Turkish newspaper Turkiye has reported an alleged plan by the Turkish government to transfer and settle new populations in the occupied areas of Cyprus in a bid to increase its control over the territory.
Under the headline “TOKI (Turkey’s Mass Housing Development Administration) will end the occupation in Cyprus,” Turkiye claims that “individuals of Israeli and Greek origin are buying houses and land” in the occupied territories and writes that “Ankara has taken the situation into its own hands. It will build social housing through the Turkish construction organisation TOKI, increasing the Turkish population on the island.”
The newspaper also quotes Turkish Minister of Environment, Urbanisation and Climate Change Murat Kurum as announcing “giant projects” in the occupied areas, adding that “it is of strategic importance” that Turkish projects are implemented in the occupied north, where, he alleges, “foreign investors, especially Israelis and Greeks, are collecting land and houses.” Kurum added that “measures will be taken to strengthen the Turkish presence on the island.”
According to Turkiye, the social housing projects initiated by TOKI in the occupied territories “aim to both improve the quality of life of the residents of the region and increase the Turkish population.” It also states that Turkish President Erdogan will announce details in May regarding the transformation of the occupied north into an attractive investment centre with affordable housing.
Experts, the newspaper writes, “emphasise that the projects will trigger migration and investment from Turkey.”
Turkiye further claims that “increasing the Turkish population and strengthening the military presence are considered critical in the face of the moves by Greece, Israel, and the EU in the region. Turkey’s investments in the TRNC also support its Blue Homeland policy.”
Tatar’s stance on the headscarf issue
Ersin Tatar, the Turkish Cypriot leader, stated that discussions over permitting the use of the Islamic headscarf in secondary schools in the occupied north are being politicised.
According to reports by Turkish Cypriot media, a statement from the administration quoted Tatar as saying that the issue of the dress code is being used as a political tool, and there is an attempt to create the impression that the principle of “secularism” is being abandoned.
He claimed that the Turkish Cypriot “people” have always been guided by Atatürk’s principles and reforms, and the dress code has not and will not change this. “Throughout history, neither Greek Cypriot nor British pressures could deter the Turkish Cypriot people from this path,” he reportedly said.
Tatar met Di Carlo in Antalya
The Turkish Cypriot leader, Ersin Tatar, discussed the decisions made at the informal extended meeting in Geneva with Rosemary Di Carlo, the UN Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs, on the sidelines of the Antalya Diplomacy Forum.
Citing sources from the “presidency” in the occupied north, Turkish Cypriot media write that Tatar conveyed to Di Carlo his position on the opening of four crossing points, removing land mines, the establishment of a bicommunal youth committee, the establishment of a Technical Committee on the environment and climate change, solar energy in the buffer zone, and the restoration of cemeteries.
