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Turkish vice president visits controversial Islamic project in north (Updated)

Κατεχόμενα Τούρκος Αντιπρόεδρος Επίσκεψη Νέο "Προεδρικό"
Demonstration against the project on Wednesday

Under heavy security, Turkish Vice President Fuat Oktay arrived in the north on Wednesday to visit the construction site of the controversial ‘Kulliye’ project, warning dissenters are at odds with Turkey and the ‘government’.

“Those who try to complicate the realisation of this project, I express myself clearly; they will find the TRNC and the Republic of Turkey against them,” he told Turkish media.

He added that the project would be a symbol of “existence, sovereignty, and independence” for the Turkish Cypriots.

Oktay is in the north to announce the projects Ankara will fund.

Turkish Cypriot newspaper Yeni Duzen reported that at around 11:30am armed guards and riot police had been placed around the construction site of the Kulliye, an Islamic government complex.

The complex will include a “presidential palace” for the Turkish Cypriot leader, a “parliament building” for the Turkish Cypriot assembly, a mosque and a recreational park, and will cost around 2.5 billion Turkish lira (140 million euros). The project will be fully financed by Turkey.

The paper also reported that only Turkish press were allowed to enter the construction site area, which had been visited by ‘transport minister’ Erhan Arikli earlier in the day.

Tents were set up in the site adorned with Turkish flags and the flag of the breakaway regime.

Meanwhile, four activists unfurled a banner that said “No to the Kulliye” in Turkish. Speaking at the mini demonstration, the New Cyprus Party (YKP) secretary general Murat Kanatli said: “The building representatives are not Ersin Tatar or Zorlu Tore [the north’s ‘house speaker’], but Fuat Oktay, who come to inspect the construction. In short, this is a political project, not a construction.”

Last month, the paper reported that “188 schools and 13 hospitals could have been built, and 107 MRI machines could have been procured with this money,” in place of constructing this project. The newspaper drew attention to the poor condition of public schools and hospital and questioned how a Kulliye could be the priority.

Besides being costly and unfamiliar, the controversial construction on Greek Cypriot land in Ayios Dhometios is also illegal, since the project owners have not applied for any of the permissions required to get a building permit. Mayor Mehmet Harmancı of the Nicosia Turkish municipality signalled the other day that the construction site may be sealed off for this reason.

police outside islamic complex
Police guard outside the complex (Yeni Duzen)

For many Turkish Cypriots, the Kulliye also symbolises Turkey’s mounting control and intervention in the northern part of Cyprus.

“Kulliye is actually the symbol of a much bigger project,” journalist Cenk Mutluyakalı had said. “It is the symbol of the unnamed ‘annexation’ project. I hope we wake up in the face of the loss of our will, the destruction of our democracy, the attack against our values.”

During protests in late September at the start of construction, scuffles broke out.

A human chain was formed at the Kermia roundabout in the north, with the participation of opposition parties, the bar association, doctors, architects and engineers, who claim the so-called ‘Kulliye’ project was approved without going through standard procedures.

Protesters pushed through the barbed wire barriers placed at the scene, and police unsuccessfully attempted to stop them.

Head of the Turkish Cypriot Building Contractors Association (KTİMB) Cafer Gurcafer said that although there are more important projects they could be working on during a financial crisis, the Turkish foreign ministry has been pushing for this project.

“We were against the philosophical part. We are going through difficult economic times and we suggested that this money be used elsewhere. However, the ministry of foreign affairs of Turkey said they are determined about construction in terms of foreign policy,” he said.

This project was heralded by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan himself last July, during his visit on the island to mark the anniversary of the Turkish invasion.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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