Turkish leader’s visit to occupied Cyprus sparks protest (video)

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Erdogan made a highly provocative visit July 20 to the Turkish-occupied region in northern Cyprus.

Erdogan’s purpose in coming to the region was to commemorate the 37th anniversary of the invasion of Cyprus by Turkish troops. This invasion, which Erdogan came to celebrate, was, and continues to be, universally denounced; in fact the UN has declared the invasion and the continued occupation to be violations of international law.

Although Erdogan came to celebrate the invasion, Turkish Cypriots, many of them trade unionists, had other ideas and staged demonstrations.

According to Cypriot sources, armed men in the Turkish-controlled area attacked the Cypriot demonstrators without regard to age or gender and seized their banners and placards. Later, Turkish authorities raided the offices of labor unions in the occupied areas and made several arrests.

Despite repression and intimidation demonstrators were able to photograph and videotape the attacks and raids so that occupation authorities could not deny what happened.

Police Violence in North Cyprus / Kuzey Kıbrıs’ta Polis Şiddeti from Baris Parlan on Vimeo.