The north’s energy supply may be in peril after a boat carrying fuel oil to power its power stations was seized by the Turkish authorities as part of a large-scale investigation into a corruption scandal.

The ship, Yeni Yuzyil, has been seized at the Iskenderun port in the Turkish province of Hatay.

It belongs to a company called Ickale, which was founded in 2015 and is owned by a man named Dogan Aktas, the son of Aziz Ihsan Aktas, the man accused of being at the centre of an organised crime ring which had rigged government contracts in Turkey and secured itself billions of liras worth of funding before laundering the assets.

Turkish newspaper Takvim reported that related company Bilginay has received billions of Turkish liras’ worth of tenders from the Greater Istanbul municipality.

Meanwhile, Turkish newspaper Cumhuriyet reported links between Bilginay and Turkey’s parliament, Turkish Airlines, and other central-government affiliated institutions, with tenders once again running into the billions of liras.

As a result, the north’s electricity authority Kib-Tek chairman Huseyin Pasa told newspaper Yeni Duzen on Tuesday that there is only enough fuel oil in the north to power its electricity grid for 20 days.

Should this run out with no fuel to replace it, the north will run out of fuel.

The Republic of Cyprus’ electricity authority (EAC)’s spokeswoman Christina Papadopoulou told the Cyprus Mail on Tuesday that in the event of an emergency shortage of power in the north, electricity can be procured from the Republic on a short-term basis as the two grids are interconnected.

She also said that should there be a long-term need for the Republic to supply the north with electricity, that will be done at a political level with an agreement to be brokered by the transmission system operator (TSO) as and when the Turkish Cypriot authorities formally file a request.

She said as the weather is currently “not particularly hot and not particularly cold”, the Republic of Cyprus currently has the capacity to offer electricity to the north.

The Yeni Yuzyil, which has been seized at Iskenderun

Aziz Ihsan Aktas was one of around 40 other people in Istanbul on suspicion of bribing government officials, rigging government tenders, laundering their gains, and other related crimes, with Istanbul’s Besiktas mayor Riza Akpolat also among those arrested.

Outside of Besiktas, investigations were also launched into tenders won by Aktas’ family members in Istanbul’s Esenyurt municipality, though he denies any knowledge of any of his relatives’ business dealings there and claims he was “not acquainted” with former Esenyurt mayor Ahmet Ozer, who was sacked in October for alleged links to proscribed terrorist organisations.

An investigation into Aktas has also been launched in the city of Diyarbakir, where former mayor Huseyin Beyoglu was named among the defendants.

Some have already made links between tenders won by Aktas and his family and the possibility of underhand methods in securing tenders elsewhere in Turkey and further afield.

News website Bugun Kibris reported that in the summer of 2022, Ickale made over US$53 million (€50.9m) from fuel shipments to Cyprus.

Kib-Tek’s Pasa insisted that the fuel was bought through the Turkish Petroleum International Corporation (TPic), and that as such, Kib-Tek and the north’s ‘government’ never had direct relations with the Aktas family.

“We have no connection with Ickale. We get fuel from Tpic. This is an interstate agreement and it was most recently extended until December 31 this year. We have at least 20 days of fuel. Since we are in the winter, consumption is high,” he said, adding that orders are typically placed between 10 and 15 days in advance.

teknecik power station (tak)
Teknecik power station near Kyrenia

Ongun Talat, the son of former Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat and current opposition party CTP ‘MP’ was less than convinced, however.

“This development is very important in terms of revealing the ‘government’s’ shady relations in its fuel supply process. As it is known, Ickale was among the companies which supplied the fuel which burdened people with exorbitant prices,” he said.

He said the situation is now impacting Kib-Tek and Cyprus directly, saying “the investigation launched in Turkey recently … is turning into a crisis which is also engulfing our government-like structure”.

He added that given the situation surrounding the ship in Iskenderun, TPic may also be implicated in the Aktas family’s alleged crimes.

“Now, while the illegal activities of these companies are being revealed with the wider investigation launched in Turkey, we must never forget who are the ones doing business with them. The ‘government’ must be held to account for this shady system which is burdening the public.

Kib-Tek should be the guarantor of the people’s interests, not shady relations!” he said.