No violence in North Cyprus, say university students
NORTH Cyprus is a country that is “free from violence” a representative of Nigerian university students in the TRNC has said.
The comments were made by Kingsley Ifeanyi Nweke, vice president of the National Association of Nigerian Students, during a meeting between him and other Nigerian students and National Education Minister Nazım Çavuşoğlu.
The meeting was held at the National Education Ministry headquarters last Friday and took place following false comments by a senior Nigerian government official, Abike Dabiri-Erewa, that Nigerian students are being killed in the TRNC “daily”, which had received widespread coverage in the Nigerian and TRNC media, including Cyprus Today.
According to a statement issued by the National Education Ministry, Mr Nweke said that Nigerian students receive education in North
Cyprus “peacefully and freely” and that they “do not have any problems with the Turkish Cypriot people” and that “Northern Cyprus is a country free from violence”.
He added that his association will organise an event on October 1, Nigerian Independence Day, to promote this image and invited Mr Çavuşoğlu to attend the event.
Mr Çavuşoğlu said that he will “not allow those who are engaged in inappropriate
activities” to “pollute the country and bother their fellow students”.
After listening to the “views and suggestions” of the Nigerian students, Mr Çavuşoğlu noted that the Turkish Cypriot community is a society that attaches “great importance to freedom and independence” and believes that countries should “express their own identities, cultures and beliefs”.
He added that there are
around 13,000 Nigerian students studying at TRNC universities and that the students receive support for “everything”.
Stating that he is saddened because the names of some Nigerian students “have been mentioned in criminal incidents” recently, Mr Çavuşoğlu emphasised that both society and the students “have to comply with the laws” of the TRNC.
“The families of the students who come to our country entrust their children to us,” he said.
“We also want these children to receive a quality education safely and to return to serve their home countries. We do not want people with other intentions to come to our country.”
Referring to the comments by Abike Dabiri-Erewa, Mr Çavuşoğlu said that the “news and statements made in Nigeria do not reflect the truth” and that these statements “upset us deeply”.
He emphasised that the Turkish Cypriot people “have not harmed any student”, that the TRNC is a “safe education island”, and that the statements made about Nigerian students were made “with intent”.
Mr Çavuşoğlu thanked the Nigerian student delegation for their statements countering the “negative perception that is trying to be created” regarding studying in the TRNC.