Cyprus-Forum.com

[Omer Seyhan]

Do austerity protests herald more than a gripe over wages?
By Simon Bahceli
IT IS not often that Cyprus makes the first item on TV news in Turkey, but on Monday evening it did.

That night, viewers from Istanbul to Iskenderun watched as thousands of Turkish Cypriot demonstrators clashed violently with police outside the ‘parliament’ in north Nicosia. The demonstrators, newscasters said, were intent on stopping Turkish Cypriot ‘deputies’ from ratifying a ‘bill’ that would significantly cut public sector salaries, and to do this, protesters would enter ‘parliament’ and physically disrupt proceedings. Equally intent, the police fired teargas at the crowd and beat it back with batons. In the wake of the charge, TVs showed protesters screaming as they were dragged off and bundled into police vans. By the end of the clashes, 16 protesters were in jail, and numerous demonstrators and police had been injured.

Such scenes are not usual in Cyprus, and this is partly why mainland Turkish television channels gave so much airtime to the protests. But there was another reason for the interest.

In Turkey, Turkish Cypriots are often seen as a privileged and underworked. As far as the stereotype goes, these islanders pick up their monthly cheques from Ankara and drive off to lavish lunches in expensive cars jangling their tacky jewellery. Turkish Cypriots have had it good for decades at the expense of the toiling Turkish taxpayer. There is, however, one thing worse than the indolent greed of the Turkish Cypriots, and that is their ingratitude.

And this so-called ingratitude was clearly demonstrated on Monday as protesters chanted “Down with Ankara and its austerity measures!” Turkish Cypriots, the protesters were heard to insist, would rule themselves and would not tolerate the interference of the Turkish government in its affairs - sentiments hardly likely to inspire the Turkish public to pressurise its government to spend more than the annual half a billion US dollars on Cyprus.

Read more go to Cyprus Mail

[Malapapa]

Go TCs, go!

[paliometoxo]

the old tcs would rather have tcs killed off and turkify north cyprus then live with gcs..

the younger ones are thinking more sense though.. well the ones i met anyway

[Expatkiwi]

Looks like certain officials need to have a little think about all this...

[paliometoxo]

turkey doesent care what tcs want.. its what turkey wants.. oh there is no such thing as tcs anymore its turks of cyprus dont forget.

[insan]

They don't wanna lose what they gained by nepotism. Mammmaaa to the crying babes that don't demonstrate for any other matters except their self-interests.

Have u ever heard them demostrating for the rights of Maronites and GC living in North?

Have u ever heard them demonstarting for the unjust sallary difference between them and workers of private sector?

[Malapapa]

They don't wanna lose what they gained by nepotism. Mammmaaa to the crying babes that don't demonstrate for any other matters except their self-interests.

Have u ever heard them demostrating for the rights of Maronites and GC living in North?

Have u ever heard them demonstarting for the unjust sallary difference between them and workers of private sector?

Cowards!

[insan]

They don't wanna lose what they gained by nepotism. Mammmaaa to the crying babes that don't demonstrate for any other matters except their self-interests.

Have u ever heard them demostrating for the rights of Maronites and GC living in North?

Have u ever heard them demonstarting for the unjust sallary difference between them and workers of private sector?

Cowards!

Self-interested creatures!

[Oracle]

... protesters screaming as they were dragged off and bundled into police vans.

... never to be seen again!

The infanticide of the TCs at the hands of their father/motherland.

Who cares!

Just give back the illegally occupied territories and take your histrionics to Turkey ...

[bill cobbett]

They don't wanna lose what they gained by nepotism. Mammmaaa to the crying babes that don't demonstrate for any other matters except their self-interests.

Have u ever heard them demostrating for the rights of Maronites and GC living in North?

Have u ever heard them demonstarting for the unjust sallary difference between them and workers of private sector?

Don't really want to agree with Insan, but fear he is right.

From what I've read, particularly in the transcripts of the RIK interviews last week, and despite the welcome condemnation of some Turkish policies, so far it is pretty selfish self-interest that is coming through to me.

... but guess it's a start.