Vol. 17 No. 41 (2013): Journal of Cyprus Studies
Editorial
I am delighted to address the readers of the Journal of Cyprus Studies –JCS, which deserves special complements for its 41st issue. In this issue of JCS, a rich assortment of articles has scholarly contributed to the field of knowledge and to the cultural context of the island.
JCS Issue 41 contains four articles from different fields of interests, which are respectively economy, political sciences, architecture and urban history, as well as a book review of a recent publication. JCS readers in this issue also have the privilege of being informed about an American missionary who was one of the first American citizens settled in Cyprus in 1834. Dr. Rita C. Severis, the author and annotator of the book entitled with “The Diaries of Lorenzo Warriner Pease 1834-1839: An American Missionary in Cyprus and his travels in the Holy Land, Asia Minor and Greece” kindly accepted our offer to publish her lecture delivered at the Eastern Mediterranean University, on 7 May, 2013. At the first glance, two of the articles in this issue deal with present circumstances and the recent implementations in Northern Cyprus while the two others are more focusing on historical richness and cultural values of the islan and their current status. Respectively, the first article written by Salih T. Katırcıoğlu scrutinizes the relationships between international tourism and energy consumption and he points out the international tourism in Northern Cyprus as catalyst for energy growth in the long-term period. The second article is about e-government system, which is one of the current issues being dealt with in Northern Cyprus. Deniz İşçioğlu addresses challenges and problems encountered by Northern Cyprus in e-government applications and she draws attention to the e-democracy, e-transparency and e-participation concepts, which can only be possible with the proper use of information and telecommunication technologies. Third article is the concise yet a vivid overview of the 2300 years of Famagusta town. Okan Dağlı depicts enduring history of the town and ultimately stresses the celebration of 2300th age as an opportunity to promote the historic town internationally. In the fourth article, Famagusta town is again the main focus to be explored from the point of architecture. Rafooneh Mokhtarshahi Sani emphasis the concept of place identity, sense of belonging and their continuity in the design of contemporary built environments and then she takes the attention of the reader to the walled town Famagusta still maintaining its traditional architecture and reflecting cultural as well as architectural identity.
She explores architectural identity in the town by referring to 10 identifiable traits that are still valid in the traditional environments of Cyprus. In the last part of this issue, Beser Oktay Vehbi reviews a book written by Nurbanu Tosun Soyel. The book, which is written in Turkish and entitled with “Kuzey Kıbrıs’taki Tarihi Su Değirmenleri Ve Kırsal Peyzajın Parçası Olarak Korunmaları İçin Öneriler” investigates watermills in Norhtern Cyprus. In 2013 autumn, JCS implies a stance bridging between past and present times of the island. I would like to thank authors of the articles and the book reviewer mentioned above as well as our referees for their meaningful contributions and constructive comments respectively. I owe special thanks to Dr. Rita C. Severis for taking part in the journal and also sharing the visual materials with us. With the works of these generous, kind and creative minds, the Journal of Cyprus Studies is enriched and ready to be presented to its readers. Their invaluable contributions anticipated to benefit the intellectual atmosphere of Cyprus, will always be appreciated!
Prof. Dr. Hıfsiye Pulhan
Editor-in-Chief
