Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar and his opposition-backed election challenger Tufan Erhurman both held large rallies on Tuesday night as the Turkish Cypriot leadership election draws closer.
Tatar’s rally was held at the Ataturk sports hall in northern Nicosia, and saw him present his plan for “attack diplomacy” should he be elected on October 19.
He told his crowd of supporters that he has spent the five years since being elected in 2020 “focused on strengthening the state, the wellbeing of the people, and the future”.
To this end, he said that his diplomacy is “not limited to negotiations with the Greek Cypriot side”, but that he instead aims “to integrate the TRNC within a new paradigm”.
He then stressed that efforts towards a federal solution to the Cyprus problem have “been made for years but failed to yield any results”, and that as such, “the Turkish Cypriot people have been left under isolation and embargoes during this period”.
With this in mind, he said that after he was elected, “we successfully transitioned from negotiation to diplomacy”, and “we announced to the world our vision of sovereign equality and a two-state solution”.
As such, he said, “we no longer have a TRNC which disappears at the federation table, but a TRNC which is invited to the table with a vision”.
Later in his speech, he pointed out that he is the grandson of Cemal Muftuzade, the Republic of Cyprus’ first vice president Dr Fazil Kucuk’s undersecretary, and the son of Rustem Tatar, the man who became the Republic of Cyprus’ first auditor-general at the age of just 29 years old, and added, “I am the president of the people from whom I emerged”.
“With the support of our motherland, Turkey, the will of our people, the energy of our youth, and the labour of our women, we have walked together, and we will continue to walk, leaving no one out. We have succeeded together, and we will achieve even more. Long live the Turkish Cypriot people, long live the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus,” he said.
Erhurman, meanwhile, held his rally at the Paradise Park function centre, which is located two kilometres up Dr Fazil Kucuk boulevard from where Tatar held his rally.
“We must all embark on a journey together, for our youth, for our children. We cannot leave this situation as a legacy to those who love this country,” he told the crowd.
He then said that while on the campaign trail, many elderly people have asked him, “did we sacrifice our years of fighting, the migrations, and the lives of martyrs to live in this situation today?”
“Mothers and fathers are worried about their children emigrating. Some say their children have already left, others say their children want to leave when they grow up,” he said.
He then said that “people’s voices have become inaudible in recent years”.
“We need to say we exist, because for the past five years, our voices have been inaudible. Our words are incomprehensible, our names are unknown, and our existence is unremembered. This is not the situation we desire. We reject these actions. Everyone will know that the Turkish Cypriot people exist on this island,” he said.
To this end, he stressed that the five years of Tatar have been an anomaly in Turkish Cypriot history in the lack of progress on the Cyprus problem there has been.
“Before now, we had four presidents, the late Rauf Raif Denktash, Mehmet Ali Talat, Dervish Eroglu, and Mustafa Akinci. During their terms, the rights of the Turkish Cypriot people were defended at the negotiating table, crossing points were opened, and the international community recognised the Turkish Cypriot community,” he said.
He then promised to bring “seriousness” back to the office of the Turkish Cypriot leader.
“I promise you seriousness in protecting people’s rights … The love we feel for our country and our children has brought us together on the same path. They should not be surprised at all,” he said.
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