The Leader of Barnet Council Barry Rawlings has rejected accusations from local residents of Turkish and Turkish Cypriot descent that the local authority is “racist”, calling them “unsubstantiated claims” at a recent council meeting. Councillor Rawlings’ comments prompted an angry exchange with a group of residents present in the public gallery.

The council leader was responding to a deputation made by Seyyare Beyzade, a local British Turkish Cypriot resident and businesswoman and the head of the highly regarded Turkish Women’s Philanthropic Association. She was granted an opportunity to address a full meeting of Barnet Council last week.

Ms Beyzade spoke on behalf of 20 Barnet residents of Turkish and Turkish Cypriot origin, who had signed a petition to the council raising concerns about ongoing “anti-Turkish bias” at the local authority.

Speaking at the full council meeting, held at Hendon Town Hall on Tuesday evening, 9 July 2024, Ms Beyzade cited several examples of behaviour that she and other residents felt amounted to “institutionalised racism”.

Chief among these were the council’s twinning programme with Morphou, which commenced back in 1995. The town, located in northwest Cyprus, has been administered by a Turkish Cypriot authority since 1975 and yet, for the past 29 years, Barnet Council officials have only ever met with former Greek Cypriot residents of the town without holding any official engagements with the actual Turkish Cypriot Mayor of Morphou (Güzelyurt in Turkish) or inviting any Turkish Cypriot residents of the town to any of their twinning activities.

Barnet’s Morphou town twinning excludes Turkish Cypriots

Ms Beyzade stated at the council meeting that, “Barnet Council have used taxpayers’ money to act as a soundboard for anti-Turkish and Turkish Cypriot propaganda”, in reference to multiple Barnet councillors who have attended anti-Turkish rallies in southern Cyprus, while ignoring the suffering and displacement of Turkish Cypriots during the decade-long Cyprus conflict, many of them now resident in Güzelyurt, including the current Mayor Mahmut Ozcinar, who is originally from Limassol.

In 2023, the then Mayor of Barnet, Cllr Nagus Narenthira, her then Deputy Mayor, Cllr Tony Vourou, and a third Barnet councillor, Andreas Ioannidis, all travelled to Cyprus to take part in the annual anti-Turkish ‘Morphou Rally’ in southern Cyprus in an official capacity.

Barnet Mayor Nagus Narenthira  & two other Barnet councillors pose for pictures at the 2023 anti Turkish Morphou Rally 

#Cyprus APPG Vice Chair @carolinenokes MP, as well as Mayor & Deputy Mayor & Councillors of @BarnetCouncil attended this years #Morphou Rally in Cyprus; Guest Speaker Pres @Christodulides; all reaffirmed commitment to reunification & desire of refugees to return home pic.twitter.com/JnqB329JMy

— National Federation of Cypriots in the UK (@UKCypriotFed) October 8, 2023

Other Barnet councillors have also previously attended the politically motivated ‘Morphou Rally’, including in 2017, when the Mayor and Mayoress of Barnet, Cllr Brian Salinger and Kate Salinger, went to the anti-Turkish event together with the then Barnet Council Leader Richard Cornelius and fellow Barnet councillor Alison Cornelius.

Council accused of using taxpayers’ money for anti-Turkish propaganda

The Turkish residents petitioning the council estimate the cost of Barnet’s Morphou twinning programme runs into tens of thousands of pounds. This includes expenses incurred by former Mayor Narenthira, who hosted a Greek Cypriot ‘Morphou’ delegation in March of this year and an anti-Turkish human rights seminar on Cyprus at Hendon Town Hall.

When they enquired about the costs of the seminar with Barnet Council, they were initially told it was around £300 but they subsequently discovered the total cost to the council was in excess of £2,000.

“You have used public funds to host delegates, seminars, rallies, gifts, advertising and travel as part of your town twinning program. We estimate you have spent over £100,000 to publicly discriminate against our community,” Ms Beyzade told councillors during her deputation last week.

She later told T-VINE that she believes this to be “a conservative estimate” given the Morphou-related expenses they have documented so far. Ms Beyzade said the funds were “a totally inappropriate use of local taxpayers’ money, especially at a time of cuts to public services”. She also said it was “awful” that council tax contributions from residents of Turkish and Turkish Cypriot descent were “effectively funding anti-Turkish propaganda” against themselves.

The TWPA head claims the council’s anti-Turkish stance, dehumanising language and distorted history of the conflict in Cyprus have created a climate of fear and unease among Barnet’s Turkish community, which is one of the borough’s smaller ethnic minority groups:

“Your actions have caused immense harm to our community by misrepresenting the facts and using language that incites hatred. Many who lived through the conflict feel persecuted and vilified in Barnet when you should be safeguarding our rights in accordance with the boroughs own policies of treating all communities fairly, justly with no bias and in accordance with UK laws.”

“Barnet’s institutionalised racism runs deeper than just the twinning of Morphou”

Ms Beyzade didn’t have to wait long to have her point proved. When Conservative councillor Richard Cornelius rose to give his response to her deputation, he described the Turkish Cypriot homeland of North Cyprus as an “illegal occupation”, generating gasps from the Turkish residents in the public gallery, who were shocked at his choice of words and lack of sensitivity.

The offensive term about North Cyprus, which is not used by the British government, is a core part of the vocabulary used by Greek Cypriot propagandists.

As part of her deputation, Ms Beyzade claimed that “institutionalised racism in Barnet runs deeper than just the twinning of Morphou and associated rallies attended by the Mayor, MPs and councillors”.

Barnet politicians demand discrimination of Turkish Cypriots

She pointed to efforts by disgraced ex-Barnet councillor Brian Coleman and Cllr Daniel Thomas, a former Barnet council leader, who had both tried “to ban adverts [promoting holidays] to Northern Cyprus [on Transport for London tubes and buses], which The High Court found unlawful”.

Brian Coleman, who was expelled from the Conservative Party in 2013 after being convicted in court of common assault by beating, was in the public gallery on 9 July, sitting a few seats away from Ms Beyzade when she gave her deputation.

When asked at the council meeting by T-VINE Editor Ipek Ozerim about his role in getting North Cyprus tourism ads banned, Mr Coleman enthusiastically accepted he was responsible, claiming “it was the right thing to do”.

Turkish children in Barnet forced to attend Greek Orthodox school

Ms Beyzade also stated that Turkish and Turkish Cypriot children had been “forced to attend the Greek Orthodox School [in Barnet] despite the fact it was not one of their 5 preferences,” adding that “They were forced [at the school] to kiss the hand of the Orthodox priest disregarding their religious beliefs and their human rights.

The Greek Orthodox Church in Cyprus has repeatedly displayed its anti-Turkish credentials. Historically, the Church played a central role in the attempted ethnic cleansing of the island’s Turkish population.  More recently, its archbishops have caused uproar with their Turkophobic language and demands for the unequal treatment of Turkish Cypriots.

“Unsubstantiated claims of racism”

When invited by the Mayor of Barnet, Tony Vourou, who was chairing the council meeting, to respond, Council Leader Rawlings dismissed all of Ms Beyzade’s allegations.

Cllr Rawlings started by saying, “I do find it a bit difficult when there are unsubstantiated claims of racism” then, turning to face Ms Beyzade, he said: “That you can think you can come here and say what you want” before adding. “I am prepared to talk outside, and I will meet you outside to discuss that.”

The local authority head then went on to address one of Ms Beyzade’s claims, about the lack of parental choice, claiming: “Nobody is forced to go to a school because you can have home education”.

Council Leader Rawlings “wrong” about Karafistan school case

A Turkish Cypriot parent, Sonya Karafistan, who was in the public gallery and has recently written about her experiences of anti-Turkish discrimination by Barnet Council, then interjected and said, “I object to that Barry,” telling the Council Leader, “I can’t have a home education because I work”.

Ms Karafistan told the chamber she was allocated a place for her child at St Andrew the Apostle Greek Orthodox School in Barnet, despite it not being one of her five choices. She then quipped, “Ten years on and I’m still waiting for an apology from the council over this.”

 “The school wasn’t open ten years ago,” Barnet’s Council Leader retorted.

After she had exited the public gallery, Ms Karafistan said she was “astounded” and “angry” by the Council Leader’s response to her.

“Mr Rawlings is one of my local councillors”, she explained, stating she had turned to Cllr Rawlings about her case a decade ago when she had not had any response from the council’s education division.

“To deny my lived experience and suggest that my son hadn’t been allocated a place at the Greek Orthodox school is arrogance beyond belief and a new low for the local authority,” she added.

Her sister, Suzan Karafistan, who had also been in the public gallery, said “It’s crazy the Council Leader denied Sonya’s case. The Secular Society championed her rights. The Council Leader has got it all wrong.”

A quick search on Google does indeed bear out what the Karafistan sisters said about the school. The National Secular Society documented Sonya Karafistan’s case in 2014, while St Andrew the Apostle Greek Orthodox School had opened a year earlier, in 2013.

Continuing with his response to Ms Beyzade, the Leader of the Labour-run council then switched his attention to the status of the Turkish Republic of North Cyprus, where Morphou/Güzelyurt is situated. He said the council had “taken advice”, which he outlined to the chamber.

“In line with the rest of the international community, with the sole exception of Turkey, the UK does not recognise the self-declared Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus as an independent state. We all know that, whether we think it’s right or wrong, that is the fact”.

The council leader then said, “As such, and as a local authority, and in line with the UK government policy it would not be appropriate for us to engage with the council of Güzelyurt. In line with the advice we have been given, I am therefore recommending that we note the deputation but take no further action.”

Cllr Rawlings ended by repeating his offer to Ms Beyzade that he would meet with her outside of the council meeting as “Leader of the Council”.

Ten days on, T-VINE understands that despite repeated emails by Ms Beyzade to the council leader, neither he nor anyone from his office has followed up with her to set a date for a meeting.

“Foreign policy is not a matter for Barnet Council”

The Barnet Mayor then allowed the opposition to respond to the deputation. Speaking on behalf of the Conservatives, Cllr Richard Cornelius said, “Foreign policy is not a matter for Barnet Council. However, I have visited Morphou and I have seen the tragedy there of the illegal occupation of northern Cyprus”. His comments were met with “hear, hear” in the chamber, underlining the issue of anti-Turkish bias that exists among some councillors.

The veteran Conservative councillor went on to say, “The tragedy that the Turkish Cypriots have been forced from their homes and Greek Cypriots have been forced from their homes, and we feel for all those people who cannot enjoy their property and live happily where they were brought up. It is a tragedy.”

Cllr Cornelius reaffirmed the comments made by the Council Leader that, “no one is forced to go to a particular school. That is not the case here.”

The veteran politician then added, “And the Conservative group would like to hear about all allegations of racism because Barnet Council across the board takes a very stern line on this and anyone makes an allegation like this, the conversation has to be shut down completely and we sort this out,” again glossing over the examples of anti-Turkish bias and racism Ms Beyzade had raised in her deputation.

Contrary to what she was told before the meeting, Ms Beyzade was not given a chance to respond to the comments made by the Council Leader, Barry Rawlings, or Richard Cornelius, or to ask further questions. The Mayor simply thanked her and moved on to the next agenda item for the council.

Ms Beyzade was visibly upset when she left the chamber. When asked how she felt the deputation had went, she told T-VINE: “I feel very upset. They disregarded it [the deputation] out of hand. They didn’t hear anything I said. They proved their racism with their responses.

“I think they were very rude to me considering I am a Barnet resident. There’s no respect there at all.”

When asked what she would do next, Ms Beyzade said: “I have to think about it seriously. I think we have to come together as a community, protest, write lots of letters, bombard them, so much so that they have to stop and pay attention.”

Barnet Council were asked for a response ahead of the deputation, but at the time of publication, none had been received.

Read more

As a resident, I’m fed up with Barnet Council normalising anti-Turkish bias and hate. It’s time to speak out!, 8 July 2024

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