‘It is not hard to guess’ who is behind bot attacks on Cyprus journalists

It is “not hard to guess” who is behind the recent slew of bot attacks on social media accounts belonging to journalists and news outlets in Cyprus, Izlem Gurcag Altugra, a high-ranking member of the Turkish Cypriot ruling coalition’s largest party the UBP, said on Thursday.

“Not only the press, but also ordinary people have been insulted by these troll armies which have suddenly appeared. Everyone can guess who is doing it. The most important thing is to prove and document this. If the state has seriousness and power, it must immediately find out who is responsible for this petulance,” she told Kibris Postasi TV.

Numerous news outlets, including the Cyprus Mail, have had their social media accounts attacked by bots overloading them with bogus copyright infringement claims, causing their content to be deleted.

In addition to the Cyprus Mail, outlets impacted included the social media accounts of newspaper Yeniduzen and news websites Kibris Postasi, Haber Kibris, Kibris Genc TV, Bugun Kibris, and My Kibris Haber, while political chat show host Mustafa Alkan, social media journalist Serdinc Maypa also had social media posts deleted.

Yeniduzen had reported that content using keywords such as “Juju” – the nickname of Turkish Cypriot ‘prime minister’ Unal Ustel’s longtime close personal associate Fatma Unal – as well as “cyber-attack”, and words related to the ongoing strikes and protests in the north have been targeted.

As such, many now believe that Ustel and Unal may be linked to the attacks. However, Unal denied any link to the removals, telling Bugun Kibris that “I have not made such an attempt, and I have not used any intermediaries”.

While Altugra remains a member of the UBP, she has been open in her criticism of Ustel, and said after Ersin Tatar, the candidate the party had endorsed at last year’s Turkish Cypriot leadership election, fell to a chastening defeat, that she would refuse an offer from Ustel to return to his cabinet.

She also embarked on an effective boycott of sessions at the Turkish Cypriot legislature until Ustel resigns.

“I had already severed ties because he is unqualified and unlawful, and because he had shattered party unity … I will not attend plenary sessions, especially on Mondays,” she told Yeniduzen last year.

Since then, rumours have abounded that she may leave the party, with it having widely been reported that she is mulling a defection to centrist anti-corruption party the HP, which is led by former Turkish Cypriot chief negotiator for the Cyprus problem Kudret Ozersay.

Asked about this on Thursday, she said, “I will continue my political life in a political environment where service to the public is delivered”, and that “I will also implement my stance and share it with the public”.

She pointed out that sitting members of the Turkish Cypriot legislature are not allowed to join existing political parties while retaining their seats, but then doubled down on her criticism of Ustel’s leadership.

“I cannot be in a place where the mentality is, ‘he’s my man, legal or not, let us do whatever we can’. The UBP I know is not the same UBP. It has mutated. I feel very sorry for our ancestors, for those who founded this party, including my father,” she said.

Her father, Erdinc Gurcag, fought in the 1964 Battle of Tillyria and went on to serve as Turkish Cypriot Kyrenia mayor over two separate stints, between 1986 and 1989, and between 1998 and 2002.