Turkish PM says protesters in northern Cyprus should be tracked down

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday (February 6th) urged authorities in northern Cyprus to track down participants in the January 28th rally. The protest in the Turkish-dominated part of the divided island was against the government’s austerity policy, which stems from a protocol with Turkey. Some protesters held banners criticising Turkey’s — particularly Erdogan’s — intervention in their affairs. Some waved Greek Cypriot flags. “Who are these people [the protesters]? We have video records of them. They need to be submitted to the court. The placards cursing Turkey should not have been permitted. You have to do whatever necessary to this end,” Erdogan told a press conference in Istanbul on Sunday, where he recounted a conversation he had with Turkish Cypriot leader Dervis Eroglu earlier in the day.