5 May 2025 - Press statement regarding the protest on Saturday 3 May 2025
A protest was organised last Saturday (3-5-2025) by a group of Turkish Cypriots, including our Secretary General Hulusi Kilim, to express our community's reaction and resistance to Turkey's attempts to suppress the political will of the Turkish Cypriot community.
We condemn the unlawful use of force and bodily harm inflicted on the protesters who were peacefully protesting and exercising their universal right to freedom of expression, and we extend our solidarity to all those affected.
Taken together with the recent renewed threats and attempts to silence journalists in relation to press freedom, as well as the interventions against the secular values of the society, this incident has once again demonstrated the increasing and intensifying pressure of the Turkish government, with its collaborators on the island, on the social identity, will and internal affairs of Turkish Cypriots.
As part of our continuous efforts to bring the two communities on our island together, we will continue to take part in the struggles against authoritarianism and oppression because these struggles are much stronger and more meaningful when Cypriots fight together for an independent, united and federal Cyprus.
We have the will!