HUNDREDS of Nicosia schoolchildren descended upon Eleftheria Square yesterday morning – with many more descending on the capital’s cafés – in a protest against the 22nd anniversary of Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash’s declaration of the ‘Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus’ and to purportedly demonstrate against the Turkish occupation.
A group of students gathered at Eleftheria Square, as they did in town squares all over Cyprus, holding banners, waving Cypriot flags – an unusual sight in such demonstrations, which are normally dominated by Greek flags – and chanting slogans such as “Freedom, Freedom, Return” and “Peace in Cyprus cannot be blocked”.
There was, however, a fair amount of dissent and even confusion during the rally, with some students chanting “Cyprus is Greek”, others chanting “The Turks of Cyprus are our brothers” and others – caught up more in the fervour than in the content of what they were saying – chanting both.
One schoolgirl standing on the outskirts of the demonstration turned away in disgust and muttered, “Come on, kids, don’t say that,” after hearing a group of students chanting “the Turks of Cyprus are our brothers”.
The girl then told her friends what she had heard and an argument followed, with some of her friends agreeing with her, while others stood with knotted brows and arms on hips, insisting that “they’re Cypriots too”.
Chief education officer at the Ministry of Education, Panayiotis Matsis, took a much stricter view on the students’ departure from class.
“We consider the absence of children from schools on this day as illegal. However, we can’t use force to keep the children in schools and it’s usually up to each individual school to decide what to do.
“School principals know our position and we have the same problem every year. If a school has 800 students, for example, 750 will be absent from 9.15am on November 15 every year.”
He added that it was Lyceums and not Gymnasiums who follow the practice.
On November 15, 1983 – eight years after the ‘Turkish Federative State of North Cyprus’ was proclaimed – the ‘parliament’ in the occupied north ratified a text presented to them by Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash in which he declared that the north was an independent and sovereign state called the ‘Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus’.
The declaration was followed by two UN Security Council resolutions proclaiming that the ‘TRNC’ was illegal and requesting that no other sovereign state should recognise the legality of the declaration. As of today, only Turkey recognises the self-declared entity.
What the students said
VICTOR, 17, from the Pan-Cyprian School said, “We come here every year but in my opinion, there is no chance that Cyprus will ever become free”.
His classmate Marios, 17, had a different view, saying a solution will be found in the end, “whether it takes another two years or 20.
Eleni, 16, a pupil at the Dasoupoli Lyceum said the occasion “is a great excuse to get out of class.” She added that, “No solution will be found to the problem as it’s all talk and no action.
Maria, 16 from the Archangelos Lyceum was planning on going down to the Green Line to camp out and sing songs.
