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Cyprus

From Bahaipedia
 Cyprus
Bahá’ís of Northern and Southern Cyprus, 2003.
Location of Cyprus
National AssemblyCyprus
Statistics:
Total Population
 -  UN 2021[1] 1,244,188
Bahá'í pop.
 -  Bahá'í source  
 -  Non-Bahá'í source 1,258
History:
Firsts
 -  Pioneers 1868, Mishkín-Qalam
1953, Hugh McKinley
1953, Violet McKinley
1953, Abbas Vekil
1953, Semire Vekil 
 -  Local Assembly 1956, Nicosia 
 -  National Assembly 1978 
Official Website http://www.cy.bahai.org
Related media
Categories: Cyprus • People

The Republic of Cyprus is an island nation in the Mediterranean Sea. Greek and Turkish are its official languages and Christianity and Islam are the predominant religions.

The island was part of the Byzantine Empire in the Middle Ages and was under French and Venetian control until being incorporated into the Ottoman Empire in 1571. The British Empire established control of the island in 1878 and formally annexed it in 1914. Cyprus was granted independence in 1960 however tension arose between Cypriots who considered themselves Greek and Cypriots who considered themselves Turkish and in 1983 Northern Cyprus was established through an invasion by Turkey. The status of Northern Cyprus remains contentious to the present day.

Bahá’ís first lived in Cyprus in 1868 however efforts to establish a community began in 1953. Local circumstances disrupted the Bahá’í community which became firmly established in the south of the island in the 1970s.

History[edit]

In 1868 Mírzá Yaḥyá, the half-brother of Bahá’u’lláh who had launched a campaign of opposition against Bahá’u’lláh and advanced a claim of leadership over the Bábí community, was exiled to Famagusta, Cyprus, at the same time that Bahá’u’lláh was exiled to Akka. Four Bahá’ís who had been imprisoned in Constantinople were exiled to Famagusta at the same time.[2] One of the Bahá’ís left Cyprus in 1870, another passed in Cyprus in 1871 and another in 1872.[3] Mishkín-Qalam was one of the Bahá’í exiles and remained in Cyprus until 1886, moving from Famagusta to Nicosia in 1879 then to Lanarca in 1885.[4] A Bahá’í community was not established and Yaḥyá also made no efforts to establish a community of followers, being regarded as a Muslim by the populace and having a Muslim burial upon his passing in 1912.[5]

When Shoghi Effendi launched the Ten Year Crusade teaching plan in 1953 Cyprus was designated a goal territory for the establishment of a Bahá’í community. Abbas Vekil arrived in Nicosia in August, 1953, and was later joined by Hugh McKinley.[6] In November they were joined by Vekil's wife Semire and McKinley's mother Violet. Through their efforts a Local Spiritual Assembly of Nicosia was established in 1956,[7] and the McKinley's pioneered within Cyprus to Famagusta in 1958.[8] The Local Spiritual Assembly of Nicosia was officially incorporated in 1959.[9]

As of 1963 Nicosia remained the only Assembly in Cyprus,[10] however in December that year violence broke out between the Greek and Turkish communities of Nicosia disrupting the Bahá’í community,[11] and as of 1968 the Assembly had been disbanded with Cyprus having small Bahá’í communities in two localities in the country.[12]

The community experienced steady growth throughout the 1970's with the first Bahá’í Winter School of Cyprus being held in 1976,[13] and in 1978 the National Spiritual Assembly of Cyprus was established.[14] Rúḥíyyih Khánum made several visits to Cyprus in 1981,[15] and the Bahá’í community of Cyprus collaborated closely with the Bahá’í community of Greece in the late 1970's and early 1980's.[16] A Bahá’í publishing house named New Era Press, which was later changed to World Press, was established on Cyprus in 1984.[17]

In 1994 a Bahá’í Winter School was held in the United Nations zone held between Northern and Southern Cyprus,[18] and in 1995 a Bahá’í Summer School was held in Girne, Cyprus, which included participants from Northern and Southern Cyprus and resulted in many people becoming Bahá’ís.[19] In 1996 the Bahá’í community of Cyprus celebrated Naw-Ruz with participants from Northern and Southern Cyprus in attendance for the first time.[20] A Bahá’í Regional Women's Gathering was held in Nicosia in 1997.[21]

In 2003 the Bahá’í community of Cyprus hosted a devotional meeting in Nicosia which was the first event Bahá’ís from Northern Cyprus had been able to attend in Southern Cyprus.[22]

References[edit]

  1. ↑ "World Population Prospects 2022". population.un.org. United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division. Retrieved July 17, 2022.
  2. ↑ H. M. Baluzyi, Baha'u'llah: The King of Glory, George Ronald: Oxford, 1981, p 269
  3. ↑ Moojan Momen, The Cyprus Exiles, 1991, p 86
  4. ↑ Moojan Momen, The Cyprus Exiles, 1991, p 87
  5. ↑ Moojan Momen, The Cyprus Exiles, 1991, p 97
  6. ↑ Earl Redman, The Knights of Baha'u'llah, George Ronald: Oxford, 2017, p 374
  7. ↑ Earl Redman, The Knights of Baha'u'llah, George Ronald: Oxford, 2017, p 375
  8. ↑ Earl Redman, The Knights of Baha'u'llah, George Ronald: Oxford, 2017, p 378
  9. ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1970). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 13 (1954-1963), Pg(s) 1086. View as PDF.
  10. ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1970). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 13 (1954-1963), Pg(s) 472. View as PDF.
  11. ↑ Earl Redman, The Knights of Baha'u'llah, George Ronald: Oxford, 2017, p 375
  12. ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1974). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 14 (1963-1968), Pg(s) 163. View as PDF.
  13. ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1981). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 17 (1976-1979), Pg(s) 193. View as PDF.
  14. ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1981). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 17 (1976-1979), Pg(s) 192. View as PDF.
  15. ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1986). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 18 (1979-1983), Pg(s) 192. View as PDF.
  16. ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1986). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 18 (1979-1983), Pg(s) 190. View as PDF.
  17. ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1994). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 19 (1983-1986), Pg(s) 175. View as PDF.
  18. ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1996). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 23 (1994-1995), Pg(s) 96. View as PDF.
  19. ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1997). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 24 (1995-1996), Pg(s) 116. View as PDF.
  20. ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1998). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 25 (1996-1997), Pg(s) 63. View as PDF.
  21. ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1999). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 26 (1997-1998), Pg(s) 138. View as PDF.
  22. ↑ https://news.bahai.org/story/216/
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