Unal Ustel announces new names in north’s cabinet (Update)

The north’s ‘prime minister’ Unal Ustel has announced the names of the members of his new cabinet, after performing a cabinet reshuffle on Friday.

The highest profile move is the sacking of Hasan Tacoy as ‘labour minister’. The news has not come as a surprise to many, however, after Tacoy openly declared his intention to challenge Ustel for the leadership of the governing party the UBP last week.

Tacoy has been replaced by former Turkish Cypriot Nicosia mayoral candidate Sadik Gardiyanoglu.

Elsewhere, Ozdemir Berova has been moved from the backbenches to the ‘finance ministry’, replacing Alisan San.

In a somewhat unexpected set of moves, Ziya Ozturkler has been sacked as ‘interior minister’ and replaced by ‘agriculture minister’ Dursun Oguz. Oguz’s replacement at the ‘agriculture ministry’ is Huseyin Cavus Kelle.

The north’s only female ‘minister’, Izlem Gurcag Altugra, has also been sacked as ‘health minister’. Her replacement is Hakan Dincyurek.

‘Deputy prime minister’ and ‘tourism minister’ Fikri Ataoglu, ‘transport minister’ Erhan Arikli, ‘foreign minister’ Tahsin Ertugruloglu, ‘education minister’ Nazim Cavusoglu, and ‘economy and energy minister’ Olgun Amcaoglu all remain in post.