Esra Aygin
Nuri Silay
is a Turkish Cypriot conscientious objector, who has been living in exile in
his own country for the last five years.
The
36-year-old has not been able to cross to northern part of Cyprus since 2014,
as conscientious objection is not recognized there and he is considered a draft
dodger – a crime punishable by prison sentence.
“It is
tragicomical that they expect me to be part of war preparations against people of
my own country,” says Silay. “It is also an ideological demand and I do not
belong to that ideology. So I got out. I moved to the southern part of the
island. I chose to be here on the other side of Cyprus since it is still my own
country.”
He lives in
the southern part of Nicosia, ten minutes from his family home in the north,
where he cannot go.
Before
having to move to the south, Silay postponed his military service as long as he
could, made a formal appeal to the security forces declaring his conscientious
objection, and filed a case against the security forces and the Turkish Cypriot
administration when his appeal was rejected. When the court rejected his case,
he had no other choice but to leave before he was detained and conscripted.
“Cyprus has
paid a very high price for nationalism and militarism,” says Silay. “It is
impossible for me to ignore the fact that nationalism is the cause of all the
suffering that we have been through on this island, and that militarism is nationalism’s
biggest weapon.”
Silay is the
child of refugee parents from Paphos. His family became refugees three times
due to the intercommunal clashes and division on the island - first in 1958,
then in 1964 and finally in 1974. He was born in Famagusta in a house left
behind by Greek Cypriots, facing the fenced-off city of Varosha, which he
describes as “trauma.”
“I was born
in a house that did not belong to us… Not only the house but also nothing
around belonged to us…. I grew up with abandoned ghost houses fenced by barbed
wires across the street, the photographs of the real owners of our house still
on the walls, and the glistening lights of the southern part of my country,
which was forbidden to me.”
He grew up
witnessing his family’s struggle to overcome the losses of war and rebuild life
from scratch; and listening to his parents’ longing for their life and friends in
Paphos.
“As an
individual brought up by such a family under such circumstances, I understood
the meaning of war from a very young age,” he says. “I mentally, physically and
conscientiously reject taking part in war preparations against anyone
regardless of race or reason.”
Silay says
he has never regretted his decision to leave the northern part of Cyprus, although
he admits it is hard not to be by his family at certain times.
“I lost my
grandmother recently,” he says. “And I could not go to her funeral… Maybe it
would have been psychologically easier if I were at the other end of the world.
But living ten minutes away and not being able to be there, hurt. Nevertheless,
I believe that if you want to change some things you have to pay a price. This
is the price I am paying.”
Silay may
be able to visit his grandmother’s cemetery soon, as the Turkish Cypriot governing
coalition submitted a controversial draft law recognizing conscientious
objection to the assembly earlier this week.
The Military
Service (Amendment) Draft Law is expected to be taken up by a sub-committee in
20 days and then voted on in the general assembly.
The draft
law, if approved will enable conscientious objectors to do an alternative civilian
service in the army or a public institution.
Silay sees
the move by the Turkish Cypriot coalition as a very important step and says he
will definitely take advantage of the conscientious objection law if it enters
into force.
“Cyprus is
my country and I will finally be able to freely go to every part of it again,”
he says.
The issue
of conscientious objection in the northern part of Cyprus was brought back onto
the public agenda recently with the case of Halil Karapasaoglu. A military
court last week imposed a fine of 2000 TL (around 300 euro) to conscientious
objector Karapasaoglu for refusing to report for reserve army duty.
Karapasaoglu, who has until 14 January to make the payment, said he would not
pay the fine and serve a prison sentence of 20 days instead.
I will not
fire a bullet to my friend Antonis, Karapasaoglu had told a Turkish Cypriot
daily in an interview about his decision to become a conscientious objector.
The
conviction of Karapasaoglu drew widespread criticism from the Turkish Cypriot
society and renewed calls for the four-party coalition – The Republican Turkish
Party CTP, People’s Party HP, Democratic Party DP and Social Democracy Part TDP
- to legalise conscientious objection as they had promised in their coalition
programme about a year ago.
“I cannot
accept the fact that our courts sentence conscientious objectors to prison,”
stated a respected retired public prosecutor Hakki Celal Onen on his social
media account, in response to the court decision.
“Denying
conscientious objection is technically not different than denying the right to
life or the principle of equality, or freedom of thought,” stated Head of the
Turkish Cypriot Bar Association Hasan Esendagli.
A retired Turkish Cypriot general of the security forces, Salih Cengaver
Cem also joined calls on the government to legalise conscientious objection.
In a move
to support Karapasaoglu, two renowned Turkish Cypriot journalists Ali Kismir –
Head of the Turkish Cypriot Journalists Trade Union (Basin Sen) and its
Secretary-General Serkan Soyalan, declared their conscientious objection.
“We see the
Turkish Cypriot and Greek Cypriot communities as a single people and reject
bearing arms against our own people,” they said in a statement.
The
spokesman of the Turkish Cypriot assembly, Teberruken Ulucay told the media
earlier this week that he expects the law to be approved and entered into force
in about a month. Passing the draft will not be an easy ride for the four-party
coalition, who has 27 seats in the 50-member assembly.
Legalising
conscientious objection has already proven controversial with the two
right-wing opposition parties – the National Unity Party UBP and the Rebirth
Party YDP strongly criticizing it almost daily on grounds that there are
ceasefire conditions in Cyprus.
“We should
be strengthening the presence and position of the security forces,” said UBP
head Ersin Tatar during a TV interview earlier this week. “It is to the
detriment of this country that such a draft law has been prepared under these
conditions.”
“Reducing
human resources for the army is the same as closing down the security forces,”
said YDP head Erhan Arikli in an address to the assembly. “This is not a draft
prepared in good will. This is a dynamite placed under the security forces.”
There are
some 20 Turkish Cypriots who have declared their conscientious objection. Some
are facing trial in the northern part of Cyprus while a few have taken their
cases to the European Court of Human Rights.
According
to the ECHR, conscientious objectors can seek acquittal from compulsory
military service through Article 9 of the European Convention on Human Rights,
which deals with freedom of thought, conscience and religion.
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