On Monday 16 November 2015, a group of young Greek Cypriots, influenced by far right extremist nationalist elements and chanting anti-federation slogans, physically and without provocation attacked Turkish Cypriots in three separate incidents in Nicosia. Two Turkish Cypriots sustained injuries and had to receive hospital treatment. Both leaders of the two communities expressed their outrage and Mr Anastasiades promised to find the perpetrators and bring them to justice. Fifteen youths have since been arrested. Mr Akinci expressed his satisfaction of the actions taken in bringing the perpetrators to justice. Both have stated that such incidents will not be tolerated or be allowed to derail the progress that is being made in the talks. We the undersigned organisations subscribe to this press release and make the following declaration to appear in the Turkish Cypriot and Greek Cypriot media;
- We are satisfied with the conduct of the leaders of both communities on this incident.
- The message should be loud and clear that any such further incidents will be treated with zero tolerance regardless of whether the origin of the perpetrators is Turkish Cypriot or Greek Cypriot.
- The overwhelming majority of the Cypriot people do not condone such actions. Therefore no one has the right to blame the rest of the Greek Cypriot community for the actions of a small group of racist criminals.
- All those arrested were young people. Whilst their actions cannot be condoned, they are also the victims of far right nationalist criminal groups that lead a significant number of youngsters into their clutches. Therefore, the vulnerability of young people to these groups should be a major concern to all of us. We believe that the intentions of extremist organisations in both communities should be taken very seriously, as has been the case in Greece where far right leaderships have been prosecuted for running criminal organisations. This is particularly important for us in view of our past history and the potential to generate a bad atmosphere and to derail the intercommunal talks.
- We therefore condemn this heinous act of violence against innocent individuals whose crime was nothing other than their ethnic origin.
- We also expect that if found guilty, the assailants will receive an appropriate sentencing in order to deter any further incidents of this kind.
- We call upon the leaders of both communities to implement policies that cultivate mutual respect, tolerance and peaceful co-existence and which tackle nationalism, chauvinism and intolerance.
This press release is endorsed by the following UK based Cypriot organisations:
TURKISH CYPRIOT ORGANISATION for DEMOCRACY
AKEL IN BRITAIN
UNITED CYPRUS PLATFORM
UNION OF CYPRIOTS in BRITAIN (EKA)
CAMPAIGN FOR ONE CYPRUS
HARINGEY CYPRIOT COMMUNITY CENTRE
BLACKFEN TURKISH SCHOOL
ENFIELD CYPRIOTS ASSOCIATION (ECA)
HACKNEY CYPRIOT ASSOCIATION
EKON (United Cypriot Youth Organisation)
CYPRUS LOBBY
CYPRIOT WOMENS LEAQUE (CWL)
OLIVE TREE FOUNDATION
DEKFA –PROODEFTIKI UK
COMMUNAL DEMOCRACY & SOLIDARITY ASSOCIATION
WALTHAM FOREST CYPRIOT ASSOCIATION
KIBRISLI SANATCILAR PLATFORMU (CYPRIOT ARTISTS PLATFORM)
FAMAGUSTA ASSOCIATION
ACHNA ASSOCIATION
MARATHOVOUNO ASSOCIATION
ASSIA ASSOCIATION
PARIKIAKI NEWSPAPER
NEA SALAMINA FC
OMONIA FC
KLN FC