Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar and his challenger Tufan Erhurman both formally submitted their candidacies for next month’s Turkish Cypriot leadership elections on Friday.
Both men marked the submission of their candidacies with marches across northern Nicosia to its central courthouse, which is located within Nicosia’s old city walls, and, as is tradition, were both joined by hundreds of their supporters on those marches.
Tatar was the first to register his candidacy, with supporters gathering at the Kugulu park, which is located in the moat of Nicosia’s walled city, on its northern side.
He and his supporters then made their way southwards down Kyrenia Street before turning right at the Venetian column to gather in front of the courthouse.
Tatar then went inside the building and formally submitted his candidacy documents, before returning to the crowd to make a speech, in which he immediately turned his focus to the fact that with the election ongoing, he remains in office and carrying out his duties.
“I am officially submitting my candidacy today, but my duties are not limited to the election. State affairs are ongoing. On Monday, I will meet United Nations envoy [Maria Angela] Holguin. Towards the end of the month, I will travel to New York and meet UN Secretary-General [Antonio] Guterres,” he began.
He also made reference to his forthcoming meeting with President Nikos Christodoulides on September and said of that meeting and his other duties in office that “I will continue to amplify the voices of our people and their objections to injustice on every platform”.
He then stressed that his decision to run for re-election “stems not from ambition for office, but from my will to protect the people’s future”.
“I want to reiterate this. My candidacy is not for the seat. My candidacy is the continuation of our people’s will to defend their fight for existence, our sovereign equality, and the permanence of our state. The people’s fight, spanning over half a century, has now embarked on a new path,” he said.
He also moved to criticise the federal model for a solution to the Cyprus problem, which is favoured by Erhurman and is also the stated goal of the Greek Cypriot side and the solution set out by UN resolutions.
“Under the leadership of the president of the Republic of Turkey, [Recep Tayyip] Erdogan, our motherland, Turkey, has declared at the highest level and with clarity that everyone can understand that ‘the book of federation is closed forever’. Despite this, it is thought-provoking that some people ignore this statement of feign ignorance,” he said.
“The federal model has been tried for half a century. The Turkish side was always at the table with good intentions, but due to the unwavering mentality of the Greek Cypriot side, it has failed. Trying to revive a model which is now dead only benefits the Greek Cypriots. We would be condemned to live with isolation and embargoes. That is not a vision, it is learned helplessness.”
Once Tatar’s supporters had dispersed, it was the turn of Erhurman and his supporters, who began their march at the headquarters of the CTP, the party he leads, which is located in Nicosia’s old town’s Arabahmet neighbourhood.
From there, he and his supporters made their way northward to the courthouse, before Erhurman entered the building, submitted his candidacy, and returned to the crowd to make a short speech of his own.
“We have submitted our application to begin a new era together. Today is the beginning of a new era together … The patriotic people of this beautiful country, those who believe in human rights, regardless of their party affiliation, will continue to win hearts and minds for our children,” he said.
He stressed that between Friday and the election, and thereafter, “we have much to do, a long way to go”.
“This country, this people, will once again be proud of itself … We will walk together, and we will win together,” he said.
The election’s minor candidates, Mehmet Hasguler, the former chairman of the north’s higher education accreditation authority (Yodak) who was arrested last year on suspicion of taking bribes, the Cyprus Socialist Party’s Osman Zorba, and cult figure and perpetual candidate Arif Salih Kirdag all submitted their candidacies later in the day.
Upon the submission of his candidacy, Kirdag promised to “break satan’s leg”.
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