What the papers say

“YES, Cypriots are racist.” That was the verdict this week of Havadis editor Başaran Düzgün.

Writing in a column, he dismissed as “empty talk” the “constant boasting” that: “Cypriots are tolerant. Cypriots respect differences. Cypriots are peaceloving. Cyprus is multi-cultural.”

“No-one is saying so, but Cypriots are racist,” he wrote.

“Or some Cypriots admit to it when they talk to one another. And I am convinced they are proud to be racist.”

Mr Düzgün said Cypriots’ “racist nature” had “galloped” with the arrival of up to 10,000 African students in their midst.

“Problems are heaped on African students, Nigerian ones in particular, who study in our colleges and pay us; who shop and spend their money in our supermarkets; who rent their homes at exorbitant prices,” he wrote calling an “insurrection” by the students “justified”.

Mr Düzgün referred to an interview in the paper during which Nigerian Students’ Union head Evidence Akhayare had “said some frightening things . . . that ought to shake us to the core”.

He quoted Mr Akhayare as saying: “People in the TRNC think we are very dangerous, no-one cares about us and we are subjected to injustice all the time.

“We are not bad people. There are those who treat us badly just by looking at the colour of our skin. Of course many friends have got involved in wrongdoing, but this is the case everywhere.”

The student leader was further quoted as saying: “I don’t want to generalise, but female students who hitch-hike or get into a taxi are being molested, or are encouraged into prostitution with the promise of money. Many girls have told police but none of their complaints was taken seriously.”

In what Mr Düzgün called “the sentence that hurt the most”, he added: “The Nigerian government no longer sees the TRNC as safe. They think the rights of black students have been taken away. Our government is closely followimng the [Kennedy Taomwabwa Dede] murder case . . . We are waiting for the outcome.”

Mr Düzgün commented: “To treat someone badly simply by looking at his skin is racism — one of the most serious crimes in the world. Racists are seen as sick people. And now this illness and crime has spread to us as well.”

He concluded: “Nigeria is one of the worst places in the world for security. Never mind the civil war that goes on and on, it is a country where the crime rate is very high.

“But this country no longer perceives the TRNC as safe. They are telling their students, ‘it’s not safe for you.’ And this becomes a stain on the forehead of the TRNC.

“Why? The reason is very clear: because we are racist.”