Turkish Cypriots on Monday embarked on a general strike over the north’s ruling coalition’s plans regarding the cost-of-living allowance, with thousands of people marching from around northern Nicosia to the Turkish Cypriot legislature building in the northern sector of Ayios Dhometios.

Three separate starting points were listed for the march: the “Citroen lights” at the top of northern Nicosia’s arterial Dereboyu Avenue, the “civil defence roundabout” in the suburb of Ortakoy, and the “purple roundabout” in the far northwest of Ayios Dhometios.

Those three starting points are respectively located east, north, and west of the legislature building, with demonstrators as such converging on it at the end of their marches.

When the legislature building, they were met by a line of riot police at the building’s security gate, which is located around 200 metres in front of its front door.

However, they overpowered the police and made it as far as the front door, before the ruling coalition agreed to negotiate with trade union leaders over the future of the north’s cost-of-living allowance.

Union leaders then entered the building, and the remaining protesters retreated around 100 metres backwards.

The strike and the march come after ‘finance minister’ Ozdemir Berova had earlier in the month announced that while public sector workers would be paid a cost-of-living allowance in April, they will then receive no further such payments until next year.

Trade unions had as such warned that if those plans were passed by the ‘parliamentary’ finance committee, they would go on strike, with no fewer than 62 trade unions and other civil society organisations eventually joining the strike.

On Monday morning, Cyprus Turkish teachers’ trade union (Ktos) secretary-general Burak Mavish said during an appearance on Kibris Postasi TV that he and other union leaders had requested to meet Berova on Sunday but received no response, and thus decided to call the general strike.

He was also asked to comment on the Turkish Cypriot chamber of commerce (Ktto)’s opinion that “strikes should not be held in the education and health sectors”, and described the statement as “manipulative”.

Additionally, he said that Ktto chairman Turgay Deniz “pays less tax than many civil servants and teachers”.