With evident pride, he says his Turkish Cypriot newspaper, Afrika, is the only Turkish-language daily to denounce Ankara’s military offensive against Kurdish fighters in northern Syria. Even among Turkish Cypriots, Levent’s contrarian views – he refuses to submit to Ankara’s line that 1974 was a “peace operation” – are prone to eliciting derision. But while the editor clearly delights in his role as a gadfly, Turkish Cypriots have rallied around him. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Turkish Cypriot protesters demonstrate in support of Afrika after the newspaper was attacked by a pro-Erdoğan mob. Although EU laws are suspended in the north, because of the island’s divided status, Turkish Cypriots are EU citizens.

Source: The Guardian May 08, 2018 03:56 UTC