March highlights the burden of work on women
A MARCH was held in Lefkoşa on Monday to mark “International Working Women’s Day”.
The event was organised by the “March 8 Organising Committee”. It started at the roundabout in Dereboyu and ended in front of the Parliament building. Police took security precautions along the route.
Protesters held banners with slogans such as “Woman, life, freedom” and “You can’t interfere with my work, body”.
A press statement read out in front of Parliament said: “During the pandemic, the lives of women have become more difficult.
“The work burden on women, who work in offices and then at home but only receive income for their labours at their offices, has increased.”
A GROUP representing international university students in North Cyprus has condemned what it calls “Covid-instigated xenophobia”.
A statement issued by the TRNC-based Voice of International Students (Vois) said that news outlets and local people had blamed foreign students for the current number of Covid-19 cases, after 27 cases were confirmed at a student dormitory in Haspolat earlier this month.
“It was quite unfortunate to perceive a series of following headlines and commentaries, stated by some members of the local community, which blamed foreign students for the current number of Covid cases, highlighting a despairing level of racial discrimination and xenophobia within the TRNC,” the Vois statement said.
“Vois Cyprus strongly condemns these commentaries and headlines. . . We condemn the earlier rhetoric in the media . . . ‘scapegoating’ Nigerian nationals, that has subsequently led to distracted discussions beyond debating whether or not the infected students were failing to observe rules of social distancing, hygiene and mask-wearing.
“These students were noted to have been residing in the same dormitory building, where clear disparities exist between living set-ups in the student dormitories versus off-campus apartments. “As a matter of fact, last year, many international students were especially complaining about having people undergoing quarantine in the same dormitories as them.
“Many of them were extremely fearful of contracting the virus . . . worried if it would result in their deportation, and how it would play out in terms of availability of medical resources for their care. . . They feared that they might be made ‘scapegoats’ and it suddenly does not feel unfounded or ridiculous, considering the recent sentiments.”
The conditions that “led to this unfortunate outbreak of Covid cases” should be addressed, the statement said, to prevent further such incidents.
“It is without a doubt that an outbreak of cases is more prone to take place within dormitories than apartment buildings, due to the differing residential density and blueprint structure of dormitories. . . We refute the contradictory and discriminatory statements that feature international students as the source of all Covid outbreaks but still pay no attention or efforts to ensure international students’ access to vaccination.
“We are thus compelled to remind the public that the current outbreak of cases is not the first in the TRNC, but rather the first to focus the attention on international students. Ever since the beginning of the pandemic, numerous outbreaks
have taken place due to a level of negligence reflected by both members of the local and international communities, alike.
“The point here is not to try to excuse or claim that all international students have followed the rules to the letter. It is also not intended to excuse any behaviour of non-abidance; it is aimed at expressing disappointment at those within society, most of whom should know better, than to attack the character of an entire group and race of people, instead of condemning the acts (non-compliance) that might or might not have led to the outbreaks.”
Vois also called on the government to provide a “clear roadmap” on how “vaccination choices could be made possible” for international students “especially
for those classified as high risk”.
“We reiterate once again that it is of paramount importance for the government to safeguard the health of these international students residing in the TRNC, especially as different projections are being made for the full return of face-to-face studies in a few months.
“The right to health is enshrined under Article 45 of the TRNC Constitution . . . To date, there has been no clear outline on how and when the TRNC government would seek to vaccinate international students, what criteria will be used in relation to this group, whether the vaccination will be free or if they will be vaccinated at all.
“The right to information is provided under TRNC law, and in line with this, as an organisation that seeks to protect the rights of international students, we call on the government to provide such information to the international student community.”
Vois officials raised the issues during a meeting with National Education and Culture Ministry undersecretary Aytunç Şirket.
“We had a conversation in regards to the general welfare of international students in the TRNC. We put out a list of areas that we believe the ministry needs to work on including a clear strategy for vaccinations that includes international students, measures to combat racist behaviours and discussions against international students following Covid-19, and for Covid-19 updates and announcements to be in multiple languages. . . The [National Education and Culture Ministry] agreed to work on those areas and collaborate. . .The conversation we ought to be having is to admonish and encourage better adherence to the safety and health rules, by all, and to urge better and informed initiatives and processes towards handling the pandemic in the TRNC, by the government.
“It is also time to think and reflect on how xenophobic rhetoric can harm our community, and the progress we seek towards achieving a more just and fairer society for all.”
EU OFFICIALS should not be involved in the upcoming Cyprus talks in Geneva, Switzerland, in April because they would be “100 per cent” behind the Greek Cypriots, President Ersin Tatar warned this week.
Talks, dubbed the “five-plus-UN”, are due to take place from April 27-29 involving the two sides of Cyprus, Turkey, Greece, the UK, plus the United Nations. Despite the gathering being described as “informal”, it will signal the most significant push for a settlement since the collapse of formal talks nearly four years ago.
The Greek Cypriot side is pressing, however, for the EU to be given “observer status” at the event, a move opposed by the TRNC and Turkey.
Speaking during a live TV interview with Turkey’s TRT World, Mr Tatar said that he had told top EU official Josep Borrell, who was on the island last week, that he did not want the EU to have a role in the April talks.
“As I said very openly and frankly to Mr Borrell . . . [the EU] has Greece and the Republic of Cyprus – the Greek Cypriots – as two of its full members. And they are very ambitious and they are very much involved in the mechanisms throughout European structures. . . If we allow the Europeans, the European Union, to be at the negotiating table, they will act 100 per cent in favour of the Greek Cypriots, which would be unfair to Turkish Cypriots.
“According to the United Nations, and their agenda, for somebody to sit at the table, that has to be approved by both sides [of Cyprus].
“We have obviously evaluated this with our motherland Turkey and within the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus . . . and we have come up with the view that it will not be in our interests for the EU to sit on the negotiating table, even as an observer.
“This is a matter to be negotiated between . . . Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots, and also the guarantor powers, because they have vested interests, namely Turkey, Greece and the United Kingdom, and obviously the United Nations. That is why it is a ‘five-plus-UN’ [meeting].”
Asked if the UK could be a more “objective partner in this process, certainly more objective than the EU” Mr Tatar replied: “The United Kingdom knows Cyprus very well. The British were on the island [from 1878] to 1960 and in that period the British got to know the Turkish Cypriots, the Greek Cypriots, the affairs of Cyprus, and they have been instrumental in many aspects, including the establishment of the Republic of Cyprus in 1960, when they left and turned over the sovereignty of the island to the Turkish Cypriots and the Greek Cypriots.
“So they know the details, they know the sensitivities, they know all the aspects of the Cyprus problem, and they have two bases here.
“Therefore they are in a better position to evaluate the matter. However, their being at the table is because . . . they are a guarantor power. . . the UK is a natural part of the negotiating process. They will be in the five-plus-UN meeting.
“However, they don’t have a job in particular to come up with a settlement plan – that is up to the two sides to negotiate, to discuss. But the [British], I think, are actively participating to help the two sides to come to an agreement.
“When the Foreign [Secretary] Dominic Raab visited me in my office in Nicosia [in February], he did say, quite frankly, that if we are going to have a settlement in Cyprus, both sides should be reasonable, flexible and understanding of each other. Therefore, that’s their position, and I think they mean well.”
Mr Tatar added that he was “very happy” that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan had told British PM Boris Johnson in a phone call this week that there should be a two-state solution in Cyprus.
He continued: “What is important is that we have two states anyway, and we have had two states on the island since 1963.
“[From] 1960 to 1963, the Republic of Cyprus was working, but after [December] 1963 we got separated. They [the Greek
Cypriots] went with the Republic of Cyprus, the Turkish Cypriots went with their own state until 1983, when the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus was declared.
“For the last 57 years, we have been separated. . . Therefore what is practical, what is logical, what is easier, is to recognise the existence of these two states and, in cooperation, for them to last forever on an equal basis on sovereignty issues.
“However the Greek Cypriots insist – which we will never accept – that we will join onboard the Republic of Cyprus, which is, according to them, the recognised government in the island of Cyprus.
“If we do that, we will lose a lot. Therefore the Turkish Cypriot side insists that we will go with our own state, but we are ready to cooperate, we are ready to discuss, we are ready to do whatever we can so that we can have this peace on the island that has [existed] since 1974.”
On Monday Mr Tatar held his latest face-to-face meeting with the UN’s “senior official” for Cyprus, Jane Holl Lute.
Speaking at a press conference following the meeting, Mr Tatar said: “We had another productive meeting with Ms Jane Holl Lute. . .I explained that, as the Turkish Cypriot side, we are sincerely and constructively preparing for the five-plusUN informal meeting. . .
“We explained to Ms Lute that what we need [are] . . .new approaches that will contribute to peace and stability in our region.”