NICOSIA yesterday treaded cautiously with respect to the protests taking place in the north, leaving it to individual politicians to censure Ankara’s meddling in the affairs of the ‘TRNC’.
The Republic of Cyprus has no involvement in the popular demonstrations taking place in the north, but as a matter of principle supports the right to free speech and to gather, government spokesman Stefanos Stefanou said yesterday.
Commenting on the protests to the austerity measures introduced in the occupied areas by Ankara, Stefanou said: “The Turkish Cypriots, being Cypriots, have their own dignity.”
“The Turkish Cypriots, through their demonstrations, are voicing their feelings,” he said.
Asked what the unrest in the north might lead to, Stefanou declined comment.
He added, however, that the people of Cyprus, Greek and Turkish Cypriots, are “best served by a solution to the Cyprus problem which will end the [Turkish] occupation, reunite the country and its people…”
Takis Hadjigeorgiou, MEP for AKEL, yesterday revealed he has written to the President of the European Commission Jose Manuel Barroso informing him of the Turkish PM’s “unacceptable and derogatory remarks” on the Turkish Cypriot demonstrators.
In his letter, the MEP urged the European Commission to “formally denounce the unacceptable act of the Turkish Prime Minister”.
The letter was also communicated to EU Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fule. In it, Hadjigeorgiou informs the EU officials that “almost half of the Turkish Cypriot population in the occupied territories took part in the demonstrations”. News agencies reported figures of over 10,000.
The MEP went on to wonder “how credible can Ankara be with regard to its longstanding position that her presence in Cyprus aims at protecting and guaranteeing the safety of the Turkish Cypriots, when at the same time Ankara asks that they [the demonstrators] be dragged in court.”
Speaking on the state broadcaster yesterday, Hadjigeorgiou described the present situation in the north as a simmering cauldron of tension, and predicted that “the next clash in Cyprus will not be between the two communities, but rather between the Turkish Cypriots and the [Turkish] settlers.”
DISY deputy Christos Pourgourides said Turkish Cypriots are confronted with a dilemma: “Does the entity in the north have the capacity to generate its own revenues so as to pay the salaries, pensions and health care benefits? If it does not, and there is no prospect for the entity to acquire this capacity in the future, the only way out [for the Turkish Cypriots] is reunification.”
