The north’s ‘labour minister’ Sadik Gardiyanoglu was sacked and replaced by Oguzhan Hasipoglu late on Thursday night, amid widespread reports of a rift inside the ruling coalition’s largest political party, the UBP.
Hasipoglu had been serving as the UBP’s secretary-general but has now left that post to take up the role at the ‘ministry’.
Immediately after being appointed, he gave a statement to news website Kibris Postasi, thanking ‘prime minister’ Unal Ustel and Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar for the opportunity.
Gardiyanoglu, meanwhile, reacted to the news by posting a photograph of his family to social media, with the caption, “only peace”.
His sacking comes amid reports of internal conflict within the UBP, with multiple key civil service posts in the north said to be set to change hands as factions within the party vie for dominance over one another.
It had been reported earlier in the week that as part of these internal skirmishes, Gardiyanoglu was preparing to relieve his ‘ministry’s’ director-general Tahir Serhat of his duties and replace him with Berna Bayur.
However, Serhat is said to be an ally of Ustel, and has now outlasted Gardiyanoglu at the ‘labour ministry’.
One change which has already happened within the north’s civil service is that Sergul Tumer, the wife of foundations administration (Evkaf) director-general Mustafa Tumer, has lost her job on Ustel’s office’s audit board and been replaced by Tulen Saner.
Saner is the sister of Ersan Saner, the former ‘prime minister’ who left that post after a video of him engaging in obscene acts on a webcam was leaked to the media in 2021.
The reports of internal rifts inside the UBP come off the back of rumours of frayed relations between high-ranking members of the party and Tatar.
News website Giynik reported last month that tensions between Tatar and the party were raised during a breakfast held on the occasion of the visit of Turkish Vice President Cevdet Yilmaz to the island.
According to the website, Tatar had “made harsh remarks towards other members of his party” during the breakfast.
“The media slammed me. They said I would lose, but the people at this table remained silent and did not react,” Tatar is quoted as saying.
He then reportedly said UBP remembers also “remain silent” when opposition party the CTP, the party to whom his main challenger at this October’s election Tufan Erhurman belongs, “slams” him.
The same report said Tatar’s remarks “drew harsh criticism” from high-ranking UBP members who were present at the breakfast, and that “tensions rose significantly”.
In addition, the report states that Yilmaz “watched in stunned silence”, and that he was “stunned by Tatar’s complaints”.
Tatar had been a member of the UBP until his election at Turkish Cypriot leader in October 2020, with the ‘TRNC’s’ constitution requiring that elected Turkish Cypriot leaders relieve themselves of party political ties upon entering office. As such, he will officially run in October as an independent.
Gardiyanoglu had been appointed to the role a little over two years ago, replacing Hasan Tacoy, who had been removed from the post after openly declaring his intention to challenge Ustel for the party’s leadership.
That leadership contest was eventually held at the party’s conference in September last year, with Ustel winning 65.8 per cent of the vote and Tacoy winning 33 per cent.
Ustel had said at the time that he had “no plans for any changes in cabinet” and that “everyone should mind their own business”.
However, Tacoy told newspaper Yeniduzen later the same day that he had borne witness to voter fraud taking place at the conference to ensure Ustel would win.
He said there were “major irregularities” on display at the conference.
“Voting was cast by getting signatures on A4 paper, and we do not know who was voting in that way. This method of voting was not announced or explained by the party’s authorities in anyway. This is a completely suspicious election. It is not clear to whom these votes were cast. It is not clear whether the people voters were carrying identity cards,” he said.
Tacoy remains on the UBP’s backbenches in ‘parliament’, with four of his ‘parliamentary’ colleagues having openly declared their support for him.
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