The north’s ‘health minister’ Hakan Dincyurek “should not have lasted for two minutes” after it came to light that seven newborn babies had been fed ethanol in northern Nicosia’s emergency hospital, opposition party CTP MP Ongun Talat said.

Speaking as ‘parliament’ debated the ‘health ministry’s’ budget for the coming year, he said the fact that the families of the seven babies were not notified for a full 30 hours after one of the babies died was evidence of “negligence and intent” on Dincyurek’s part.

“They kept silent because they expected the babies to recover, and the police were informed of the incident and only came to the  hospital when it was reported that one of the babies had died,” he said, before asking whether the hospital had launched an investigation into its administration.

“The chief physician gave no explanation about this incident, and the families whose children were fighting for their lives came to the ward’s door a day and a half later,” he said.

He turned his attention to the ongoing criminal trial, saying, “you pinned this on four or five nurses, while the chief physician and the minister are still in a job”.

Dincyurek said an investigation into the hospital’s administration is ongoing, but that it currently “does not have enough statements”.

“We are consulting with the prosecutor’s office and the police. Dozens of statements have been taken, some were taken multiple times,” he said, adding that the nurses “did not want to give statements, and this is their legal right”.

Talat then pointed out that Dincyurek’s earlier claim that he did not inform the families for 30 hours after one of the babies had died was because the police would not allow him to do so had been denied by the police.

“The police chief himself denied what you had said,” he said, but Dincyurek doubled down on his claim.

“What happened is clear. The police told me, ‘Do not make a statement, do not bring this to the public’,” he said.

Talat then retorted, “you are not telling the truth!”, to which Dincyurek said, “that is what you claim, you are creating scenarios in your own imagination”.

However, what is not in Talat’s imagination is police chief Kasim Kuni’s statements to the ‘parliamentary’ finance committee last month, in which he said, “the police did not warn the health minister at all not to make a statement”.

This version of events was corroborated by Cyprus Turkish nurses’ and midwives’ union chairman Ibrahim Ozgocmen. He had told newspaper Yeni Duzen that nurses at northern Nicosia’s emergency hospital, where the incident occurred, had suggested informing the families, but that Dincyurek “did not find this appropriate”.

“It was [Dincyurek] himself who was told to call the families and let them come to the hospital to explain what happened, but he did not find this appropriate.”

He added that the hospital is being operated in “an environment of chaos” and that doctors “are being forced to do many things outside their job description.”

“The whole order is broken. The health ministry is being run like a party building.”

All six of the other babies who had remained in hospital have since been discharged. Five hospital workers were arrested in connection with the incident, with all five having been released on bail. They have been charged with causing death by negligence and carelessness.

Additionally, the nurse who had put the ethanol in the kettle to boil and the nurse who had fed the baby using the ethanol have been suspended from their duties, with an internal disciplinary investigation against the two nurses having been launched at the hospital.