Across the Divide News and Language Services

Photo from Yeniduzen By Kyriacos Kiliaris School students and their families in the north of Cyprus are complaining that the kids' lives are in danger due to the bad conditions prevailing in the public school transportation system. As if the problems faced by the Turkish Cypriot public education were not enough, a Yeniduzen article along with photos making the rounds on social media accounts, reveal that students in the north are being transported under dangerous conditions. Also read Students left without a classroom in Kyrenia schools Photos of children squeezed in rows of the bus, while others are standing in the corridor have caused the reactions of many parents.    Adding to the above an expose by Turkish Cypriot newspaper Yeniduzen claims that a number of old buses which do not have seatbelt nor airconditioning are still being used for transporting school children from and to their schools. Mehmet Avci, the head of the Traffic Accident Pre...

By Kyriacos Kiliaris Turkish Cypriots are unsatisfied with the performance of the ruling coalition in the north and have given all its members a failing grade. An opinion poll conducted by the Center for Migration, Identity and Rights Studies in the north shows that Turkish Cypriots do not give any of the members a passing grade when asked “Which minister, and how much do you trust him/her? The opinion is conducted every three months and asks for the opinion of Turkish Cypriots on various matters concerning their community. According to relevant sector of the poll conducted in July 2017, Turkish Cypriots gave all members of the coalition a grade lower than 5 out of 10. Most trusted by the public is the head of the coalition and president of the National Unity Party (UBP) Huseyin Ozgurgun scoring just 4.16 out of 10. Ozgurgun is followed by three ministers who score just above 4. It's worth noting that the coalitions second in command, and head of the finance office Se...

By Kyriacos Kiliaris Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci said that he does not expect a new initiative regarding the Cyprus problem to be made over the next few months leading up to the presidential elections in the south of the island. Speaking at the Ercan (Tymbou) airport before his departure for New York, where he is to have a series of meetings on the sidelines of the UN summit, Akinci said that the Greek Cypriot needs to clarify its thoughts on how they perceive their relationship with the Turkish Cypriots. Akinci added that he is to transfer to the Secretary General that “otherwise we don't believe that an open ended negotiation will lead anywhere”. Akinci, who is accompanied by the Turkish Cypriot chief negotiator Ozdil Nami, is to meet with Antonio Guterres on Friday. He added that his trip to New York is important for two reasons. Firstly as it the meeting will take place after the collapse of the Conference on Cyprus in the Swiss resort of Crans Montana in S...

By Kyriacos Kiliaris The school year in the north of Cyprus was off to a sour start on Monday with KTOS, the Turkish Cypriot elementary teachers' union reporting that a number of children were left without a classroom in public schools in Kyrenia due to the schools being overcrowded. According to Sener Elcil the General Secretary of the union 75 elementary school children, despite being enrolled for the school year, were not able to able to join their classmates as classrooms are overcrowded. Elcil said that the Kyrenia Maarif elementary school was unable to find a classroom to accommodate 40 students while, another 35 students of the Karakum Elementary School were also left without a classroom. He lushed out at the coalition saying that the head of the education office in the north, Ozdemir Berova, had stated a while back that they “had set aside the money for a new school in Kyrenia but are unable to find a field available to build”. ...

The dam in Gecitkoy (Panagra) By Kyriacos Kiliaris   Turkish Cypriots are complaining that they are paying a very high price for the water coming from Turkey with water being sold at a price more than double the old in some councils in the north compared to the old price applicable before the arrival of the Turkish water. Turkish Cypriot Newspaper Havadis, compared the councils' water bills to find that councils in the north paid the authorities 3.2 million Turkish Lira more in August 2017 compared to Augustus 2016. Councils had paid a total of of 3.8 million TL for water from Turkey where as the price they paid for water supply, before the arrival of the Turkish water, in August 2016 was 553,000 TL. Also read  High price for Turkish Cypriot water    As estimated by the paper the councils were paying on average 20-30,000 TL per month, with the cost rising to an average 100,000 TL after the arrival of the water from Turkey. The Turkish ...

The Dherynia beach situated in the Turkish military controlled part of Famagusta, which was the subject of heated debates after the opening only for Turkish citizens and Turkish Cypriots in August was closed to the “public” on Wednesday. The beach which opened on 26 August was closed yesterday due to exercises by the Turkish military and is expected to be closed for three days towards the end of the month (21,22,26 September) due to more military exercises. The decision was the cause of heated reactions by NGOs and many Turkish Cypriot political organisations and parties condemning the act as racist towards Greek Cypriots and a violation of human rights.    Turkish Cypriots or Turkish citizens allowed to enter the beach, must first leave their identity cards with the guards at the entrance and take a “blue card” with which they can retrieve it upon exiting. Turkish military did not even allow journalists from Yeniduzen and the Turkish Cypriot public televisio...

Turkish Cypriots consider the state of economy in the north of Cyprus to be the biggest problem affecting their daily lives. According to a survey conducted by The Center for migration in July 2017, identity and rights Studies (CMIRS), found that 69.8% of the people asked, believe that the economy in the north will worsen over the next couple of years with a 43.5% saying that they expect their personal financial state to follow the same course. Meanwh ile, 46.5% believe that their financial state will remain the same. The survey takes place every three months and to measure the sense of political and social trust and happiness amongst the Turkish Cypriot community and to what extent they interact and affect the lives of people living in the north. Mine Yucel, the head of the center, told Turkish Cypriots reporters that 88.8% of people asked believe that developments in the north are going towards the wrong direction. Yucel said the 40% of the participants said they...