Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar on Tuesday addressed a behind-closed-doors session of the north’s ‘parliament’ and spoke about the matter of property, in light of the recent arrests made by the Republic of Cyprus of people accused of selling Greek Cypriot-owned property in the north.
After the session, he spoke to journalists, saying he had called on ‘MPs’ to “declare the rights of the Turkish Cypriot people to the world with a strong, united heart and body”.
He added that he had said ‘parliament’ must “raise its voice against the oppressive Greek Cypriot politics, which target the property rights, legal order, and dignity of the Turkish Cypriot people”.
“Any pressure directed at the institutions of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, especially the Immovable Property Commission [IPC] and its legitimate structures, must be rejected,” he said.
However, opposition figures were less than impressed by Tatar’s address, with opposition political party CTP leader Tufan Erhurman saying after the session that “it was not clear what Tatar’s presence meant”.
“When it was requested that the session be behind closed doors, our expectation was that it would be to address certain issues which could not be openly discussed. However, nothing more than the statements which had been made in the press was said. Nothing different was said,” he said.
He also criticised the fact that after a motion was passed through ‘parliament’ with the votes of ruling coalition ‘MPs’, it was decided that no questions would be asked of Tatar at the end of his address, other than those from political party leaders.
“This is absolutely incomprehensible. We, as party leaders, had already attended a meeting at the presidential palace a short while ago and shared our views. It was unacceptable for MPs’ right to ask questions to be prevented,” he said.
He also briefly touched on the matter of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR)’s ruling that Turkey’s government must pay a total of €18,000 in “non-pecuniary damage” – the name given to compensation for losses which are not easily quantifiable – and costs and expenses to a Greek Cypriot owner of property in the north.
This ruling, he said “was not a ‘victory’, but on the contrary, opened up a hole in the previously solid structure of the IPC, which had been established during 2005”.
“This is not a pleasing development for us. The IPC is a commission established under [former Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali] Talat, and the last thing we want is for it to be damaged. The perception of ‘victory’ which they are trying to create does not reflect the truth,” he said.
He then criticised Tatar’s insistence on a two-state solution to the Cyprus problem, saying that “the world understands this approach as an assertion that no solution is a solution”, before returning to the matter of Tuesday’s session.
“The right of MPs to ask questions and make criticisms was taken away from them. No one understands reason for this meeting being held behind closed doors,” he said.
Click here to change your cookie preferences