NICOSIA, Sept. 6 (Xinhua) — Several hundred Turkish Cypriots demonstrated in the northern part of the Cypriot capital on Thursday against economic hardship after the slide of the Turkish lira, eyewitnesses said.
The Turkish currency lost about 40 percent of its value against the U.S. dollar and the euro, leading to runaway inflation and economic misery for around 200,000 Turkish Cypriots who use the currency.
Greek Cypriots, who joined the demonstration in solidarity, said they marched in front of a building used as the seat of the ambassador of Turkey to demand an end to the control of their economy.
Turkey is the only country to recognize the breakaway Turkish Cypriot state set up in the part of Cyprus that has been occupied by Turkish troops since 1974 in reaction to a coup by the military rulers of Greece at the time.
Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci, who met with leaders of the platform on Wednesday, reportedly told them that it was not practical to give up the Turkish lira and introduce the euro as their currency.