Sude Doğan - Weekly Articles (Haftalık Yazılar)

 With the movement we started approximately 2.5 years ago, the mixed marriage problem has occupied the agenda both in the north and south of Cyprus. Earlier this year, although it did not satisfy most Turkish Cypriots, the 14-point package announced by the President of the Republic of Cyprus, Mr. Hristodoulides, for Turkish Cypriots included the mixed marriage problem as well. From my perspective, this was a significant move because it showed that the government of the Republic of Cyprus was not indifferent to this issue and was open to working with us. But unfortunately, we could not and still cannot make good use of this "invitation." Some politicians in the north of our island have little knowledge about this issue, and sometimes, for their political interests, they use incorrect arguments , making us appear quite unsympathetic in the eyes of the public in the Republic of Cyprus. We now know that the resolution of citizenship issues lies in the hands of the Republic ...

 Is the Cyprus Turkish Bar Association “Shaking”? The Cyprus Turkish Bar Association amended its regulations on the “Procedures and Principles to Be Applied in the Representation of the High Council of Judicature” last July, a change that was approved by the majority of Bar members and went into effect. However, as we learned last week, this regulatory amendment was challenged by the Democratic Party (DP), a coalition partner of the current ‘trnc’ government, in the High Constitutional Court on the grounds that it contradicts the ‘trnc’ Constitution. What’s more puzzling is that the president of the Bar Association publicly shared information on social media a day before the hearing on December 12, stating that the lawsuit had been withdrawn. This was a fact that should have been presented as a defense argument during the hearing. Why was such information announced on social media instead of being included in the defense? Why wasn’t a defense made during the hearing? Moreover, Kema...

While NATO is 'inside' Cyprus, how much is Cyprus really 'outside' of NATO? Since the establishment of the Republic of Cyprus in 1960, the idea of Cyprus joining NATO has come up occasionally. Recently, following President Christodoulides’s visit to the United States, this topic has resurfaced on the agenda of the Republic of Cyprus. Meanwhile, for those of us in the northern part of the island, it hasn’t seemed to concern us much—as if we don’t live on the same island, as if it won’t affect us, so we keep ignoring it. For better or worse, though, this is an issue that could change the fate of our island. But perhaps our indifference isn’t entirely our fault. Maybe it stems from the fact that we’ve never had a say when it comes to determining the future of our island. After all, we’ve grown used to thinking, “things always happen outside of us.” So, will we finally change that now? *** Perhaps for some, discussing Cyprus’s NATO membership feels like a pointless exercise...

 The Paradox Island: The Island of Those Who Want Change but Reject Those Who Try to Make It Every day, they claim to want change. They say they are dissatisfied with the system they live in and that they are not getting what they deserve. In the north of the island, they demand improvements to the increasingly difficult living conditions. They say they want peace; they are looking for reunification, comfort, and tranquility. Or do they simply want to have the stores they shop at during Black Friday in their own place, without having to wait three hours at checkpoints? While this might seem like a reasonable request, isn’t the primary goal to find a solution to the half-century-long difficulties and human rights violations faced by all Cypriots, and to live together in one country again? Is it really just about shopping? Is it about expanding their individual freedoms? Is that why I become "bad" when I try to "get closer to Greek Cypriots and the Republic of Cyprus"...