TRNC Prime Minister calls on universities in the country to take care of African students

A statement accredited to the Prime Minister of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus Ersin Tatar, reportedly saying all Africans in the island (North Cyprus) should be taken care of by those who brought them here and further saying that the Covid-19 crisis in the country present an opportunity to clean them out has generated mixed reactions on social media.

The statement which was published in Turkish Cypriot daily, gazeddakibris on March, 20 did not however sit well with VOIS, an international student body in the country who responded to the Prime minister in a press release on Wednesday.

VOIS in its' press release wrote;

VOIS Cyprus Responds to TRNC Prime Minister, Ersin Tatar's Statement on African Students [25/03/2020]
"On March 24th, we read the statement by the TRNC Prime Minister, Mr. Ersin Tatar, in which he stated that the responsibility to take care of the thousands of African students who live in the TRNC lies on those who brought them here.
He went further to say that before the covid-19 crisis, this was already a problem and now is the opportunity to “clean them out.”
He concluded by saying: This is not racism but we need to protect our citizens.

   
Here is the link to the response by VOIS https://www.voiscyprus.org/ourresponsetotrncprimeminister/?fbclid=IwAR2EyDILtcuHnlO8sj29yceAOVykL7g3BlvhNo6RUjtiagvTb4D939ktoJg

***This may be a case of poor reporting. We assume that his words may have been taken out of context.

Below are reactions on social media