“This country is ours. We will govern ourselves!” read banners carried by throngs of protesters yesterday at what was undoubtedly the largest rally staged by the community since those in support of a UN-backed plan to reunite the island in 2004.
Discontent has been growing in the north since Ankara forced the ruling National Unity Party (UBP) to implement from January 1 sweeping austerity measures aimed at cutting back on what it sees as the north’s bloated public sector. Some salaries in the sector have been cut by up to 40 per cent, and there are plans to privatize some of the north’s ‘state–run’ corporations – a move unions believe will lead to mass redundancies.
Although primarily aimed at the Turkish government, many used yesterday’s protest to express support for the reunification of the island.
“We want the world to hear that we want peace and reunification. We want a future,” said 40 year-old Ayse Oz.
Others expressed a simple desire for self-determination - something many said even Ankara, the breakaway state’s benefactor, had refused to grant the community.
“We want to rule ourselves. Right now we don’t have sovereignty, but this is our country; we have to be the ones to run it,” 64 year-old retired Salih Pilli told the Cyprus Mail.
A similar rally on January 28 gathered over 10,000 protesters and provoked the anger of Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan who, after seeing banners calling on Ankara to “leave the Turkish Cypriots alone”, blasted the community for being recipients Turkish financial aid while simultaneously telling Ankara to get out of its affairs. Erdogan raised tension in February by replacing his ‘ambassador’ to Nicosia with Halil Ibrahim Akca, the chief architect of the austerity package.
Clearly angered by what they saw as Erdogan’s “insults” to the community, many of yesterday’s rallygoers again carried banners calling on his Justice and Development Party (AKP) to “get your hands off the Turkish Cypriots” – a move that can be expected to further irritate the Turkish leader.
Speaking to the rally, head of the Turkish Cypriot Teachers’ Union (KTOS) Sener Elcil called for Turkey to end its policy of running the north from Ankara, and issued an appeal to Greek Cypriots and the EU to help end the division of the island.
“We will put pressure Turkey. We will put pressure on The Greek Cypriots. And we will put pressure on the EU. Turkish Cypriots will be the power behind reunification,” he said.
But with the participation also of right-wing parties in yesterday’s rally, not all calls were for reunification. Some, like Democrat Party (DP) leader Serdar Denktash, son of the founder of the ‘TRNC’ Rauf Denktash told the Mail earlier that he would join the rally because he wanted Turkey to “respect the administration” in the north as a “truly sovereign authority”.
“We are saying that we can rule ourselves. This is our house. Okay, it’s not a clean house, but we can clean it up,” he said. For the past two weeks Denktash has been staging a vigil outside the Turkish ‘embassy’ in north Nicosia
With people of all ages in attendance, yesterday’s rally passed off peacefully with police exercising their power to confiscate banners they saw as provocative or insulting to Turkey. Owner of the outspoken daily Afrika Sener Levent and a number of supporters were turned back from the rally when they tried to enter Inonu Square, the rally’s destination, carrying a banner reading, “You saved us? Hassiktir! (a mild curse in Cypriot parlance but highly insulting in Turkish)” Others carrying the Cyprus Republic flag were also presented from entering the square, and a brief scuffle ensued but no one was hurt. Levent responded by displaying the flags and banners from his office’s balcony in north Nicosia.
Commenting on the rally, head of the Eastern Mediterranean University’s (EMU) Cyprus Policy Centre Ahmet Sozen told the Cyprus Mail the protest stemmed from an almost universal desire among Turkish Cypriots for self-determination.
“This is not the same as saying they want their own state, but they want to rule themselves, either in a federation with the Greek Cypriots, or if that isn’t going to come in the near future, without the interference of Ankara, he said”.
How Turkey and the Turkish Cypriot authorities will react to yesterday’s rally remains to be seen. However the ‘finance minister’ Ersin Tatar on Tuesday warned of economic collapse if the Ankara-devised austerity package was not implemented. “If you don’t take austerity measures, and keep on borrowing, we’ll end up not being able to pay public sector salaries,” he said. He added that he wanted “to be able to create a sustainable economy so we can stand on our own feet without taking aid from Turkey”.
On the Greek Cypriot side, over 50 people gathered at the Ledra Street crossing yesterday to support and encourage Turkish Cypriots in the north, who were protesting against Ankara’s austerity measures.
The protest was organised by a Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot teachers platform.
Most of the demonstrators expressed a desire to have a solution and most importantly see a reunified island soon.
“We want reunification of our country and stronger protests [to achieve this], there are too few people here today,” said 67-year-old Andreas Mandis.
“We have to mobilise to stand by our Turkish Cypriot compatriots against all the things that are keeping our country apart,” said 37-year-old Nicoletta Angelodimou.
Polis Aniftos, a 40-year-old, expressed a similar sentiment: “We want to express our support in the Turkish Cypriot struggle.”
“A solution is the only way….the situation cannot continue with the way talks are proceeding,” he added.
