Ten thirty in the morning a siren sounds for two minutes straight and then stops. Not the wailing kind you get with ambulances or fire engines. Presumably we’re not being attacked, especially as it stops after two minutes. Turns out it’s a kind of in memoriam sounding for the fortieth anniversary of the death of the first vice president of the Republic of Cyprus, Dr Fazıl Küçük. His vice presidency goes back to the time of Cyprus gaining independence and ended just before the final division of the country.
Military service is compulsory in both the North and South for males. In the South there is somewhat grudging recognition of the right of conscientious objectors to provide non military service as an alternative. The period required is substantially longer than service in the national guard would have been, however.
A bill allowing for similar provisions for conscientious objectors in the TRNC has just been defeated in the legislature here. Leaving one quiet young man, Mustafa Hurben, who is opposed on principle to taking part in the military, saying he will accept jail time instead of the draft. Actually the man has legally evaded the draft as there was a temporary scheme at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, which allowed him to buy his way out of conscription for £6,000 (€6,974, $10,261 CAD). The issue now is his refusal to attend annual refresher days and as a result he expects to be jailed for ten days each year he refuses until he turns forty.
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