Cypriot Americans

Cyprus reports that emigration to the United States began as early as the 1930s, but data is available only after 1954. The earliest Greek immigrants arrived in 1768 and settled at New Smyrna near Saint Augustine, Florida, in a colony of 450. Turkish American immigration is not well documented. It is assumed that the Turkish Cypriots who came to the United States between 1820 and 1860 were fleeing religious or political persecution.[3]

Although the political and religious persecution of Turkish Cypriots during 1820 and 1860 in Cyprus is highly unlikely because Cyprus was part of the Ottoman empire at the time.

The periods of greatest emigration were between 1955 and 1959, the 1960s and between 1974 and 1979. These were times of political instability and socio-economic insecurity. Between 1955 and 1959, the period of anti-colonial struggle, 29,000 Cypriots (5 percent of the population) left the island. In the 1960s, during periods of economic recession and inter-communal strife, 50,000 Cypriots (8.5 percent of the island's population) left Cyprus. Most of these immigrants were young males, usually unemployed and from rural areas; only 5 percent were university graduates. Although 75 percent immigrated to Britain and another 10 percent went to Australia, about 5 percent went to North America. After the 1974 Turkish Invasion of Cyprus 51,500 Turkish and Greek Cypriots left as immigrants and another 15,000 became temporary workers abroad. The new wave of immigrants had Australia as the most common destination (35 percent), followed by North America, Greece and UK. According to U.S. statistics, Cypriot immigration peaked at 828 in 1976, with the number of immigrants dropping to 291 in 1984.[3]

Modern Cypriot American women are better educated than their mothers and are more likely to work outside the home. While the traditional domestic role is still an expectation, Cypriot American women are more likely to balance the home responsibilities with a professional occupation.[3]

After World War II, Cypriot women had greater access to education and increased their participation in the work force. At the beginning of the century, the proportion of girls to boys enrolled in primary education was one to three. By 1943, about 80 percent of girls attended primary school. When elementary education was made mandatory in 1960, there were equal enrollment levels for boys and girls. By the 1980s, girls made up 45 percent of those receiving secondary education. Only after the mid-1960s did women commonly leave Cyprus to receive higher education. In the 1980s, women made up about 32 percent of those studying abroad.[3]

Cypriot women have long participated in the work force, traditionally in agriculture. From 1960 to 1985, the women's share of the urban work force rose from 22 percent to 41 percent, while their share of the rural work force fell from 51 percent to 44.4 percent. Cypriot women had the same rights to social welfare as men in such matters as social security payments, unemployment compensation, vacation time and other common social provisions. Special protective legislation in 1985 provided women with marriage grants and with maternity grants that paid them 75 percent of their insurable earnings. But occupational gender segregation persisted in Cyprus at the beginning of the 1990s. The participation of women in clerical jobs had more than doubled since the late 1970s, yet only one woman in 15 was in an administrative or managerial position in 1985. Women's share of professional jobs increased to 39 percent by the mid-1980s, compared with 36 percent ten years earlier, but these jobs were concentrated in medicine and teaching, where women had traditionally found employment. In fields where men were dominant, Cypriot women's share of professional positions was 11 percent, up from 8 percent in 1976. In the fields where women were dominant, men took just under half the professional positions.[3]

Traditional attitudes continue to change, especially in urban areas, but were still prevalent in the early 1990s. Although most Cypriot women worked outside the home, they were expected to fulfill the traditional domestic roles with little help from Cypriot male spouses. Women with full-time jobs were pressured by the traditional standards of keeping a clean house and providing daily hot meals. In the 1990s, Cypriot women were still burdened with the expectation of safeguarding the honor of the family by avoiding any social contact with men that could be construed to have a sexual content.[3] Greek Cypriot Americans uphold church traditions, such as abstaining from meat, fish or dairy products during Lent. Easter is the most celebrated religious holiday for Greek Cypriot Americans. Avgolemono soup, made from eggs and lemons in chicken stock, is traditional Easter fare, as are the flaounes, savory Easter cakes that contain a special Easter cheese, eggs, spices and herbs all wrapped in a yeast pastry.[3]

In 1970, American sociologists Marvin Gerst and James H. Tenzel studied the two major ethnic communities of Cyprus and found that Turkish Cypriots value a society in which roles are clearly defined. For example, they regard public service as a more prestigious (though poor-paying) occupation than a successful business career. Turkish Cypriot Americans, though not strict Muslims, often become a part of the Muslim community in America.[3]

Among Greek Orthodox believers, the wedding sponsors, the koumbari, act as godparents to the first child. The baptism ceremony of the Greek Orthodox church involves several steps. It begins at the narthex of the church, where the godparents speak for the child, renounce Satan, blow three times in the air and spit three times on the floor. After reciting the Nicene Creed, the child's name is spoken for the first time. At the front of the church, the priest uses consecrated water to make the sign of the cross on various parts of the child, who is undressed. The godparents rub the child with olive oil and the priest immerses the child in water three times before handing the child to the godparents, who wrap him in a new white sheet. Following baptism, the child is anointed with a special oil (miron) and dressed in new clothing. A candle is lit and the priest and godparents hold the child while other children walk around in a dance signifying joy. Then scriptures are read and communion is given to the child.[3]

In Greek Cypriot culture, an engagement is preceded by negotiations between parents, but parents could not force their children to accept arranged marriages. Cypriot Americans often choose their mates without parental involvement. Most Greek Cypriots have Greek Orthodox weddings.

For Turkish Cypriots, marriages were traditionally negotiated between parents, although today it is not uncommon for couples to meet at university and request their parents' approval. Marriage between Turkish Cypriot men and non Turkish Cypriot/Moslem women are much more common than between Turkish Cypriot women and non Turkish Cypriot/Moslem men due to religious and sociocultural factors. Being a secular people, most Turkish Cypriot marriages whether in Cyprus or the US, are civil weddings carried out by marriage celebrants and it is unusual for Turkish Cypriots to be married by imams. Divorce is not uncommon.

In Cyprus, the most popular time for weddings is in the summer and the whole village celebrates. Resi, a rich pilaf of lamb and wheat, is prepared and special little shortbreads, kourabiedes, are piled high for the guests. The sponsor at a Cypriot wedding, similar to an American best man or maid of honor, becomes a ceremonial relative. The male sponsor, koumbaros, or female sponsor, koumbara, is expected to pay for the wedding expenses, except the rings. The sponsors usually become the godparents of the couple's first child. Most weddings involve several sponsors.[3]

Traditionally, the bridegroom provided the house and the bride's family the furniture and linens. This was the dowry, the allocation of an equal portion of the parents' property to the children, male or female, at the time of marriage, rather than after the parents' death. Until the 1950s, this transfer of property at marriage was agreed to orally by the parties; more recently the so-called written dowry contract was introduced. It specifies the amount of property to be given to the couple. It is signed by all parties and enforced by religious authorities. After World War II, it became the bride's obligation to provide the house. Ownership of a house, given the scarcity of land (especially after the Turkish invasion of Cyprus) and the considerable expense of building, became a great advantage for a single woman seeking to marry. In the 1990s, working women's income primarily went to the construction of a house.[3]

In rural Turkish Cypriot society, wedding festivities lasted for several days. Modern Turkish Cypriot couples often do not rely on their parents to arrange a match. Although dating, as practiced in the United States, was not common even at the beginning of the 1990s, couples met in small groups of friends. Once a couple decided to marry, both sets of parents were consulted. The families then arranged the engagement and marriage.[3]

Turkish Cypriots adapted the Greek Cypriot tradition of the bride's family providing substantial assistance to the newlyweds by including assistance from both families. Traditionally, the bride's family provided a house, some furniture and money as part of their daughter's dowry. The bridegroom's family met the young couple's remaining housing needs. If the bride's family was unable to provide such assistance, the young couple lived with the bride's family until they saved enough money to set up a separate household. The bride brought to her new home the rest of her dowry, known as cehiz, which made the new family financially more secure. Turkish Cypriot Americans often provide their own housing, though families send assistance where possible.

Most Greek Cypriots are Greek Orthodox Christians, followers of the Church of Cyprus, a tradition using the Greek liturgy and headed by a synod composed of bishops and an elected archbishop. Turkish Cypriots are Muslims and form the second largest religious group. Ritual is the center of activity for the Orthodox church. Seven sacraments are recognized: baptism in infancy, followed by confirmation with consecrated oil, penance, the Eucharist, matrimony, ordination and unction in times of sickness or when near death. Many Greek Cypriot Americans are members of local Orthodox churches founded by Greek immigrants in even the smallest of communities, such as the church established in 1900 in Indianapolis by 29 immigrants.[3]

Nearly all Turkish Cypriots were followers of Sunni Islam and are among the most secular of Islamic peoples, not abstaining from alcohol as standard Muslim teaching requires, but following traditional Mediterranean customs. Wedding ceremonies were civil, rather than religious. Religious leaders had little influence in politics and religious instruction, while available in schools, was not obligatory. Religion came to be a personal matter among Turkish Cypriots and they did not attempt to impose their religious beliefs on others. Although there was some fasting during Ramadan, moderate attendance at Friday prayers and widespread observation of the holy days, few Turkish Cypriots were orthodox Muslims. Some Turkish Cypriot Americans become more devoted, but most continue a less rigid adherence to Muslim beliefs.[3]