Solidarity with Dissenters in Northern Cyprus

Call for action against Police intervention in the northern part of Cyprus

Editorial Note:
Please see this announcement from the Turkish Cypriot New Cyprus Party (YKP), one of the few branches of the Socialist community of Cyprus which openly acknowledge the facts of the illegal military Occupation of the island, and openly oppose the occupation regime as such. We've added a short comment below.
Editorial Collective
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Murat Kanatli, General Secretary of the Executive Board of the New Cyprus Party (YKP), plus 2 other YKP members and 16 trade unionists received a call on Friday 30th October from the Nicosia District Police Station Headquarters to be informed that they were being sued with the accusation that they beat up the police and they did not allow the police to do their duty.

He was participating at the demonstration of Wednesday 28th October 2009 in the northern part of Nicosia, not only as General Secretary of YKP but also as a journalist for the weekly newspaper Yenicag.

The demonstration took place on Wednesday 28th October and was part of the General Strike to oppose the new economical package brought by the new right wing government. During the last few months the trade unions were on strike on various occasions, and on the occasion of this new economic package going to the parliamentary committee last Wednesday, 27 trade unions decided on a General Strike.

They tried to do a demonstration in front of the “parliament” and the Turkish Embassy in Nicosia. The police blocked the road and the demonstrators went through the police barrier and passed to the front of Turkish Embassy and “parliament” with the main demand of withdrawal of the new economic package. This package is believed to be imposed directly from Turkey so the demonstrators were reacting not only against the “parliament” but also the Turkish Embassy. One of the banners said “Cyprus Province of the Turkish Republic” so the ambassador is like a district officer... The demonstrators and the police had some “interaction” and on Friday 30th October the police sued 19 demonstrators because of this action.


Three YKP members, one being the General Secretary, the other one a trade unionist and Executive Board Member Erdinc Selasiye and the third one, Salih Uyguroglu, again trade unionist and Party Council member were amongst those sued.

Murat Kanatli says that it is so obvious that this is a fascist and undemocratic action of the police which tries to create pressure on civil society organisations and in this way preventing further action like another general strike, from being taken. As it is known the northern part of Cyprus, is described by international bodies like the European Commission of Human Rights (ECHR) as the subordinate local administration of Turkey. The police in the northern part of Cyprus receive orders from the Chief Commander of the Turkish Cypriot army (GKK) who is appointed directly from Ankara.

Murat Kanatli says that Turkey is directly responsible for this action and thus calls upon all leftist parties and political organisations to react and show their reaction not only to the subordinate local administration’s right wing government (UBP) but also directly to Ankara; to the President of Turkey, the Prime Minister of Turkey and the Chief Commander of the Turkish Army.

Kanatli added that; “During this action may be no-one was arrested but there is a possibility in the near future for someone to be arrested. So we urge all political groups to react to this undemocratic and fascist action and show international solidarity to the Turkish Cypriots trade unionists and activists and political party representatives.”

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Editorial Statement

The Turkish Cypriot New Cyprus Party (YKP), and a small number of independent Socialists, Communists and Anarchists in the north, including Şener Levent of the newspaper Afrika and a number of other well-known and unknown figures of the Turkish Cypriot alternative and radical community, are the most coherent social forces in the north with a sane, humanist and well-thought out orientation toward elements of both Justice and Peace for Cyprus.

Peace and Justice can be built when such forces become able and willing to unite with Hellene (greek) Cypriot patriots, independent Socialists, Communists and Anarchists, Feminists and radical-minded Green Feminists in the south who value freedom, autonomy, and social self-organization.

Our comrades in the north stand out in stark contrast with the large political parties of the fake Left, the pseudo-socialists, who at present are holding State power in their hands in both the South and the North and are hell-bent on lying to the people about peace while together, and supported by the major Imperialist powers, they are forging an Apartheid regime for us complete with Race Laws; with racial percentages to be embedded in all levels of society and government; laws about ownership and the economy to be determined by those Race Laws; and a division of the country on the basis of a "legalized" bizonal partition which they are calling a "reunification of the island".

If bizonal partition is "reunification", then War is Peace. And donkeys are known to fly - if you believe it hard enough.

We applaud Murat Kanatli and the New Cyprus Party (YKP), and Şener Levent and all the other comrades for standing up to the Occupation forces, and for calling out the truth, telling it as it is. When Turkish Cypriots living under the Occupation regime say that the local administration is a puppet of Ankara, saying that the police in the northern part of Cyprus receive orders from the Chief Commander of the Turkish Cypriot army (GKK) who is appointed directly from Ankara; when they are calling "upon all leftist parties and political organisations to react and show their reaction not only to the subordinate local administration’s right wing government (UBP) but also directly to Ankara; to the President of Turkey, the Prime Minister of Turkey and the Chief Commander of the Turkish Army" then...

...what - exactly! - is the role of the pseudo Left in the south who are empowering the Occupation regime by having formal talks with its leaders and puppets of Ankara?

Is it not a betrayal of progressive forces among the Turkish Cypriots?

Is it not a betrayal of radical and liberal Turkish Cypriots when the pseudo-Socialist Government of Cyprus pretends that the Occupation regime is a democratic entity and converses with it? Not just "converses" but is actually putting together with it a whole new re-arrangement of the country's essential realities.

At a time when progressive and radical working people, unions and community activists are calling for demostrations and General Strikes against the Occupation regime, the Government of Cyprus is co-operating with that regime in work-committees that will give legal, internationally recognised State power to those criminals!

The genocidal Occupation regime in northern Cyprus is being gifted with State power to rule over a soon-to-be-inaugurated racial Bizonal Apartheid State ... not by some openly fascist organization or some foreign Imperialist power, but by the "socialist" Government of Cyprus. How crazy is that?

We say it's unacceptable.

All power to the Turkish Cypriot working class and its independent Socialist organizations!

Cyprus IndyMedia Editorial Collective
http://cyprusindymedia.org

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