I am translating part of today's article by Sener Levent in Politis newspaper.
This is the first outright call for Turkey to leave TCs alone.
"Ankara take your hands off us". These [words] are the first big sparks in a settling of accounts. You will see. This fight will grow. And the consequences will bear down on those that caused these hardships. Is it only the Koran lessons? It is a struggle for political will. A revolt. Against eradication, against extinction. Do not forget. If the Cyprus problem is to be solved, this is the only way it will be solved. First we must settle accounts with Ankara. Ankara has exhausted us politically and economically. This struggle is now a fight for survival. Our teachers yesterday returned to their true owners the black wreaths given by the crowd of Islamists, to the Turkish embassy. It was a gesture of great meaning, greater than all the actions of recent years."
And if Levent is right, there comes the biggest challenge that the RoC has ever faced and I hope our politicians have the brains and the balls to seize the opportunity. The test will be the solidarity shown to the TCs if they do go against Ankara. If, on the other hand, this is treated as a "Turks only" affair and the RoC decides to adopt a neutral stance it will accomplish two things- betray the TCs at a time of need, and secondly accept Ankara's point that the north is now a separate entity in which the RoC has no place.
We will see how this plays out.