Northern Cypriots turn against TurkeyBuzz up!
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Helena Smith in Nicosia The Guardian, Tuesday 25 September 2001 18.36 BST Article historyFor the first time for at least 20 years the veteran Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash is losing the confidence of his own people.
They blame him for blighting their hope of re-entering world society by joining the EU alongside Greek Cypriots, who could secure membership in 2003.
Poor and cut off because nobody but Turkey recognises the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), which Mr Denktash declared unilaterally in 1983, they are angry.
"Please tell the world that the TRNC is an open prison," Ahmet Barcin, president of the zone's secondary-school teachers' union, said.
"It's one big, militarised zone and all the gates are locked. Our only key to freedom is a quick peace settlement [with the Greek south of the island], entry to the EU and reintegration with the rest of the world."
The northerners are so angry at Mr Denktash's dogged dismissal of the EU membership process, his abandonment of the UN-brokered peace talks with the Greek Cypriots, and the arrival of Turkish settlers that they are beginning to do the unthinkable: turn against their protector Turkey.
The collapse of the dependency's banking system and the devaluation of the Turkish lira have brought many to the brink of penury. As the rebellious mood grows, so do the repressive measures of a regime desperate to keep the dissent at bay.
While Greek Cypriots have been told that they can join the EU without some form of reunification being on the cards, Brussels has made it clear that its final approval will be much smoother if it is.
But as Mr Denktash, 78, holds up a political settlement Turkish Cypriots, fearing that they have no future, are trying to get out. Applications for passports, which have to come from the internationally recognised Greek-Cypriot government, rose from 448 last year to 817 in the first half of this.
The social democrat Mustapha Akinci, who was the deputy prime minister until last May, and is now the main opposition leader, said: "This is not a democracy. How can it be, when Ankara intervenes so much in the running of our affairs?
"Turkey decides everything, down to who will run the fire brigade and our national airline. The army is in control here; even our police force falls under its command."
Northern Cyprus may look less like a garrison since Turkey put its 35,000 soldiers stationed on the island in civilian clothes when they are off duty, to avoid deterring tourists. But Turkish Cypriots are well aware of the army's presence, and they are worried that settlers brought in from Anatolia will soon outnumber the locals.
A recent report by the European parliament estimated that Turkish troops and immigrants now formed the majority of the 210,000 population, compared with about 90,000 native Turkish Cypriots.
But although the settlers tend to vote for Mr Denktash, some of them, especially the young, long for EU freedoms too.
"We are Anatolian settlers," Yigitler Burcu said. "We are curious to see how others live. We are curious to see the world. Only Turkey recognises our country. In my heart, like everyone else here, I am desperate to leave."
Most of the Turkish Cypriot opposition - parties, syndicates and NGOs - has united on a common platform as the Group of 41.
Alpay Durduran, a prominent opposition figure, said: "Please tell the world that we want to free ourselves from the people who freed us.
"We grew up under British colonial rule, not under the Turks, and we have a very different sense of democracy. There is no freedom here.
"People are too scared to speak up because of intimidation. Entire families have got death threats."
Mehmet Talat, who heads the Republican party, said: "You might say that while Turkey liberated us, it has overstayed its welcome. Denktash has been in power for nearly 30 years, but he's not defending the Turkish Cypriots: he is defending Turkey's strategic interests here."
In an interview, Mr Denktash denied that there was any ill-feeling, and that there was even an indigenous Turkish Cypriot culture.
"Those who are against Turkey are wrong. There is no Cypriot culture, apart from our national custom of drinking brandy. There are Turks of Cyprus and Greeks of Cyprus, that's all," he snapped.
But last year tear gas was used in northern Nicosia to break up supporters of the Group of 41 demonstrating under the slogan "This is our country".
Not long after that the opposition newspaper Avrupa (Europe) was bombed, and there was a severe crackdown on all informal contacts with Greek Cypriots. "What's the point of such contacts?" Mr Denktash said. "I've heard the only thing people seem to do at these meetings is have sex."
This month the outgoing British high commissioner, Edward Clay, lashed out at the regime for "its crude attempt to enforce conformity and disable its critics by fair means and foul".
Particularly worrying, diplomats say, is Mr Denktash's open sponsorship of the National Patriotic Movement (UHH), created in response to the Group of 41. Its declared aim is to stamp out any criticism of Turkey by the "ungrateful traitors and spies".
Mr Denktash conceded that he had given the UHH "all [his] moral support" and rejected the suggestion that his legitimacy was being eroded by the growing opposition.
"The EU has a policy to give more importance to people who are against the establishment," he said. The international community was "working in a very intelligent way to divide our community".
"And they're doing a very good job", he added.
An island divided
1960 Cyprus becomes a republic independent of Britain. Greeks are meant to share power with Turks (18% of the population), with Archbishop Makarios as president
1963-1974 Violence between Greek and Turkish Cypriots
1974 Greek Cypriot rightwingers, supported by Athens, stage a coup aimed at making the island part of Greece. Turkey invades to stop this, and creates a separate zone in the north
1977 The Guardian reveals that immigrants from mainland Turkey are being encouraged to settle in northern Cyprus
1983 After 10 years of fruitless negotiations the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus is proclaimed, recognised only by Ankara
1994 Cyprus applies to join the EU, although the Nicosia government has no control over Turkish Cypriots
2001 Cyprus is one of only two countries fulfilling all EU membership criteria
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2001/sep/25/cyprus.helenasmith
