Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar late on Thursday night issued a 1,000-word statement attacking his opposition-backed election opponent Tufan Erhurman, saying that his “political success” is zero and accusing him of lying.
“You cannot fool our people. Erhurman is attempting to deceive the Turkish Cypriot people for the sake of elections, and promises nothing other than reducing the TRNC to a minority institution affiliated with the Greek Cypriots. The Turkish Cypriot people have never believed Erhurman’s lies, nor will they ever believe them,” he said.
He then said he has “never before responded” to any of Erhurman’s pre-election speeches, as “I used to believe that Erhurman was so vocal because deep down he knew his words were unfounded”.
However, he said, now, “with the election date approaching, he has realised that he cannot convince the Turkish Cypriot people with these baseless statements, and things have escalated further on that front, and he has been forced to resort to outlandish claims”.
“What he forgets is that just as our people have never believed these lies before, they will not believe them now, either,” he said.
Then, he attacked Erhurman’s electoral record, saying that he “has never won a single election for his party and has, on the contrary, seen his vote share plummet”.
“He ran for president in 2020 but was eliminated in the first round. He also served as prime minister for about 15 months. During that time, he achieved nothing positive for our people,” he said.
“Now, someone with such a low-profile political career has stepped up to the plate, and with his empty, exhausted rhetoric about a federation, claims to be able to solve the Cyprus problem. He thinks he will get it right this time. If words were enough, he would not be in this situation now.”
He then spoke about the name of the role for which the election is being held, saying that it is “important to remind” Erhurman that “the name of this state is the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus”.
“The people whose vote you are seeking are not members of a community, but the Turkish Cypriot people. The presidency of the TRNC is not a community leadership position, but the highest office of a sovereign and independent state. It is the embodiment of the will of our people,” he said.
“This people has sovereignty, freedom, and its own state. Our fight is based not on persuading Greek Cypriots or trying to please others, but on our own will. The future of the Turkish Cypriot people cannot be tied to the compassion or the will of the Greek Cypriots, or to persuading them through concessions. Our path is the path of sovereignty, of the state, of sovereign equality.”
However, he said, Erhurman and his campaign is “coming to us and saying they are going to bring the entire island into the European Union”.
“They claim they will grant EU citizenship to everyone the Greek Cypriots block, just as they promised during the Annan plan, handing out villas with imaginary pools,” he said.
He added that “the responses from the Greek Cypriot side to this unsubstantiated statement are also clear”, speaking of “columns published on the Greek Cypriot side which “say that ‘even if you are elected, your state is illegal, its residents cannot become citizens, and you must accept our terms’”.
“He is selling hope as if all the hostility, injustice, attacks, and problems directed at the Turkish Cypriot people over the last 62 years will be resolved overnight. He speaks as if the Greek Cypriot leadership’s policies of oppression only emerged during my term in office. He is attempting to pin the problems stemming from the Greek Cypriots’ hostile policies on us,” he said.
He added, “everyone should know that the honourable Turkish Cypriot people will not be fooled by these words”, and that “our people are well aware of this cheap politics which exploits emotions and blatantly lies”.
“I strongly condemn this mentality which dares to lie to our brothers and sisters of Turkish origin,” he added.
“Today, they say it openly and without hesitation. They claim they are committed to the task of abolishing this state. Over coffee and tea, they declare, ‘only I can convince the Greek Cypriots’. Worse still, they do not utter a word about the Greek Cypriots’ oppressive and hostile policies.”
As such, he said, “it becomes inevitable to ask this simple question: how will you achieve what your predecessors, Talat and Akinci, failed to do?”
“What other goal do you have than maintaining the status quo which disadvantages the Turkish Cypriots? What was it they lacked when they were talking about hanging themselves in Sarayonu square? What concession will you make which was not made in Crans Montana to convince the Greek Cypriots? What more will you offer? Or do you think you can fool our people with cheap rhetoric, acting like a teacher man?”
It was former Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat who had made a remark about hanging himself in northern Nicosia’s central Sarayonu square after the failed Annan plan referendum.
He then spoke briefly about his own record, saying that “I stand today in the same position I did yesterday”.
“I closed the empty, exhausted book of federation ambitions, never to be reopened. Knowing that the status quo on the island benefits the Greek Cypriots alone, I implemented our two-state vision to change this unjust order, with the full support of our motherland, the Republic of Turkey,” he said.
The Turkish Cypriot leadership election is set to take place on October 19.
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