[EDLING:324] GREEK SCHOOL IN TURKISH CYPRUS REOPENS 30 YEARS LATER

[Francis M Hult]

Mercator Linguistic Rights and Legislation

GREEK SCHOOL IN TURKISH CYPRUS REOPENS 30 YEARS LATER

http://www.ciemen.org/mercator/index-gb.htm

September 2004 For the first time in 30 years a Greek Cypriot secondary
school in Turkish-occupied northern Cyprus has opened its doors to pupils.
The village of Rizokarpasso in the north-eastern part of Cyprus remained
inhabited by Greek Cypriots even after the Turkish occupation of northern
Cyprus in 1974. Before the Turkish military occupation about 2,000 Greek
Cypriots lived here. Thirty years later the community has declined to 500,
largely because the Turkish Cypriot authorities closed the village school
and many children were forced to travel to the Greek Cypriot south for
their education. Once there, the Turkish authorities prevented them from
returning home. Now, Mehmet Ali Talat, the head of Turkish Cypriot
community, has decided to reopen the village school. Of the 17 educators
selected to teach at the school, seven already arrived and started classes
in accordance with the first day's schedule which included lessons in
French, Greek and religion. Greek Cypriot Polakis Sarris, commissioner in
charge of humanitarian affairs, said to the European media that for 30
years the Greek Cypriot community has been living "under threats, afraid
to speak freely, even among themselves". With Turkey’s request for
European Union membership at stake, the re-opening of this school allows
Turkey to earn political credit from Brussels and the Council of Europe
which had already put pressure on Ankara to re-open the school. The
Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Terry Davis, welcomed the
re-opening of the Greek school in Rizokarpasso and he said that this is a
very positive step on behalf of the leaders of the Turkish Cypriot
community. It will inspire more confidence between the Greek and Turkish
Cypriot communities on the island.