Religion in Northern Cyprus

Sunni Islam (99%)

Orthodox Christianity (0.5%)

Smaller Christians groups, Other religions and Others (0.5%)

This article documents the status of various religions in the limited-recognition state of Northern Cyprus. Turkish Cypriots administer approximately one-third of the island.

The dominant religion is Sunni Islam, followed by 99% of the population, with Orthodox Christianity comprising 0.5%, and the remainder of the population comprising other Christian groups and religions.

Islam

The constitution states that the area is a secular republic and provides for freedom of conscience and religious faith. There are no official statistics on religion, but in 2022 it was estimated that 97% of the population is

Jehovah’s Witnesses.^[1]

As of 2021, the chairman of the TRNC Directorate of Religious Affairs is Prof. Dr. Ahmet Ünsal.^[2]

There are 7 representatives of the Department: 5 of them in the 5 districts of Northern Cyprus, one in Lefka village, one in the south part of the Cyprus.^[3]

Arabs for the following centuries, until it passed to Latin authority during the Crusades

. The island was conquered by the

Muslim population of the island grew rapidly, partly because of Turkish immigrants but also due to Greek converts to Islam

.

Muslims, along with Turkish settlers from Turkey and adhere to the Sunni branch of Islam. Sufism

also plays an important role. Historically, Muslims were spread over the whole of Cyprus, but since 1974 they have lived primarily in the north. The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community itself has a presence in north.^[4]

Several important Islamic shrines and landmarks exist on the island including:

The
Arabahmet Mosque in Nicosia
(built in the 16th century)

The Hala Sultan Tekke/Umm Haram Mosque in Larnaca (built in the 18th century)
The
Catholic cathedrals left from the Crusader era, which were meant to cater exclusively to the Catholic minority which ruled the island and were converted to mosques after the Muslim conquest in the Middle Ages
.

All of the listed, apart from the Hala Sultan Tekke, are in Northern Cyprus.

Christianity

Maronite Cypriots

in Northern Cyprus.

Orthodoxy

Orthodox Christians in Northern Cyprus make up 0.5% of the population. The Greek Cypriots are members of the Autocephalous Greek Orthodox Church of Cyprus (Church of Cyprus). In addition to the Orthodox Christian and Sunni Muslim communities, there is also small Maronite (Eastern Rites Catholic) community.

In Northern Cyprus are the historical churches of Notre Dame de Tyre in Nicosia (1308) and Ganchvor in Famagusta (1346).

Maronite Church

Out of 209,286 Cypriots 1,131 were Maronites in 1891. The Maronites were 2,752 in 1960, in four villages all situated in currently Northern Cyprus. The origin of the Maronite Church is Lebanon.

The others

Turkish Cypriot Protestants and Anglicans are a very small community. The leader and

Anglican churches in the Kyrenia area along with the island's British expatriate

community.

References

^ US State Dept, Turkish Cypriot report, 2022
^ "KKTC Din Hizmetleri Müşavirliği - Din İşleri Başkanı Prof. Dr. Ahmet ÜNSAL, Müşavirimizi ziyaret etti". www.kktcdinhizmetleri.com. Retrieved 2022-07-31.
^ The Department of Religious Affairs of Northern Cyprus
^ "MEMBERS OF THE AHMADIYYA MUSLIM COMMUNITY DR MUHAMMED JALAL SHAMS, OSMAN SEKER, KUBILAY ÇIL: PRISONERS OF CONSCIENCE FOR THEIR RELIGIOUS BELIEFS". Amnesty International. June 5, 2002. Retrieved June 10, 2014.

External links

[1] US State Dept, Turkish Cypriot report, 2022

[2] "KKTC Din Hizmetleri Müşavirliği - Din İşleri Başkanı Prof. Dr. Ahmet ÜNSAL, Müşavirimizi ziyaret etti". www.kktcdinhizmetleri.com. Retrieved 2022-07-31.

[3] The Department of Religious Affairs of Northern Cyprus

[ahmadi-4] "MEMBERS OF THE AHMADIYYA MUSLIM COMMUNITY DR MUHAMMED JALAL SHAMS, OSMAN SEKER, KUBILAY ÇIL: PRISONERS OF CONSCIENCE FOR THEIR RELIGIOUS BELIEFS". Amnesty International. June 5, 2002. Retrieved June 10, 2014.

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