Collective Memory is being destroyed

The Instructor of GAU Communication Faculty Dr. Ümmü Altan Bayraktar have emphasized in her article which described the destructive effect of modernism and capitalism on the historical structure in sense of destroying the collective memory through reforms.

“Historical-cultural heritages, which are one of the most important inputs in formation of city identities and which provide us to connect with past and future and the opportunity of intergenerational communication, and with their archeological, social, cultural, economic and esthetics values, historical urban textures, started to disappear as a result of irregular and unplanned structuring and the investments which are made with the logic of economic rationality”

Bayraktar, who explained that with their historical places, city centers has an important part in the collective memory which is a significant constituent of the public space, emphasized that as a result of the changes that have been experienced, these places are no longer livable and they have turned into ordinary areas.

Kyrenia, the City of Cyprus

Bayraktar who especially referred to Kyrenia in his article, stated that “With the physical heritage that they carry, Kyrenia and harbor are effective factors in the cultural memory and image of the settlement and they provide people to connect with the past. When thinking its development during the historical process and physical and social features, “Harbor” which is located in Kyrenia, have brought along some negative effects which are threatening to hand down the next generations”

Bayraktar explained that Kyrenia Harbor is one the first images that comes to minds when referring to Cyprus, especially Kyrenia and it has important historical constructions that carries the memories of the past and it was underlined that there are many precautions that are taken every period in order to protect the historic fabric of Kyrenia, however, the destruction we experience nowadays is still yet to be stopped.

Kyrenia, since the Middle Ages to present

Ummu Altan Bayraktar: “There are efforts made to protect the natural structure of Kyrenia Harbor, which was an important seaport in the Middle Ages and is located in an area that its trade routes intersects with Europe, Middle East, Far East and North Africa, however, unfortunately Kyrenia Castle and its environment are not protected enough in terms of historical structure and image; it is slowly losing the works that existed in its historical background”

“Enlargement of Kyrenia Harbor sidewalk areas; turning the granaries to hostel, hotel or accomodation places; reserving the ground floors for places such as restaurant, cafe-pubs and discos; removing the paving stones in the alleys and making asphalts instead and similar changes caused Kyrenia Harbor to have a modern city and a residential area image, which is very different from the periods of Lusignan, Venezia, Ottoman and Britain. When studying Kyrenia, which has an important role in the public spaces of Cyprus, and the Harbor, it can be seen that despite the meaning that the city has carried from past to present with its harbor and its historical structures, nowadays many places of the city shows a different image: ‘old and new’ impressions have been nearly turned into a conflict and the historical references have been demaged.”

Social Responsibility

Bakyraktar also stated that “As in the overall island, with the economic income that may be provided from tourism, making Kyrenia and the Harbor a livable place has a great importance. Benefiting from tourism equals to making arrangements within the frame of protection which can be suitable for the natural environment, cultural heritage, and social and economical area structure of a settlement. Otherwise, tourism can overweigh the advantages and cause some serious problems”. Bayraktar underlined that the contributions of responsive institutions and organizations such as Girne American University are very important for our country.