Animal producers in the occupied north entered the eighth day of their protests on Monday, joined by a growing chorus of unions, civil society organisations, and political parties, Turkish Cypriot media reported.
\nThe movement gained momentum despite a last-minute government decree postponing a planned 24-hour strike by the Air Traffic Controllers\u2019 Union, citing national security concerns.
\nFrustration mounted as Mustafa Naimo\u011fullar\u0131, president of the Animal Producers and Breeders Association, slammed the government\u2019s decision to import frozen meat as irrelevant to their core demand: affordable, domestic meat.
\nMeanwhile, the protests outside the \u201cprime ministry\u201d intensified. Union leaders like G\u00fcven Bengihan of the Turkish Cypriot Public Servants Union (KTAMS) and Ahmet Serdaro\u011flu of the Public Workers Union (Kamu-\u0130\u015f) accused the administration in the occupied north of neglecting the people\u2019s needs and prioritising special interests.
\nChants of \u201cGovernment Resign\u201d echoed through the crowd, underlining the growing tensions.
\nBengihan and Serdaro\u011flu, along with other union representatives, emphasised their presence not just in support of the animal producers, but for the future of the \u201ccountry\u201d itself. They decried mismanagement and threats to their culture and identity.
\nMoving beyond the initial demand for cheaper meat, union officials pointed out that the government\u2019s policies create business opportunities for a privileged few rather than supporting domestic producers and the broader economy.
\nThe combined force of animal producers, unions, and civil society organisations marched to the \u201cprime ministry,\u201d with their banners and slogans demanding change.
\n(With information from Kibris Postasi and Yeni Duzen. Picture from Kibris Postasi)Protests. animal producers, protests, unions<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Animal producers in the occupied north are in the eighth day of their protests, supported by unions, civil society organizations, and political parties. The protests gained momentum despite a government decree postponing a planned strike by the Air Traffic Controllers\u2019 Union. The producers are demanding affordable, domestic meat and criticizing the government for importing frozen meat. Union leaders accused the administration of neglecting the people’s needs and prioritizing special interests. The protesters are calling for the government to resign and are emphasizing the importance of supporting domestic producers and the economy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":13335,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"Default","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[3258,11375,6960,186,1349,3348,9250,2577,113,303,4893,26,4081,415,11129,6389,3940,148,2952,1570,1874,406,9729,11374,10669,7378,4628,4843,8641,577,8135,10004,827,5524,729,3269,1358,468,114,459,268,11376,9204],"class_list":["post-13334","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-other","tag-air","tag-animal-producers","tag-banners","tag-business","tag-business-opportunities","tag-change","tag-civil-society","tag-concerns","tag-cost-of-living-crisis","tag-culture","tag-demand","tag-economy","tag-future","tag-government","tag-import","tag-interests","tag-leaders","tag-local","tag-media","tag-mismanagement","tag-national-security","tag-nicosia","tag-occupied","tag-occupied-north","tag-organizations","tag-parties","tag-political-parties","tag-president","tag-protesters","tag-protests","tag-public-servants","tag-public-servants-union","tag-security","tag-security-concerns","tag-strike","tag-strikes","tag-support","tag-tensions","tag-top-news","tag-traffic","tag-turkish-cypriot","tag-unions","tag-workers"],"acf":{"keyphrase":"","keywords":"","sourceimg":"","country-category":""},"yoast_head":"\n