New Waltham Forest protest on the cards
AN alliance of Turkish Cypriot organisations is planning to host a second protest demonstration against alleged “discrimination” and “racial insults” by Waltham Forest Council Leader Grace Williams.
The Council of Turkish Cypriot Associations UK (CTCA) along with lobby groups “North Cyprus Exists” (NCE) and “Embargoed!”, the Cyprus Turkish Youth and Family Union — England, the British Turkish Cypriot Association, and the social media account known as “Young Turkish Cypriots” announced their plan to hold the demonstration outside Waltham Forest Town Hall in north London on Thursday, March 3.
The first such demonstration took place on December 9 last year in response to events that took place around North Cyprus’s Independence
Day on November 15. Prior to the day, British Turkish Cypriot Waltham Forest Councillor Nick Halebi obtained permission for the TRNC flag to be raised outside the Town Hall in celebration of Independence Day, and on the morning of that day, a flag-raising ceremony took place.
Following complaints from Greek Cypriot groups and some British Members of Parliament, along, it is claimed, with pressure from the Greek Cypriot High Commission in London, Cllr Williams ordered the flag to be taken down.
She later released a statement which some Turkish Cypriots felt insinuated that the TRNC flag was “offensive” and a “cause [of] division”.
There was also uproar over the manner in which the flag was removed, with the CTCA accusing the council of “dragging it across the floor” and “dumping it” in a store room.
The CTCA listed several reasons for the second protest, including that no apology was issued to Turkish Cypriots by Grace Williams, that a “racist” statement allegedly issued by Cllr Williams on November 15 had not been removed from the council’s website, that no anti-racism training had been undertaken by Grace Williams or her staff since that day, that no “transparent” investigation into events around November 15 had been held, and that a report produced by the council “incorrectly” absolved Cllr Williams of any wrongdoing.
The protest on March 3 has been timed to coincide with Grace Williams’s monthly meeting with her staff.
Speaking of her organisation’s decision to hold another protest demonstration against Cllr Williams, CTCA chairwoman Ayşe Osman said, “Almost 3,100 people have signed a petition condemning the behaviour of the council leader and hundreds more have written in to complain, but neither Cllr Grace Williams nor Waltham Forest Council has seen it fit to apologise for their behaviour . . .
“Turkish Cypriots exist and North Cyprus is our ethnic homeland. Like other communities, we are very proud of our identity and the flag . . .
“We’ve already seen how the council leader’s behaviour has incited racial hatred [against] Turkish Cypriots and created a hostile environment for the borough’s estimated 10,000 residents of Turkish Cypriot origin. We need urgent action to remedy this”.
The previous protest demonstration saw a reported 400 people taking part — a figure that organisers hope will be exceeded on March 3.