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[cypezokyli]

just read (and correct me if i am wrong ) the whole story about kemals changes on the turkish language. besides the change of alphabet , he enforced a process of new word creation ( reducing the arab - eastern influence on the language from 70 to 50 % .... hope i am right on this...)

the effect (some argue) was , (besides being easier and improving literacy rates) , was that he stole the turks their history , as they cannot read and understand anything written before 1920s.

now , my questions :
how fast did these changes came to cyprus, and how fast did Turkish Cypriots adapt to them (as they were under the british empire ) ?
are you familiar with any Turkish Cypriot text / poem written using the arab alphabet ?

does anyone know what the literacy rates between Turkish Cypriots were at the time ? (i dont even know about Greek Cypriots :? )

[zan]

cypezokyli wrote: just read (and correct me if i am wrong ) the whole story about kemals changes on the turkish language. besides the change of alphabet , he enforced a process of new word creation ( reducing the arab - eastern influence on the language from 70 to 50 % .... hope i am right on this...)

the effect (some argue) was , (besides being easier and improving literacy rates) , was that he stole the turks their history , as they cannot read and understand anything written before 1920s.

now , my questions :
how fast did these changes came to cyprus, and how fast did Turkish Cypriots adapt to them (as they were under the british empire ) ?
are you familiar with any Turkish Cypriot text / poem written using the arab alphabet ?

does anyone know what the literacy rates between Turkish Cypriots were at the time ? (i dont even know about Greek Cypriots :? )

I know very little on this Cyp but I just spoke to my dad and he was born the same year that Attaturk changed the language and he is almost sure that the schools started to teach the new style in Cyprus at the same time as Turkey. I also know that Koran was taught in Arabic so the faithful could read both. I also believe that Attaturk had many of the Arabic text books translated, but I could be wrong.