Disabled people call for action, ‘not fancy words’

DISABLED people in North Cyprus want action not “fancy words” from the government, Günay Kibrit, the head of the Cyprus Turkish Orthopaedic Disabled Association (KTOÖD) said this week.

“On Disability Day or Disability Awareness Week, we don’t want to hear fancy words or stand like ornaments in photographs next to the rulers of the country and smile like children given candy on holidays,” he said in a message addressed to the government to mark World Disability Week.

Mr Kibrit pointed out that for the last year and a half “all of humanity has been trying to survive under great limitations due to the pandemic” but that this period has affected people with disabilities more than others.

“While it is obvious that our chance to go out into the streets is not due to architectural obstacles in our country, we are now completely closed up at home,” he said.

Mr Kibrit complained that disabled people have not been given priority in the Covid-19 vaccination programme.

“Thanks to our government’s failure to see or accept disability as a chronic illness, our disabled people . . . are waiting in fear for their age group to be called to be vaccinated.

“Our people, who have much lower resistance than healthy people [to Covid-19], are not considered in any way and are being ignored by those who govern us.

“When this is the case, it is like we have always said: society continues to ignore disabled people.”

Mr Kibrit pointed out that while the country is experiencing “economically difficult times, hundreds of people are employed by the government as temporary workers” but not a “single one of the 660 [disabled] people who have been waiting for employment [by the state] since 2006” has been offered a job in the public sector.

He continued: “Even during the times we were closed, have you, as the government, ever reached out to the employees [of disability organisations]?

“Is it because you assume that we, as non-governmental organisations, are collecting donations and that we pay the salaries of our employees from these donations so you excluded associations and foundations from this [employment] support?

“We want you to know that it is fortunate that these associations and foundations exist. They provide all the support you should be [providing], taking on all the responsibilities and tasks you should be taking on.”