Under the front page title: “out of control”, Turkish Cypriot daily Kibris (16.05.12) gives an extensive coverage to the incidents occurred yesterday outside of the building of the so-called municipality of the occupied part of Lefkosia, where the employees in the “municipality” are on A strike for more than a month.
According to the paper, after the so-called ministerial council’s extraordinary meeting yesterday, which took place under the leadership of the Turkish Cypriot leader, Dervis Eroglu, the so called minister of interior Nazim Cavusoglu announced the decision of the “council of ministers” to prohibit the strike for a period of 60 days, under the excuse, that the uncollected rubbish has started to pose a public health risk.
As soon as the decision was announced, writes the paper, the workers in the so-called municipality in occupied Lefkosia gathered outside the building of the “municipality” in order to react over the fact that the “council” did not take any decision related to their unpaid salaries for two months. The paper writes that incidents and strife occurred as soon as the workers of the “municipality” were prevented by the so-called police. Participants in the strike poured and burnt rubbish on the streets. The so-called anti riot forces, were also engaged and five workers of the “municipality” where taken into custody while the so-called police announced that more than 17 injured persons were taken to the hospital.
Issuing a statement commenting on the incidents occurred yesterday, the so-called Prime Minister, Irsen Kucuk condemned the incidents and said that they will not permit the situation to lead the “country” into chaos, adding that they will be unsparing in, even to take the necessary hard measures for the public’s good.
According to the paper, a lot of Turkish Cypriot politicians condemned with several statements the incidents in the so-called municipality of occupied Lefkosia as a result of the decision of the so-called ministerial council to ban the strike. Also, the so-called Trade Union Platform announced yesterday that they will march today in front of the so-called municipality and go on with a three-hour general strike, in order to express their strong reaction to the above mentioned decision and their support to the “municipality workers”.
In statements on the issues, the chairman of the Republican Turkish Party-United Forces, Ozkan Yorgancioglu criticized the so-called council of ministers for its decision and said that this decision indicates strongly the incapability of those who administrate the country to find solutions to several problems.
Sener Elcil, secretary general of KTOS trade Union, commenting on the incidents said that the “country” is leading to the destruction. According to Elcil, the recent developments in the “TRNC” indicated strongly that the separatist structure which was established after 1974, has been collapsed.
Moreover, the so-called Chamber of Industry issued yesterday a written statement and called on the trade unions, the workers of the “municipality” and the so-called officials to proceed in dialogue so that to find a solution to the problem.
All Turkish Cypriot newspaper covers the issues extensively. Following are the front-page titles of the papers:
Haberdar: “Chaos”
Star Kibris: “Civil war in the capital”
Vatan: “Tension occurred in the Lefkosia Turk Municipality”
Havadis: “No Salary but whipping”
Yeni Duzen: “Lefkosia is like Athens”
Ortam: “Incapable government”
Halkin Sesi: “It should not be like this”
Volkan: “Battlefield”
Bakis: “Misfortune”
Gunes: Kucuk: “Common sense should win”
Kibrisli: “We are becoming a second Greece”