Turkish Cypriots protest over what they say is Turkey's introduction of Islam into education system

NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — Several thousand Turkish Cypriots took to the streets of the northern half of ethnically divided Cyprus’ capital Nicosia on Friday to protest what they say is Turkey’s attempt to erode their secular roots and to strengthen the hold of political Islam over their society.

Rain showers cleared long enough for marchers to walk along a main thoroughfare hoisting trade union banners and holding placards reading “It won’t pass” and “Cyprus will stay secular” before gathering for a concert.

The protest is the latest in a series of demonstrations that leftist trade unions mounted to express their opposition to what they see as Ankara’s bid to mold staunchly secular Turkish Cypriots into a more politically pliable community through the introduction of Islam into the education system.

The protest came a day before Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s visit to breakaway northern Cyprus where he will inaugurate a complex of government buildings. Erdogan reportedly said that he would publicly rebuke protesters during his visit.

The protests began last month when the right-wing Turkish Cypriot authorities lifted a ban on wearing headscarves in high schools. Teachers’ trade unions, political parties and other leftist groups condemned the move as an encroachment into the strictly secular education system aimed at the eventual “Islamization” of Turkish Cypriot society.

Cyprus was split in 1974 when Turkey invaded following an Athens-backed coup aiming at union with Greece. Only Turkey recognizes a Turkish Cypriot declaration of independence in the island’s northern third where it maintains more than 35,000 troops.

Cyprus joined the European Union in 2004, but only the Greek Cypriot south where the island’s internationally recognized government is seated enjoys full benefits.

U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres announced on Friday that the appointment of María Angela Holguín Cuéllar as his personal envoy on Cyprus, tasked with exploring ways to resume peace talks stalled since 2017.

Elma Eylem, president of the Turkish Cypriot Secondary Education Teachers’ Union KTOEÖS and one of the protests’ key organizers, said that the change in statute allowing the wearing of headscarves in school is evidence of a bid at “social engineering” to force Turkish Cypriot society into submission according to the edicts of Turkey’s ruling AKP party.

“This step has been taken in the divided part of our island which has been turned into a sub-administration of Turkey, where every institution has been taken over, where our population has been reduced to a minority and our political will has been taken away, this change in the statute is a part of social engineering,” Eylem told The Associated Press in a written response to questions.

Teachers at one high school reportedly turned away a female student who showed up wearing a headscarf after the ban was lifted.

Eylem defended the action, saying that teachers won’t allow “political Islam to be imposed on our girls through their bodies.”

“This issue is not a matter of freedom, headscarf or regulation. This issue is a step taken by the AKP in its efforts to deepen the political Islam domination over the Turkish Cypriot Community,” she said.

Eylem also dismissed an earlier counterprotest by those in favor of allowing headscarf-wearing in high schools, saying that such demonstrations organized by Turkey in northern Cyprus “do not reflect the will of the Turkish Cypriot community.”

The nnion president said that a legal challenge to the lifting of the headscarf ban has been initiated at the Turkish Cypriot Constitutional Court, adding that their fight will be “a long-term struggle.”

Several thousand Turkish Cypriots took to the streets of the northern half of ethnically divided Cyprus' capital Nicosia to protest what they say is Turkey's attempt to erode their secular roots and to strengthen the hold of political Islam over their society, on Friday, May 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias)

Several thousand Turkish Cypriots took to the streets of the northern half of ethnically divided Cyprus' capital Nicosia to protest what they say is Turkey's attempt to erode their secular roots and to strengthen the hold of political Islam over their society, on Friday, May 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias)

Turkish Cypriot protesters hold the lighted mobile phones aloft as they gather to protest against what they say is Turkey's attempt to erode their secular roots and to strengthen the hold of political Islam over their society, in the northern half of ethnically divided Cyprus' capital Nicosia, on Friday, May 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias)

Turkish Cypriot protesters hold the lighted mobile phones aloft as as they gather to protest against what they say is Turkey's attempt to erode their secular roots and to strengthen the hold of political Islam over their society, in the northern half of ethnically divided Cyprus' capital Nicosia, on Friday, May 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias)

Several thousand Turkish Cypriots took to the streets of the northern half of ethnically divided Cyprus' capital Nicosia to protest what they say is Turkey's attempt to erode their secular roots and to strengthen the hold of political Islam over their society, on Friday, May 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias)

Turkish Cypriot protesters hold the lighted mobile phones aloft as they gather to protest against what they say is Turkey's attempt to erode their secular roots and to strengthen the hold of political Islam over their society, in the northern half of ethnically divided Cyprus' capital Nicosia, on Friday, May 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias)

Turkish Cypriot protesters hold the lighted mobile phones aloft as they gather to protest against what they say is Turkey's attempt to erode their secular roots and to strengthen the hold of political Islam over their society, in the northern half of ethnically divided Cyprus' capital Nicosia, on Friday, May 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias)

Several thousand Turkish Cypriots took to the streets of the northern half of ethnically divided Cyprus' capital Nicosia to protest what they say is Turkey's attempt to erode their secular roots and to strengthen the hold of political Islam over their society, on Friday, May 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias)

ST. LOUIS (AP) — World champions Ilia Malinin and the ice dance duo of Madison Chock and Evan Bates will anchor one of the strongest U.S. Figure Skating teams in history when they head to Italy for the Milan Cortina Olympics in less than a month.

Malinin, fresh off his fourth straight national title, will be the prohibitive favorite to follow in the footsteps of Nathan Chen by delivering another men's gold medal for the American squad when he steps on the ice at the Milano Ice Skating Arena.

Chock and Bates, who won their record-setting seventh U.S. title Saturday night, also will be among the Olympic favorites, as will world champion Alysa Liu and women's teammate Amber Glenn, fresh off her third consecutive national title.

U.S. Figure Skating announced its full squad of 16 athletes for the Winter Games during a made-for-TV celebration Sunday.

"I'm just so excited for the Olympic spirit, the Olympic environment," Malinin said. “Hopefully go for that Olympic gold.”

Malinin will be joined on the men's side by Andrew Torgashev, the all-or-nothing 24-year-old from Coral Springs, Florida, and Maxim Naumov, the 24-year-old from Simsbury, Connecticut, who fulfilled the hopes of his late parents by making the Olympic team.

Vadim Naumov and Evgenia Shishkova were returning from a talent camp in Kansas when their American Airlines flight collided with a military helicopter and crashed into the icy Potomac River in January 2025. One of the last conversations they had with their son was about what it would take for him to follow in their footsteps by becoming an Olympian.

“We absolutely did it,” Naumov said. “Every day, year after year, we talked about the Olympics. It means so much in our family. It's what I've been thinking about since I was 5 years old, before I even know what to think. I can't put this into words.”

Chock and Bates helped the Americans win team gold at the Beijing Games four years ago, but they finished fourth — one spot out of the medals — in the ice dance competition. They have hardly finished anywhere but first in the years since, winning three consecutive world championships and the gold medal at three straight Grand Prix Finals.

U.S. silver medalists Emilea Zingas and Vadym Kolesnik also made the dance team, as did the Canadian-born Christina Carreira, who became eligible for the Olympics in November when her American citizenship came through, and Anthony Ponomarenko.

Liu was picked for her second Olympic team after briefly retiring following the Beijing Games. She had been burned out by years of practice and competing, but stepping away seemed to rejuvenate the 20-year-old from Clovis, California, and she returned to win the first world title by an American since Kimmie Meissner stood atop the podium two decades ago.

Now, the avant-garde Liu will be trying to help the U.S. win its first women's medal since Sasha Cohen in Turin in 2006, and perhaps the first gold medal since Sarah Hughes triumphed four years earlier at the Salt Lake City Games.

Her biggest competition, besides a powerful Japanese contingent, could come from her own teammates: Glenn, a first-time Olympian, has been nearly unbeatable the past two years, while 18-year-old Isabeau Levito is a former world silver medalist.

"This was my goal and my dream and it just feels so special that it came true,” said Levito, whose mother is originally from Milan.

The two pairs spots went to Ellie Kam and Danny O'Shea, the U.S. silver medalists, and the team of Emily Chan and Spencer Howe.

The top American pairs team, two-time reigning U.S. champions Alisa Efimova and Misha Mitrofanov, were hoping that the Finnish-born Efimova would get her citizenship approved in time to compete in Italy. But despite efforts by the Skating Club of Boston, where they train, and the help of their U.S. senators, she did not receive her passport by the selection deadline.

“The importance and magnitude of selecting an Olympic team is one of the most important milestones in an athlete's life,” U.S. Figure Skating CEO Matt Farrell said, "and it has such an impact, and while there are sometimes rules, there is also a human element to this that we really have to take into account as we make decisions and what's best going forward from a selection process.

“Sometimes these aren't easy," Farrell said, “and this is not the fun part.”

The fun is just beginning, though, for the 16 athletes picked for the powerful American team.

AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics

Amber Glenn competes during the women's free skating competition at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

Alysa Liu skates during the "Making Team USA" performance at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

Maxim Naumov skates during the "Making Team USA" performance at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

Madison Chock and Evan Bates skate during the "Making the Team" performance at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

Gold medalist Ilia Malinin arrives for the metal ceremony after the men's free skate competition at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)