In a show of defiance, Turkish Cypriots took to the streets this week to protest against the threat Turkey poses to its secular culture.
An estimated 1,000 people protested outside of the Parliament in the Turkish-occupied part of the ethnically divided island's capital, Nicosia, denouncing Turkey’s increasing Islamic encroachment into their way of life.
The protest, prompted by the recent announcement of the creation of a ‘government committee’ that will fund, oversee and approve youth sport and cultural activities is seen as Erdogan’s attempt to steer their culture away from its secular nature and more in tune to Islamic ethics and norms.
One of the protestors, Turkish Cypriot lawmaker Zeki Celer told Associated Press that the committee is headed by a Turkish national appointed by the Turkish government and has a mandate to administer along religious lines, support instruction about the Quran, Ottoman customs and the Arabic language.
It must be noted that successive Turkish governments have been methodically populating occupied northern Cyprus state with Turkish nationals, affecting the demographic character of the region, much to the dismay Greek Cypriots.
Some reports have put the number of Turkish settlers to nearly 250,000 nearly half the population of the breakaway state.
