Relationship Between Culture, Art and Politics: The Example of North Cyprus

This study reveals the relationship between art and politics and discusses the concepts of art, politics and culture. In the study, first of all, the concept of culture is presented with a historical perspective and followed by discussions on cultural policies. In light of these conceptual discussions, the relationship between art and politics has been discussed in a wide range. The main aim of this study is to examine the cultural relations of Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus as a concrete evaluation area. In this context, cultural policies in Northern Cyprus are studied in two stages. In the first phase of the study, in the light of the existing documents, cultural policies and the analysis of documents for pressure groups which are thought to be effective on current policies and content analysis were applied to these documents. In this context, the laws, communities and concrete examples of these laws and regulations are examined. At this stage, the activities of the Department of Culture and its affiliated communities in the last year have also been demonstrated. In addition, content analysis for the existing documents of 3 pressure groups, which were considered to be effective on cultural policies, was applied in the second stage of the study. In examining these pressure groups, political parties, universities and non-governmental organizations in the field of culture were discussed. In the second phase of the study, the analysis of cultural policies in Northern Cyprus was made by using the in-depth semi-structured interview technique. As a result of these interviews with officials representing 5 (five) different branches of art, a discussion has been made and these discussions have been re-examined within the framework of the existing laws. In the light of the information and documents obtained, the relationship between art and politics in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus has not been sufficiently integrated and it is stated that the existing branches of art and culture cannot find sufficient support. In this context, the necessity of revising and updating the cultural policies is important for the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.