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Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) Prime Minister Unal Ustel on Saturday condemned the burning of Turkish and TRNC flags by Greek Cypriot youths at protests in the south of the island. He called the acts an attack on the honor of the Turkish nation and urged the Greek Cypriot administration to take immediate action against those responsible.
In a written statement, Ustel said the chants of hatred, hostility and anger aimed at Turkish Cypriots and at Türkiye during demonstrations marking the TRNC’s founding anniversary reflected a mentality the Greek Cypriot administration had fostered for years.
“This is an act of insolence! It is an open attack on the national symbols, values and honor of the Turkish nation! This is unacceptable and unforgivable,” he said.
Ustel said teachers and members of parliament took part in the protests. He argued that encouraging young people to chant hateful slogans and turning schools into centers for spreading hostility amounted to a deliberate policy of enmity, and he held the Greek Cypriot administration responsible for it.
He accused Greek Cypriot leaders of hypocrisy for talking about peace and reconciliation while, in his words, encouraging anti-Turkish sentiment in schools, organizing demonstrations where flags are burned and raising young people with hatred. “Get your act together,” he said, adding that the leadership “must immediately put an end to this policy and take the necessary action against those responsible for the attacks on our flags.”
Ustel also pledged to defend Turkish Cypriots and Türkiye. “Our stance is clear and resolute in the face of any attack on the values, flag and existence of the Turkish Cypriot people and the Turkish nation,” he said, adding that the TRNC would “always and under all circumstances” protect the rights of the Turkish Cypriot people and their motherland.
Groups including the far-right National Popular Front, known as ELAM, held demonstrations in several cities in the south to mark the 43rd anniversary of the TRNC’s founding. Participants displayed Greek and Byzantine flags and burned Turkish and TRNC flags.
Protesters chanted “Death to Turks, Cyprus is Greek” and tried to march toward the TRNC border. Greek Cypriot police prevented them from reaching it.
In a first, the Greek Cypriot administration’s Education Ministry sent schools a circular instructing them not to mark students absent if they took part in the demonstrations.
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