Protesters enter Turkish Cypriot legislature building as general strike continues

Protesters entered the Turkish Cypriot legislature building on Tuesday morning, as a general strike called in protest at cuts to the cost-of-living allowance for public sector workers continued.

As had happened in the previous two days of protests, demonstrators powered through riot fences erected by the Turkish Cypriot police outside the building’s complex, while also uprooting sections of the complex’s perimeter wall, before once again advancing as far as the building’s front door.

Having remained there for a couple of hours, they eventually breached the police’s last line of defence, entering the building through fire exits and demanding that the ruling coalition resign.

As demonstrators streamed through the corridors, Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhurman appeared, calling for calm. He had earlier joined protesters outside and held talks with trade union leaders at his official residence, which is next-door to the legislature, in the northern sector of Ayios Dhometios.

Addressing the protestors, he said he would now discuss the matter with the ruling coalition, and that “we are very close” to a solution.

The extension of the general strike into Tuesday and another protest were both called on Monday evening, after ‘MPs’ from the ruling coalition, led by Hasan Tacoy, had attempted and failed to convince union leaders to return to talks.

Tacoy and others had exited the building after sunset on Monday, clutching paper copies of a bill in their hands, which they said would offer a mutually acceptable compromise on the cost-of-living allowance, which the ruling coalition had last week zeroed for all public sector workers until next year at the earliest.

However, the unions refused to engage, saying that the ruling coalition’s decision to issue a decree with the force of law stipulating the change while they were preparing to negotiate last week means that negotiations are now no longer an option.

Instead, they said, they intend to remain on strike and continue their protests until the coalition falls.

Later on Monday night, Tacoy, flanked by fellow backbench ‘MPs’ from the ruling coalition Hasan Kucuk and Emrah Yesilirmak, had announced that the legislature would hold an extraordinary session on Tuesday morning.

It remains unclear whether Tacoy himself has taken control of the order paper, or whether he was speaking on behalf of ‘prime minister’ Unal Ustel. Ustel left the legislature building on Monday evening without speaking to reporters who were gathered outside.

Tacoy and Ustel are longtime foes, with the former having unsuccessfully challenged the latter for the party’s leadership in 2024.

The legislature did briefly sit on Tuesday morning before protesters entered the building, with ‘finance minister’ Ozdemir Berova having outlined the coalition’s latest plans.

He put forward a proposal by which public sector workers would be paid half of their regular cost-of-living allowance in July, before having the remainder deferred until next year.

However, the opposition remained unmoved, with opposition political party CTP leader Sila Usar Incirli issuing the coalition four demands for a “consensus” to be reached.

Those four demands, she said, are to “withdraw the violence, stop the violence, and release the arrested people”, to withdraw the decree zeroing the cost-of-living allowance, to send bills related to the cost-of-living allowance back to the ‘parliamentary’ finance committee, and to hold legislative elections in June.

“You think that anything is possible just because you want it to be, but you are greatly mistaken. While our people are being beaten, arrested, handcuffed, and taken away in the parliament’s front garden, you claim to be working for the safety of our people,” she said.

At this point, news of demonstrators being pepper sprayed reached the legislature, with CTP members Dogus Derya and Erkut Sahali, among others, expressing disgust at the authorities for this.

CTP members then left the chamber en masse, shortly before the protesters entered the building.