Tatar says opposition ‘turned their backs on unity’ over ‘parliament’ address

Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar on Wednesday said opposition politicians had “turned their backs on unity” in their disapproval of his behind-closed-doors address to the north’s ‘parliament’ the previous day.

Tatar had given his address to ‘parliament’ in light of the recent arrests made by the Republic of Cyprus of people accused of selling Greek Cypriot-owned property in the north, but many in opposition were less than impressed, firstly by the lack of opportunity to ask questions, and secondly by a perceived lack of insight in Tatar’s speech.

With these criticisms having been expressed at a separate press conference by opposition political party CTP leader Tufan Erhurman, Tatar then fired back himself on Wednesday.

“The opposition not only left unanswered by call for unity in the face of the attacks targeting our people’s rights, but is now trying to mislead the public with statements which are not consistent with reality,” he began.

He added that “the reason I went to parliament was clear”.

“It was to show that we stand by our people against the oppressive and hostile policies pursued by the Greek Cypriot side, especially on the issue of property, and to call on parliament to take a common stance on the issue.”

He said his speech “was not a matter of political polemics, but of social responsibility”, adding that the north’s ‘parliament’ “must act in unity in the face of the threats made against the will and the future of our people”.

“The fact that this call was described as ‘meaningless’ is both unfortunate and thought-provoking,” he said, referring to comments made by Erhurman later on Tuesday.

“[Erhurman] made two speeches in the behind-closed-doors session. One speech lasted around 45 minutes, and the other around 20. In other words, if you look at the time spoken, he spoke about as much as I did,” he said.

He then added that after Erhurman had concluded his remarks, he had returned to speak again, but that “during this time, there were loud taunts from the opposition benches”.

“Some MPs claimed that their right to speak was being violated, so I said clearly and directly, ‘ask me whatever you want, I am ready to answer anything. I have no reservations’. However, despite this, they continued their criticism loudly and said they would not ask anything,” he said.

On this matter, he said that “although I said I was ready to answer questions, this attempt to manipulate this fact shows that their attitude was planned in advance”.

“I went to parliament to call for unity and solidarity against the serious threats posed to our people by the Greek Cypriot leadership. I wanted to show that our people are not alone against the oppressive Greek Cypriot politics carried out through politics. There is no need to distort the subject. It is clear what I was saying and why I was there.”

Erhurman responded in kind shortly after, saying “Ersin made ‘harsh criticisms’ about me and the CTP regarding yesterday’s session, where he read his previous press releases but for some reason had asked for the session to be behind closed doors and that there be a ban on MPs asking questions”.

“I wish he had accepted for the session to be open to the public, as given that he did not say anything new or anything that the public did not know, we would not have had to answer him here today,” he added.

He then said that “if Ersin still wants to hold a conversation via the press, I am in”.

“Let’s meet on any television programme of his choice. Let’s discuss property and other issues he wants at length, not behind closed doors, but out in the open. I am ready.”

Tatar had said after Tuesday’s session that 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”.

Erhurman, meanwhile, had said 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.