Toparlanıyoruz Movement News | Weekly Digest in English

Toparlanıyoruz Movement News | Weekly Digest in EnglishNorth Cyprus News | Weekly Digest in English

The last two weeks of 2012 were extremely busy for the Toparlanıyoruz Movement. The following is a brief summary of some of our key activities over the past two weeks:
– The Toparlanıyoruz Movement launched its “Blue Cap” campaign to provide free wheelchairs for those disabled persons in need through the collection of recyclable plastic bottle tops. (The plastic caps of all bottles such as water and coke, and milk and juice cartons all count, not just the ones coloured blue!) Within days, tens of thousands of plastic bottle caps were brought in to the Movement headquarters in Nicosia from all over the island. The campaign continues to grow in scope and speed in 2013. In order to reach a wider public, special collection bags where bottle caps can be dropped-off have been placed in Gloria Jean’s Coffee-shop franchises in Nicosia, Kyrenia and Famagusta, Ezic Restaurants and several other places like bookstores, clinics and dormitories. Toparlanıyoruz volunteers tried to spread this message further by publicising the campaign on TV and Radio channels. We believe that all those who live on the island, (including ex-pats and even tourists) can make a serious contribution to this campaign and look forward to their support. For further information on how you can assist this campaign please call 227 99 93 or send an email to [email protected]

– A brainstorming session was held in Toparlaniyor uz head office Nicosia concerning the content and potential positive and negative economic and political impacts of the recently announced 2013-2015 Economic Protocol between Turkey and the TRNC. The session and further debate followed a presentation on the matter by Central Bank expert and Toparlanıyoruz volunteer Ahmet Saydam.

– A as a follow-up to the brainstorming session a further meeting was held to discuss the burning and crippling issue of electricity supply that was also referred to in the Protocol. This meeting was attended by the representative and former leader of the Electricity Authority Workers’ Union (“EL-SEN”) Tuluy Kalyoncu, who made a presentation and responded to the questions of Toparlanıyoruz volunteers. It was agreed that before a decision could be taken on whether or not privatization was a solution to the problems faced, a public debate based on accurate data and figures was essential. The Toparlanıyoruz Movement expressed its support for the EL-SEN campaign to cut-off the electricity of all those public and private persons and corporations who in contrast to regular citizens and residents were being shown favouritism by the authorities by having their electricity supplies maintained despite the fact that their debts to the Electricity Authority continued to mount month after month, year after year. The Movement, however, registered its concern and sensitivity regarding the maintenance of care not to disrupt the supply necessary for hospitals, public lighting and other basic public needs.

– Last week a group of taxation specialists working in the public sector shared their ideas regarding the problems of tax collection and other difficulties related to political degeneration in our country. Together with volunteers from Toparlaniyoruz, they discussed how proposals could be formulated to overcome these obstacles. They will continue to work with us on proposals for eliminating such injust ice in the tax system in upcoming weeks.

– The General Meeting of the “Temiz Toplum Derneği” (Clean Society Association), on which the legal foundations of the Toparlanıyoruz Movement are based, was held on 19th December. The meeting was widely attended and all the constituent organs of the association elected.

– Leader of the Movement Kudret Özersay and other volunteers met last week with the leader of the HÜR-İŞ Trade Union which is legally authorized to represent much of the public sector workforce. The extent to which the Union and other civil society organizations were involved in the process leading up to the formation of the Economic Protocol and the degree to which their concerns were addressed therein were discussed. HÜR-İŞ and the Toparlanıyoruz Movement agreed to maintain their dialogue.

– The Toparlanıyoruz Movement took part in and contributed to deliberations on the draft law regarding those in priso n (or under threat of being sent to prison) because of their inability to pay their debts. Toparlanıyoruz volunteers noted that in this respect the main root cause of the unhealthy state of the relationship between debtors and those owed money was to be found in the exorbitant interest rates that the laws permitted and that this issue needed to be urgently addressed if matters were not to deteriorate further.

– A day before the New Year arrived the political arena once again witnessed yet another case of the degenerate, unethical form of politics that prevails. Members of parliament who had left the governing UBP to form new political parties, (supposedly along now ethical lines), were “happily” transferred back again to the UBP. Both the Toparlanıyoruz Movement and certain political parties emphasized how these moves were politically unethical and called for measures to be taken to put an end to such unethical party-switching. The Toparlanıyoruz Movement ex pressed its criticism of and disgust with such behaviour both through social media and internet news sites, and through the regular press.

– Our weekly village visits will be starting next week and schedule fort he first visits of 2013 will be announced to you shortly.

For further information please visit our web site or feel free to call us. Every idea, contribution, criticism will be extremely welcomed by us J

Web : www.toparlaniyoruz.org

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