North ruling coalition called ‘Ankara’s parrot’ on day two of fire protest against hijab law
The north’s ruling coalition was described as “Ankara’s parrot” by one speaker as fires were lit outside ‘parliament’ for the second day in a row in protest against the ruling coalition’s decision to legalise the wearing of hijabs by children at public schools.
The comment was made by Izzet Izcan, the leader of minor left-wing political party the BKP, who added, “this is not just a matter of a headscarf, this is a policy of annexation”.
“The issue must be read correctly. The issue is one of freedom and sovereignty. Why are they imposing this on us?” he asked.
“We are not a racist society, we cannot be. This government is Ankara’s parrot. We will continue our fight until the end. Our salvation lies in a solution and peace,” he said.
Izcan spoke alongside a number of trade union leaders, with teachers and their supporters set to return to ‘parliament’ on Wednesday evening and every evening until April 28 – the deadline they have set the ruling coalition to change the law before measures escalate.
The protest’s first night on Monday was attended by around 2,000 people, including Tufan Erhurman, leader of the north’s largest opposition party the CTP and the party’s candidate in October’s Turkish Cypriot leadership election. In his speech on Monday, he spoke of how the ruling coalition “had hoped to divide the country with this law”.
“In a way, they have succeeded, though not in the way they first thought. Those who love this country, those who think of their children, those who suffer for this country, those who say ‘we will not let our children down’ are on one side, and these people, those who bear grudges, those who do not even know this country and these people, those who tell us to leave if we do not like it are on the other side!”
“None of us are going anywhere! We have always existed, we exist, and we will continue to exist!”
He also criticised those who expected the north to change its laws to align with Turkey, saying, “this people has its own rules, its own agreements, and its own traditions, and if they come and they don’t know it, this people has its own history, it had to fight for its own existence”.
Turkish Cypriot Nicosia mayor Mehmet Harmanci briefly spoke, and sent a clear message in Turkey’s direction.
“They have told us for years that we are not religious enough. That we have not paid enough homage. They accused us of being cold towards them. Yes, we think, yes, we do not pay homage, yes, we have an identity of our own, and we will look after it!”
Last week, an estimated 13,000 people had taken to the streets to protest against the law, with former Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci speaking to the Cyprus Mail on the march.
“I came here so that Turkish Cypriots can exist with their own free will. I came here to say no to all kinds of political oppression,” he said.
The following day, around 300 people joined a march organised by ‘transport minister’ Erhan Arikli to “show respect to the motherland”, Turkey, in the wake of the protests.
Arikli had taken the most umbrage at a protest teachers had staged outside the embassy two weeks prior, at which Cyprus Turkish secondary education teachers’ union (Ktoeos) leader Selma Eylem called on ambassador Ali Murat Basceri to “go home”.