Turkish Cypriots on Friday descended on the north’s ‘education ministry’ building to protest against the ‘government’s’ decision to amend regulations regarding schools’ dress codes to allow pupils to wear hijabs.

Hundreds of people gathered in front of the ministry’s front entrance, with the subject of their chants making it clear that they see the decision as one imposed by the Turkish government on the north.

Chants included, “Ankara, take your hands off us”, and “fascist AKP, collaborator UBP”, referring to Turkey’s ruling party the AK Party and the UBP, the largest party in the north’s three-party ruling coalition.

The ongoing protests in Turkey following the arrest of Istanbul mayor Ekrem Imamoglu were also the subject of the beginning of Cyprus Turkish secondary education teachers’ union (Ktoeos) leader Selma Eylem’s speech at the protest.

“First of all, we condemn the mindset which eliminates democracy, justice, rights, and freedoms today, and we salute the people of Turkey who are fighting for a free, democratic, and secular Turkey in line with Ataturk’s principles, and we would like to announce our support,” she began.

She then turned her attention to the matter of the hijabs, saying the ‘government’s’ decision “disregards our constitution and laws which order the state to provide education in a secular, scientific manner”.

“This is a coup d’état! This is unacceptable! We do not accept it, we will not accept it!” she said, before referring to the alleged involvement of the AK Party’s “TRNC representative” Emre Kaya in an incident where a teenage girl was driven to the Irsen Kucuk middle school in northern Nicosia and told, allegedly by Kaya, to enter the school wearing a hijab.

At the Irsen Kucuk middle school, teachers have been on strike since the decision was made, with Eylem having given a speech outside the school on Friday morning

“It is unacceptable that AK Party officials go into our schools in black Mercedes Vitos and put pressure on little girls! We will never accept it! Step by step, they brought Turkey to the edge of a cliff. Now, they are dragging us and our society, too. Now it is our children’s turn, and we will not allow it!”

Chaos in the schools themselves has centred on the Irsen Kucuk middle school and the Bekirpasha high school, which is located in Trikomo, with scheduled exams not having been able to go ahead as a result.

At the Irsen Kucuk middle school, teachers have been on strike since the decision was made, with Eylem having given a speech outside the school on Friday morning.

“Today, our teachers were here to conduct the exams, but the spider-headed mentality continues to put pressure on us, and for this reason, it could not happen. The rights of about 800 children have been usurped. Our fight is for the future of these children and society,” she said.

Meanwhile, Ktoeos secretary-general Tahir Gokcebel went even further.

“We will not stand by and watch as they transform our education system into Afghanistan, Iran, or Saudi Arabia through their impositions! … We will not allow politics to be done over our daughters’ bodies! We will expose these steps towards Sharia law one by one!

“We see girls being dragged to death by the morality police in Afghanistan. We will never allow this to happen in our country! We will resist,” he said.

In Trikomo on Friday, exams were cancelled after a girl arrived at school wearing a black Chador – a full-body cloak which covers the body from head to toe, leaving only the face exposed. Meanwhile, a boy turned up in a taqiyah, which is a small round skullcap.