Erdogan issues warning to Cypriot unions over opposition to north hijab law
“Nobody can stop you from doing your trade unionism. Do your unionism, we are used to it. Unionism has a long history in Turkey. But non-governmental organisation need to know how to act like non-governmental organisations. If you try to mess with our girls’ headscarves in the TRNC, I am sorry, you will find us against you,” he said.
His comments were made at Teknofest, Turkey’s aerospace and technology festival which this weekend is being held at the north’s Ercan (Tymbou) airport. Teachers’ trade unions had refused to take part in the event, despite the north’s ‘education ministry’ calling for all schoolchildren to attend it on Friday.
Earlier, Cyprus Turkish secondary education teachers’ trade union (Ktoeos) had explained her reasoning for boycotting the event, stressing that teachers are not against science and progress, but against the ruling coalition and the Turkish government which has organised the festival.
“Let no one try to manipulate or divert the issue. Whoever wants to go to the ‘science’ festival of those who want to impose political Islam on the bodies of our girls can go,” she said, referencing the new hijab law.
Turkish Cypriots have in large numbers rejected the hijab law, taking to the streets of Nicosia in their thousands on three separate occasions since the law was enacted, with numerous smaller such protests having taken place in the meantime.
Read more on: Erdogan issues warning to Cypriot unions over opposition to north hijab law | Cyprus Mail
Five arrested at small anti-Erdogan protest in north
A total of five people were arrested at a small protest held near the new official residence of Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar, which is due to be officially opened by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
A small group of people had gathered at the “civil defence roundabout”, located at the northern end of a complex which also includes a new ‘parliament’ building, to express their disgust at Erdogan’s arrival and recent political developments in the north, which they view as Turkish interference in local politics.
After being stood on the roundabout for an hour, they were asked by the Turkish Cypriot police to move off the roundabout and away, but refused.
The police then moved in to remove the protesters by force, with conscientious objector Halil Karapasaoglu among those continuing to refuse to move.
He and four others were arrested and taken away from the scene in the back of a police van following a scuffle.
All of those arrested were released without charge on Saturday evening, but not before opposition political figures levelled criticism at the police for their handling of the situation.
Read more on: Five arrested at small anti-Erdogan protest in north | Cyprus Mail
Turkish Cypriots protest over what they say is Turkey’s introduction of Islam into education system
By MENELAOS HADJICOSTIS
May 2, 2025
NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — Several thousand Turkish Cypriots took to the streets of the northern half of ethnically divided Cyprus’ capital Nicosia on Friday to protest what they say is Turkey’s attempt to erode their secular roots and to strengthen the hold of political Islam over their society.
Rain showers cleared long enough for marchers to walk along a main thoroughfare hoisting trade union banners and holding placards reading “It won’t pass” and “Cyprus will stay secular” before gathering for a concert.
The protest is the latest in a series of demonstrations that leftist trade unions mounted to express their opposition to what they see as Ankara’s bid to mold staunchly secular Turkish Cypriots into a more politically pliable community through the introduction of Islam into the education system.
The protest came a day before Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s visit to breakaway northern Cyprus where he will inaugurate a complex of government buildings. Erdogan reportedly said that he would publicly rebuke protesters during his visit.
The protests began last month when the right-wing Turkish Cypriot authorities lifted a ban on wearing headscarves in high schools. Teachers’ trade unions, political parties and other leftist groups condemned the move as an encroachment into the strictly secular education system aimed at the eventual “Islamization” of Turkish Cypriot society.
Cyprus was split in 1974 when Turkey invaded following an Athens-backed coup aiming at union with Greece. Only Turkey recognizes a Turkish Cypriot declaration of independence in the island’s northern third where it maintains more than 35,000 troops.
Cyprus joined the European Union in 2004, but only the Greek Cypriot south where the island’s internationally recognized government is seated enjoys full benefits.
U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres announced on Friday that the appointment of María Angela Holguín Cuéllar as his personal envoy on Cyprus, tasked with exploring ways to resume peace talks stalled since 2017.
Elma Eylem, president of the Turkish Cypriot Secondary Education Teachers’ Union KTOEÖS and one of the protests’ key organizers, said that the change in statute allowing the wearing of headscarves in school is evidence of a bid at “social engineering” to force Turkish Cypriot society into submission according to the edicts of Turkey’s ruling AKP party.
“This step has been taken in the divided part of our island which has been turned into a sub-administration of Turkey, where every institution has been taken over, where our population has been reduced to a minority and our political will has been taken away, this change in the statute is a part of social engineering,” Eylem told The Associated Press in a written response to questions.
Teachers at one high school reportedly turned away a female student who showed up wearing a headscarf after the ban was lifted.
Eylem defended the action, saying that teachers won’t allow “political Islam to be imposed on our girls through their bodies.”
Read more on: Turkish Cypriots protest over what they say is Turkey’s introduction of Islam into education system | AP News
Protest staged at Ayios Dhometios crossing point against Erdogan’s visit
A couple of hundred people gathered at the Ayios Dhometios crossing point in western Nicosia on Saturday morning to protest against the visit of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to northern Cyprus.
Erdogan is set to visit the island to open a new official residence for Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar and a new ‘parliament’ building for the north, both of which are a stone’s throw from the crossing point.
Among those in attendance were Simos Ioannou and Joseph Violaris, the Greek Cypriot mayors-in-exile of Famagusta and Kyrenia, as well as MPs Christos Chistofias, son of late president Demetris, of Akel and Chrysis Pantelides of Diko, and Diko member of the European parliament Costas Mavrides.
At the protest, the names of villages and towns in the north were read out to the crowd, with the crowd first chanting “I do not forget” in reply, and then later “return”.
In addition, a resolution was read out in both Greek and Turkish, with the Green party’s Oz Karahan reading out its Turkish version.
Read more on: Protest staged at Ayios Dhometios crossing point against Erdogan’s visit | Cyprus Mail
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