Monday, January 22/2018

Offices of left wing North Cyprus newspaper Afrika trashed by citizens who object to the paper suggesting that Turkish President Erdogan had attacked a Kurdish enclave in Syria in order to occupy the territory and - crucially - comparing the power play to Turkish military “occupying” North Cyprus. There are indeed 35,000 Turkish troops in the North, although the alternative way of regarding this is the one expressed by TRNC leader Akinci, that the Turkish troops who intervened in 1974 and remained on the island have prevented Turkish Cypriots from becoming a minority (and an oppressed one) in a Greek state. But Erdogan obviously noticed Afrika’s headline - or, more probably had it brought to his attention - and urged Turkish Cypriots to “give the necessary response to this”, which led to an attack with eggs and stones, doing significant damage.