Coordinator of the Lefke Region Civil Society Organisations Platform, Teoman Oktay said that they have decided to pause the monthly protests held on the 16th of each month after a fatal accident in Gemikonağı on June 16th. The decision was made with the hope that safety measures will be implemented, Kibris Postasi reports.
In a written statement, Oktay mentioned that during a four-hour meeting on August 14th between civil society representatives and the Mayor of Lefke, the mayor received information that the necessary traffic safety measures they had been demanding would be taken by the Highways Department. This information was then shared with them.
Oktay explained that they have decided to suspend today’s protest, trusting that the promised safety measures will be put in place. However, he also warned that if the measures are not implemented within a reasonable time, they will resume their protests as planned.
Civil society organisations that are part of the Lefke Civil Society Organisations Platform had been organising protests every month on the 16th at the site where European University Lefke student Naveed Akbar, of Pakistani origin, tragically lost his life in a traffic accident on the evening of June 16, 2024, at Lefke Gemikonağı beach. These protests were held to demand justice and traffic safety and to ensure that the necessary precautions would be taken. The platform held protests on June 17th and July 16th to remember Akbar and to urge authorities to take action.
Relatives of the student who was killed in the accident have been demanding justice because the man who caused the accident was a member of the military and was rapidly removed from the island back to Turkey. They said that he should face justice in the TRNC.
