Elif Nazlı Tangül
Elif Nazlı Tangül
ARUCAD- Arkın University of Creative Arts and Design, nazli.tangul@gmail.com.
Abstract:
UNESCO’s first convention concerning the protection of cultural heritage in 1972 focused on the protection of tangible cultural heritage rather than intangible cultural heritage. The shift of concentration towards to the safeguarding of intangible cultural heritage elements is relatively recent While this is the case, what has been done to protect the intangible cultural heritage in North Cyprus is an interesting question that needs to be explored, considering that when talking about heritage, ‘tangible’ rather than ‘intangible’ heritage comes to mind.
An important issue comes to the fore when the practices for the protection of intangible heritage in North Cyprus are examined, that is the special situation of Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus as a state in the international arena. In this case, it is necessary to examine the issue under the umbrella of this international reality of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. The highlight will be the fact that this situation affects and limits the efforts to safeguard the Turkish Cypriot cultural heritage, which is the reality of the lack of assistance and support due to the T.R.N.C.’s lack of international recognition.
The existence of UNESCO and the dilemma of not being able to benefit from it is the biggest obstacle to the efforts to protect the intangible heritage of North Cyprus. Therefore, this preliminary study aims to identify the barriers and current conservation practices in efforts to safeguard the intangible heritage of Northern Cyprus.
Keywords: Heritage, Intangible Cultural Heritage, UNESCO, Safeguarding, North Cyprus
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