Turks to hold ‘yes’ rally today

TENS of thousands of Turkish Cypriots are expected to take to the streets today in a last-ditch attempt to persuade Cypriots on both sides of the Green Line to vote ‘yes’ to the Annan plan in the upcoming referenda on April 24.

Organised by a collection of nearly 50 Turkish Cypriot political parties, trades unions and NGOs calling themselves the This Country is Ours Platform (BMBP), the rally is set to take place in Inonu Square in occupied northern Nicosia.

Inonu Square was the site of highly successful series of mass rallies that attracted record-breaking numbers of demonstrators in support of the Annan plan just over a year ago.
Starting at 11am, the rally is accompanied by a call for a general strike by members of the trades unions taking part.

Speaking on behalf of the BMBP on Monday evening, the head of the Turkish Cypriot teachers’ union Sener Elcil called on Cypriots from both sides of the green line to join the rally in support of a yes vote “to end the bad dream of the last 40 years”.

The BMBP’s statement also included a message to AKEL, who on Saturday said they would advise a ‘no’ vote if the referenda were not postponed, saying: “The dove of peace cannot fly on just one wing; it needs two”.

The rally is backed by Turkish Cypriot ‘prime minister’ Mehmet Ali Talat’s Republican Turkish Party (CTP) and the Peace and Democracy Movement (BDH) led by Mustafa Akinci.

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