Illegal Turkish settlers are still a major issue for the occupied area of Cyprus
Under the banner front-page title “This place is finished”, Turkish Cypriot daily Kibris newspaper (04.12.12) reports that according to a research carried out by the paper, 68.500 people from Alexandretta (Hatay), Turkey’s Black Sea, Eastern and Southeastern regions live in the occupied area of the Republic of Cyprus. This number does not include those who have come to the occupied area of the island from other regions of Turkey as well as those who work illegally there.
The paper reports that it is said that seventy thousand people have returned back to Turkey during the past one year. Citing some allegations, the paper writes that the number of those who enter into the occupied area of Cyprus with a “tourist visa” has increased, and adds that it is said that many thousands , who worked especially in the construction sector and in restaurants returned back to Turkey, because of the existing crisis in all sectors of the breakaway regime’s economy, the decrease of property sales and the increase of the prices of food, which are higher than the ones in Turkey.
Commenting on the issue, the paper’s editor-in-chief, Resat Akar refers to the statement made by the vice president of Turkey’s Republican People’s Party (CHP), Gursel Tekin, who during his recent visit to the occupied area of Cyprus said that his party would open offices there. Akar notes the following: “Why? Because there is a considerable population [Translator’s note: of Turkish settlers] here. If there was a population of three or five thousands, there would be no need to open an office…”
Akar recalls the statements made recently on the issue of the Turkish settlers by the self-styled minister of finance, Ersin Tatar and the chairman of the association of the Turkish settlers from Alexandretta, Bertan Zaroglu. Tatar had stated that more than 20 thousand Turkish settlers from the Black Sea area live in the occupied area of Cyprus and Zaroglu noted that thirty thousand persons from their region live in the occupied area of Cyprus. “That is, the people from the Black Sea and Alexandretta exceed 50 thousand. There are some who allege that this number was around 110 thousand one year ago”, writes Akar and points out that “undoubtedly those who are not registered, those who did not go to the relevant associations remained outside these numbers”.
“Very well, what about the people from Mardin, Urfa, Konya, Adana, Mersin, Tarsus, Gaziantep”, wonders Akar and notes that we cannot say the exact number, but there are many tens of thousands of people in the occupied area of Cyprus who have “double citizenship” and could vote not only in the “elections” in the occupied area of Cyprus but in the elections in Turkey as well. He argues that in these circumstances, it would not be a surprise if after the CHP, Turkish parties such as the Justice and Development Party (AKP), the Nationalist Action Party (MHP) and others soon opened offices in the occupied area of Cyprus.
Referring to the same issue, Sami Ozuslu reports in his column in Turkish Cypriot daily Yeni Duzen newspaper (04.12.12) that the results of the population census held twelve months ago in the occupied area of Cyprus have not been announced yet, except for a general number. Under the title “I wonder how much our population is”, he notes that important details such as the place of birth of the inhabitants of the occupied area of Cyprus have not been announced.
Ozuslu writes that the chairman of the Turkish Cypriot Physicians Association, Dr. Erol Seherlioglu had told Kanal SIM that more than 1400 persons have visited the polyclinics in one year in order to acquire a “health certificate” for applying for the “citizenship” of the breakaway regime. He noted that there was an increase in the monthly numbers of these persons in 2012 and added that they examine more persons who want to take the “citizenship” than “normal patients”.
CNA