March against Parliament and Presidency ‘complex’

A PROTEST march was held in Lefkoşa last Saturday against the construction of a new complex of buildings that will host the TRNC’s Parliament and the offices of the President.

The demonstration was organised by the “No to the Complex Platform”, which is made up of some political parties – including the main opposition Republican Turkish Party – and non-governmental organisations, who have dubbed the Turkish-funded project a “Külliye”, a word generally used to refer to a collection of buildings centred around a mosque.

The march started at the Kermiya roundabout and ended in front of the construction site on

Osman Örek Caddesi, which was temporarily closed to traffic.

Tight security measures were also put in place to avoid a repeat of protesters making their way into the construction site at a previous demonstration.

Left Movement secretary general Abdulah Korkmazhan gave a speech on behalf of the platform.

He said that the protest was “against the impositions inflicted on the Turkish Cypriot society”.

Mr Korkmazhan said that the complex should “not be seen as just a construction site” and criticised remarks made by Turkey’s Vice President Fuat Oktay during a recent visit to the site.

The complex is being built to replace the current Parliament building, which is located on the site of a former Greek Cypriotowned

tobacco factory, and the decades-old existing offices of the President, which Turkish President

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan once described as a “shanty house belonging to the British”.