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THIS OPPRESSIVE MENTALITY IS NOT FAR FROM US 

This post is also available in: ΕΛΛΗΝΙΚΑ (GREEK) TÜRKÇE (TURKISH)

Here’s your ‘guarantor.’
Anyone who opens their mouth is detained.
Especially if they are a threat to the government, a rival for Erdoğan!

I shudder even more when I imagine that this antidemocratic mentality, left to the mercy of an ‘authoritarian’, also governs the northern part of Cyprus.

Without democracy and law, there is no life.
Oppression is the only thing there could be.
Who wants to live under a police blockade?

***

To arrest people, first a ‘terrorist organisation’ is invented, then a ‘membership’ link with that organisation is fabricated, and then detentions ensue.
A country of coups, a geography of oppression…

It’s horrible.
Talking is forbidden!
Taking action is forbidden!
Thinking is forbidden!
Doing politics is forbidden!
Getting elected is forbidden!

Life is carried out under the conditions of martial law and in a climate of fear…

***

There is no ground left in Turkey to talk about politics, the will of the people, human rights and freedoms. I would like to think that it will not go on like this and that this atmosphere of horror will change. I hope that the enlightened people of Turkey, the youth and progressive people who would like to claim their freedom will push back this backwardness, corruption, bigotry and lawlessness, resist, and establish a just and egalitarian order…

This requires solidarity.

***

All these events are of close relevance to all of us as islanders.
We know very well that the northern part has become a sub-government of Turkey.
In 2020, we saw, lived and experienced how the presidential elections were rigged through the use of pressure and threats.

The most important actors of that intervention are here, again, now…
It is as if they are messing with the nerves of the society…

We cannot plan the future of Cyprus with a mentality as such.
The chaos we are experiencing thanks to the state of the ‘Turkish Lira’ is as clear as daylight…
We are becoming poorer, we cannot see our future, we are confronted with political Islam and backwardness, and we are turning into an appetizer on a table of different sorts of bargains, all of which relate to our homeland.

The more we see all of this, the more we realise the importance of owning up our will, our values and our homeland as a whole.

We must go through the wringer of nationalist touting, and intolerance to democracy and freedoms with utter consciousness, determination and courage.

Those who say, “Don’t poke the bear”…
That bear is spreading its terror all around.

The sort of oppression we currently watch on television screens is not far from us!

***

One morning, you can get arrested as a member of a ‘criminal organisation for peace in Cyprus ’…
You may even turn out to be the ‘Leader of an Organisation ’…
This is the kind of mindset we are talking about!

If we do not put ourselves together, if do not stand up for our values and govern our country bu our own will, this mentality will continue to enslave us.

This article was originally published on 19.03.2025

Source: THIS OPPRESSIVE MENTALITY IS NOT FAR FROM US 

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CENK MUTLUYAKALI | YENİDÜZEN
Born in 1971 in the town of Limassol, Cyprus, Cenk Mutluyakalı migrated to Kyrenia together with his family after the war. He began journalism at KIBRIS newspaper in 1989. He took part in establishing the United Media Group. He was the Editor-in-Chief of YENİDÜZEN newspaper for 20 years between 2001-2021. He continues to write daily essays, news reports and interviews for Yenidüzen newspaper. He served as the President of the Turkish Cypriot Press Card Commission and Turkish Cypriot Journalists Association. He was awarded with various prizes throughout his career, the most recent being the “Peace Journalism Prize” by the bicommunal New Cyprus Association. Mutluyakalı is an author of published books of essays and interviews. He is also the author of a novel titled “Salıncak” (Swing) published by Kor Kitap and translated into Greek by Heterotopia Publications with the title «Η κούνια».

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