A/HRC/19/22
and received death threats in response to critical reporting on Turkey’s policy with regard
to the northern part of the island.55 On 25 February, unknown attackers opened fire on the
newspaper’s office door and left a note that the journalists would be targeted next. On 2
March, the newspaper’s editor-in-chief reportedly received a death threat. One day after the
publication of new information about the case of a Turkish Cypriot journalist who had been
murdered in 1996, on 3 July, an armed man came to the Afrika office and shot at one of the
newspaper employees who opened the door. In addition, on 1 November, Turkish Cypriot
authorities forcefully entered the newspaper’s premises and removed from the building’s
balcony a banner consisting of old newspaper headlines.
G.
Right to education
40.
According to article 26 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, everyone has
the right to education.56 Education should be directed to the full development of the human
personality and the strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms; it
should promote understanding, tolerance and friendship among all nations, racial or
religious groups, and it should further the activities of the United Nations for the
maintenance of peace. Furthermore, parents have a prior right to choose the kind of
education that is given to their children.
41.
In the north, UNFICYP continues to facilitate the delivery of textbooks and the
appointment of teachers to the elementary and secondary Greek Cypriot schools in the
Karpas peninsula.57 As in previous years, the Turkish Cypriot authorities objected to the use
of seven Greek textbooks in Karpas schools and rejected the appointment of seven teachers,
which created problems for the smooth functioning of Greek Cypriot schools in the north.
42.
In the south, UNFICYP continued to work with the local authorities and community
representatives in Limassol and Paphos to strengthen support mechanisms for vulnerable
members of the Turkish Cypriot community in educational and social areas. However, the
Turkish Cypriot side again raised concerns about the lack of a Turkish-language primary
school in Limassol.58
43.
Furthermore, Turkish Cypriot students still face a lack of access to European Union
exchange and educational programmes owing to the non-recognition by Cyprus of the
universities in the northern part of the island. The framework of a scholarship scheme for
the Turkish Cypriot community was set up by the European Commission under the
European Union aid programme in order to compensate for the lack of mobility that would
be offered by the Erasmus programme. The scheme allows Turkish Cypriot students and
teachers to spend one year abroad at a university or higher education institution in the
European Union, and the level of funding is far higher than that for Erasmus. In the
academic year 2010-2011, a total number of 102 students and teachers participated in the
scheme; in the current academic year, 93 students and teachers were awarded a scholarship.
The European Commission is in contact with the authorities of Cyprus regarding the
possibility of offering Turkish Cypriots the option of studying at universities in the areas
under the effective control of the Government of Cyprus in the near future.59
55
56
57
58
59
14
See www.seemo.org/activities/pressfreedom/11/press1184.html and
http://ifex.org/turkey/2011/07/11/levent_gunman_attack/.
See also International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, arts. 13 and 14, and
Convention on the Rights of the Child, arts. 28 and 29.
S/2011/332, paras. 15; S/2011/746, para. 16.
S/2011/332, paras. 14-15; S/2011/746, para. 17.
Information received from the Task Force for the Turkish Cypriot Community, Directorate-General
for Enlargement, European Commission.
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