Outrage over Turkish Cypriot invitation to anti-occupation event

Controversy broke out on Thursday following the Famagusta mayor’s invitation to Turkish Cypriots to an anti-occupation event which will take place in the municipality on Saturday.

Elam, Edek and others strongly criticised the move.

“The invitation [extended] to the pseudo-mayor of occupied Famagusta for the anti-occupation event of Famagusta is unacceptable from every point of view,” said an announcement from Edek.

“The so-called ‘mayor’ [Suleyman Ulucay] has usurped the town hall of the occupied city and installed himself inside the building and supports the [re]settlement of Famagusta, which Turkey and the occupying regime are proceeding with, in violation of UN Security Council resolutions,” Edek added.

Edek said it was unacceptable to invite an illegitimate institution of an unrecognised state, which rose to its position through illegal procedures and is not covered by the 1960 constitution.

The party denounced the mayor’s decision, accusing him of bringing before the municipal council a fait accompli and charging that the committee responsible for the anti-occupation events had previously not met for seven years.

“The mayor […] and those who endorsed his actions have downgraded [the nature of] the event from anti-occupation to bicommunal, sending wrong messages to occupying Turkey, internally and externally, and this cannot be accepted by Edek, which will not participate at the event,” the party said.

Speaking to state broadcaster CyBC on Thursday, Famagusta mayor, Simos Ioannou, defended his actions, saying that the community council meeting had taken a normal course and denied claims of it having been anti-democratic.

“We are not silencing anyone, everyone expressed their opinions, including disagreement,” the mayor said, maintaining that the decision to invite Ulucay was taken in agreement with all attendees.

The participation of a Turkish Cypriot delegation was a first and demonstrated the will towards a solution, Ioannou had told the state broadcaster in his announcement of the decision on Wednesday.

The mayor explained that his Turkish Cypriot counterpart would attend, as well as a twelve-person Turkish Cypriot youth choir who are to perform songs about reunification and peace.

“Council member Nikos Karoullas proposed the idea [of inviting Ulucay] and following agreement the invitation was made and positively received,” Ioannou said.

“From the moment [Ulucay] expressed the desire to be present, imagine if we said no,” the mayor remarked.

“There will be no difference to the event and [Ulucay] knows what type of event it is,” the mayor stated.

“The event programme includes a speech by the mayor who will refer clearly to who was the invader, nothing will change. All that this shows is that there are Turkish Cypriots who share our viewpoint and who disagree with the [current TC] regime,” Ioannou said, calling the acceptance a positive development, as the previous Turkish Cypriot municipal authority of the fenced-off city had not wanted to make any kind of contact for seven years.

The mayor went on to argue that the 1960 constitution foresaw election of two mayors, each representing their own community, operating in concert from a single municipal authority.

“Based on the constitution a Turkish Cypriot mayor should be elected for the Turkish Cypriot communities within Famagusta,” he said.

Pressed to clarify whether he considered his Turkish Cypriot counterpart legal, Ioannou said, “[Ulucay] should by rights be called the ‘mayor of the Turkish Cypriots of Famagusta.”

President Nikos Christodoulides, who will participate in the event, had been made aware of the Turkish Cypriots’ inclusion soon after the decision was taken, Ioannou told the CyBC.

The community leaders have met twice before, the last time being earlier in June, in a show of friendship, after Ulucay invited Ioannou for a meeting at the town hall.

“If we continue in the same vein [of not speaking to Turkish Cypriots] this will be to our detriment. The politics of exclusion will cause us to lose the forest for the tree,” Ioannou said.