British Cypriots

Before the First World War, very few Cypriots migrated to the UK and the British Cypriot population at this time was around 150, according to historian Stavros Panteli.[1] Only a handful of marriages involving Cypriots are recorded at London's Greek Orthodox Cathedral of Saint Sophia in the years before 1918.[1] During the First World War many Cypriots joined the allied forces. When the British annexed Cyprus in 1914, Cypriots' political status changed and they found it easier to travel.[1]

The 1931 British Census recorded more than 1,000 Cypriot-born people, but many of these were the children of British military personnel serving in the Mediterranean.[2] However, some Greek Cypriots did migrate to the UK in the 1920s and 1930s, often finding jobs in the catering industry in Soho.[3][4] By the start of the Second World War, there were around 8,000 Cypriots in London.[5] More Cypriot immigrants arrived during the National Organisation of Cypriot Fighters (EOKA)'s campaign for Cypriot independence from Britain and union with Greece, which started in 1955. In the four years of conflict, an average of 4,000 Cypriots left the island per year for the UK,[2] because of violence on the island and the fear felt by both Greek and Turkish Cypriots in mixed villages where they formed minorities.[6] Migration peaked following independence in 1960,[4] with around 25,000 Cypriots migrating in the year that followed.[2] Many migrants joined family already living in Britain.[4][6] Further migration accompanied the Turkish invasion of the island in 1974.[3] Home Office figures show that roughly 10,000 Cypriots fled to the UK, the majority of them refugees, but many of them subsequently returned to the island.[5]

In the 1960s, Greek Cypriots in London outnumbered Turkish Cypriots by four to one.[2] The increase in post-war rents in central London had forced many Cypriot immigrants to move north within the city.[4] The Greek and Turkish Cypriot communities tended to be geographically segregated, with Greeks settling mainly in Camden and Turks in Stoke Newington.[2] This was due to the migrants' reliance on social networks to find housing on their arrival.[7] Robert Winder reports that "Haringey became the second biggest Cypriot town in the world".[2] Many Cypriots set up restaurants, filling a gap left by Italians, many of whom had been interned during the Second World War.[2][4]

Much of the Turkish Cypriot migration to the UK occurred as a consequence of intercommunal violence in Cyprus during the 1950s and 1960s.[8][9] Many Turkish Cypriots viewed the EOKA insurgency as an attempt on the part of Greek Cypriots to establish hegemony on the island with the aim of achieving union with Greece.[6] By 1958, there were around 8,500 Turkish Cypriots in Britain.[6][10] Between 1960 and 1962, the inflow increased substantially because of a fear that Britain would impose immigration controls,[6] and indeed the Commonwealth Immigrants Act 1962 did reduce migration flows from Cyprus to Britain.[11] Although the expansion of Britain's Turkish Cypriot community took place primarily between the late 1940s and the mid-1960s, there was a further influx of around 3,000 immigrants after partition in 1974.[6] Migration continued because of the political and economic situation in the 1970s and 1980s,[8][9] and Turkish Cypriots have continued to migrate to the UK due to high unemployment rates in northern Cyprus.[12] In the early 1980s, it was estimated that 160,000 Cypriots were resident in the UK, 20 to 25 per cent of them being Turkish Cypriots.[11] Since Cyprus joined the European Union in May 2004, holders of Republic of Cyprus passports have been able to migrate freely to the UK under EU law.[13]

According to the BBC, while divisions and resentment exist between Greek and Turkish Cypriots in the UK, particularly amongst those old enough to remember atrocities committed in Cyprus, "if differences of opinion exist, both sides have learnt to live together regardless". Community relations are generally good, with Turkish Cypriot community centres welcoming Greek Cypriots and vice versa.[3] In oral history interviews conducted by academic Nergis Canefe in the late 1990s, Turkish Cypriots in London tended to define themselves as Anglo-Cypriot, particularly if they were born in the UK. Canefe notes that her interviewees were proud to be Cypriot, but also of being British and not Turkish. They had Turkish friends, but also close Greek and Greek Cypriot friends. The neighbourhoods they inhabited tended to be ethnically mixed, and often shared with Greeks and Greek Cypriots.[14]

George Michael

Touker Suleyman

Fatima Whitbread

A number of British Cypriot people are well known in the UK and overseas.

In the Greek Cypriot community, these include George Michael, who was born in London to a Greek Cypriot father;[41] Cat Stevens, who was also born in London to a Greek Cypriot father;[42] entrepreneur Stelios Haji-Ioannou;[43] Andreas Liveras, a Greek Cypriot-born businessman killed in the 2008 Mumbai terrorist attacks;[44] Theo Paphitis, an entrepreneur and TV personality;[45] Greek Cypriot-born artist Panayiotis Kalorkoti;[46] Politician Andrew Adonis's father is a Greek Cypriot who moved to the UK aged 18,[47] and both of Labour MP Bambos Charalambous's parents were born in Cyprus.[48]

Many Turkish Cypriots have also contributed to the arts, literature, music, sciences, sports and politics in the UK. Mustafa Djamgoz is Professor of Cancer Biology at Imperial College London and Chairman of the College of Medicine’s Science Council;[49] Tracey Emin (Turkish Cypriot father) is an artist and a Royal Academician of the Royal Academy of Arts;[50][51] Touker Suleyman is a fashion retail entrepreneur and a "dragon" on Dragon's Den;[52] Hussein Chalayan, MBE, is the winner of the British Designer of the Year in 1999 and 2000;[53] Selin Kiazim is a winner of the Great British Menu[54] Ramadan Güney was the founder of the first Turkish mosque in the UK (Shacklewell Lane Mosque) and former owner of the UK's largest cemetery Brookwood Cemetery;[55][56] Richard Hickmet was the first British-Turkish Cypriot politician who was a Conservative MP in 1983-87;[57] Baroness Meral Ece is the first Turkish Cypriot member of the House of Lords;[52] Alp Mehmet, MVO, was the first of two foreign-born politicians to be appointed ambassador by the UK, having served in Iceland in 2004;[52] and Emma Edhem is a lawyer and councilwoman of the City of London Corporation.[52] In music, notable performers include Erol Alkan;[58] Işın Karaca (Turkish Cypriot mother)[59] Ziynet Sali[60] and B Young.[61] Notable sportspeople include Paralympic swimmer Dervis Konuralp (Turkish Cypriot father);[62] boxing trainer Adam Booth (Turkish Cypriot father);[63] and numerous football players, including Muzzy Izzet[64] and Colin Kazim-Richards[65] who have played for the Turkish national football team; Billy Mehmet who plays for the Turkish Cypriot national football team;[66] and Rhian Brewster (Turkish Cypriot mother) who currently plays for the England national under-21 football team.[67]

British athlete and former world javelin champion Fatima Whitbread was born in London[68] to a Turkish Cypriot mother and Greek Cypriot father, though she was later adopted.[69]

• Cyprus–United Kingdom relations
• Greek Cypriot diaspora
• Greeks in the United Kingdom
• Turkish Cypriot diaspora
• Turks in the United Kingdom
• British Overseas citizen#Cyprus

• Teerling, Janine (2013). The "Return" of British-Born Cypriots to Cyprus: A Narrative Ethnography. Eastbourne: Sussex Academic Press. ISBN 9781845195885.