CLASSIFICATION OF SETTLEMENT NAMES IN THE TURKISH CYPRIOT GEOGRAPHY

Abstract

The subject of this study is the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), and its purpose is the
geographical classification of the settlement names of the country. The examination of the
settlement names given by the influence of the physical and human geography elements of the
country (Nicosia, Famagusta, Girne, Güzelyurt, İskele and Lefke districts) will shed light on its past
and the importance of the settlement names that the Turkish people living in Northern Cyprus want
to commemorate for their homeland will be determined. The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus,
which was established after the Cyprus Peace Operation (1974), has given Turkish names to the
lands of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus by the "Continuous Committee for the
Standardization of Geographical Systems" as of 1974, as an indicator of sovereignty. It has
continued with the transfer of their identities to the places where they became homeland by the
tribes that settled in the TRNC lands, which witnessed many migration events in history. Each
civilization reflects its own cultural characteristics in place names. Settlement names are cultural
pools of nations. In the study, document analysis technique, one of the qualitative research methods,
was used. Factors arising from the interrelationship of nature and human relations have been taken
into account. It has been systematically discussed and discussed in order to create a national
awareness level. In this context, it is aimed to contribute to Turkish culture by examining the names
of settlements. In the administrative structure of the TRNC in 2021, there are 261 settlements as
central district, sub-district and neighborhood/village. It is seen that the majority of these settlement
names take their source from geographical elements. 122 (46%) settlements are the names of
settlements given by being influenced by physical geography and 136 (51%) human geography
elements. It has been determined that settlement names related to landforms are more common in
physical elements, and settlement names related to person, lineage and clan name among human
elements are more common in the field. Each civilization reflects its own cultural characteristics in
place names. Settlement names are cultural pools of nations. The Turkish Republic of Northern
Cyprus, which has been the last manifestation of the Turkish presence on the island for centuries,
transferred this ancient culture to the settlement names with the effect of Physical and Human
geography. In this direction, the effects of Turkish culture can be seen in the naming of the
settlements of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus