and displacement, including a collective trauma for the Turkish Cypriot community after a school volleyball team from Famagusta perished. While the disaster initially sparked empathy and solidarity from Greek Cypriots, political tensions regarding recognition and sovereignty quickly impeded structured cooperation. The authors argue that Cyprus remains vulnerable to natural disasters and should utilize UN-established Technical Committees and EU disaster resilience frameworks, such as prepEU and rescEU, to develop joint crisis management plans.

• The earthquakes of 6 February 2023 in southern Anatolia resulted in over 50,000 deaths, 2.3 million homeless people, and 3.3 million displaced individuals, with an estimated 210 million tonnes of rubble produced.
• The disaster caused a collective trauma for the Turkish Cypriot community, specifically in Famagusta, after 35 members of a secondary school volleyball team—including 25 children—were killed in Adıyaman.
• Initial community-level empathy and solidarity from Greek Cypriots were stifled by the 'politics of the Cyprus problem,' where the Greek Cypriot side fears granting 'recognition' to the north and the Turkish Cypriot leadership seeks 'sovereign equality'.
• Existing UN-mandated Technical Committees, specifically the Technical Committee on Crisis Management and the Technical Committee on Environment, remain underutilized and ineffective due to exclusionary political discourses.
• Cyprus lacks a serious response plan for earthquakes, fires, or droughts, and both sides need to upgrade building codes and review old infrastructure, including hospitals and public schools.
• The authors suggest incorporating Turkish Cypriots into European Union disaster resilience mechanisms, specifically prepEU and rescEU, to improve the capacity to anticipate and withstand future emergencies.

APA

Borman, İ., & Hatay, M. (2023). Earthquake Politics: A Reflection on Aftershocks in Cyprus. Peace Research Institute Oslo. https://cdn.cloud.prio.org/files/8961bd1b-83ee-41d1-a0ef-75bfc597f5e1/PCC PB 01 2023.pdf?inline=true

Chicago

Borman, İpek, and Mete Hatay. Earthquake Politics: A Reflection on Aftershocks in Cyprus. Peace Research Institute Oslo, 2023. https://cdn.cloud.prio.org/files/8961bd1b-83ee-41d1-a0ef-75bfc597f5e1/PCC PB 01 2023.pdf?inline=true.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Borman |first1=İpek |last2=Hatay |first2=Mete |title=Earthquake Politics: A Reflection on Aftershocks in Cyprus |publisher=Peace Research Institute Oslo |date=2023 |url=https://cdn.cloud.prio.org/files/8961bd1b-83ee-41d1-a0ef-75bfc597f5e1/PCC PB 01 2023.pdf?inline=true |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{borman2023earthquake, author = {Borman, İpek and Hatay, Mete}, title = {{Earthquake Politics: A Reflection on Aftershocks in Cyprus}}, institution = {Peace Research Institute Oslo}, year = {2023}, url = {https://cdn.cloud.prio.org/files/8961bd1b-83ee-41d1-a0ef-75bfc597f5e1/PCC PB 01 2023.pdf?inline=true}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }