Students protest declaration of state in occupied north

Several rallies took place in Nicosia on Friday morning as students protested the anniversary of the declaration of independence in the occupied north. The protests took place two days before the official anniversary of the proclamation of ‘Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus’ on November 15, 1983, and were staged by the Pancyprian student group Psem and the far-right Greek Cypriot student group Efen. Students carried Cyprus flags, chanted and carried banners in Greek and Turkish. Psem began its protest at in Kaimakli, while Efen started its rally from Eleftheria square in the centre of Nicosia. A similar demonstration was also held in Limassol. The ministry of education had previously issued a circular saying that students taking part in Psem events would not be marked as absent from school.