Bank employees clash with Cyprus police
- 11 years ago
Tensions mount in Cyprus.
Employees of Cyprus Popular Bank clashed with police outside parliament Thursday.
They were reacting to rumors the island nation's second biggest lender may be closed down.
The country's central bank issued a quick denial of any such plans.
But by nightfall, the protest by bank employees and other protestors grew to several hundred.
SOUNDBITE (English) Angela Toniou, Employee of the Bank of Cyprus, saying:
"The whole system is collapsing and it's today, it's the Cyprus Popular Bank, and tomorrow, the rest of the banks. And if the banks collapse, the whole Cyprus, everything collapses, that's what we're afraid."
Banks have been closed for several days here.
They're trying to prevent a mass exodus of funds, after talk of a possible tax on savings deposits sparked outrage.
Nervous depositors wait in long lines at ATM machines to withdraw what little money they can.
(SOUNDBITE (Greek) GEORGE MARANGI SAYIN
Employees of Cyprus Popular Bank clashed with police outside parliament Thursday.
They were reacting to rumors the island nation's second biggest lender may be closed down.
The country's central bank issued a quick denial of any such plans.
But by nightfall, the protest by bank employees and other protestors grew to several hundred.
SOUNDBITE (English) Angela Toniou, Employee of the Bank of Cyprus, saying:
"The whole system is collapsing and it's today, it's the Cyprus Popular Bank, and tomorrow, the rest of the banks. And if the banks collapse, the whole Cyprus, everything collapses, that's what we're afraid."
Banks have been closed for several days here.
They're trying to prevent a mass exodus of funds, after talk of a possible tax on savings deposits sparked outrage.
Nervous depositors wait in long lines at ATM machines to withdraw what little money they can.
(SOUNDBITE (Greek) GEORGE MARANGI SAYIN