A “preliminary report” detailing the findings of the investigation being conducted into the sinking of a passenger ferry off the coast of Kyrenia will be published “as soon as possible”, Turkish Cypriot ‘prime minister’ Unal Ustel said on Wednesday, following a meeting with Turkey’s transport ministry’s marine accident investigation department Durali Isler.

“We have demonstrated a clear and firm resolve from day one. Everything necessary will be done to shed light on every aspect of this tragic incident. We are working in full cooperation and coordination with the relevant authorities in the Republic of Turkey,” he said.

He added that technical examinations of the disaster and the ferry itself “will be conducted” in due course, and that “all the findings will be meticulously evaluated”.

“We will not allow any detail to be overlooked or any negligence to be covered up. If there is any negligence, fault, or liability – regardless of the source – it will be brought to light. All the state’s resources have been mobilised to ensure the investigation and technical examination processes are conducted thoroughly and effectively,” he said.

He said that the Turkish Cypriot authorities now “bear a great responsibility towards the people we have lost and their grieving families”, and as such promised to “personally oversee the process to ensure that the truth is revealed in all its aspects, and that those responsible are identified”.

Meanwhile, the north’s ’transport minister’ Erhan Arikli on Wednesday said that he will apply to the Turkish Cypriot legislature to have his ‘parliamentary’ immunity lifted on Thursday.

“I will apply to parliament tomorrow to request the lifting of my immunity. This is to ensure that the judicial authorities can act freely in this matter and, if necessary, take my statement and bring the case before the courts,” he said. 

He also announced that the north’s ports department would be transferred from the control of his ‘ministry’ to fall directly under the ‘prime minister’s’ office until investigations have concluded, with ‘prime minister’ Ustel “directing” the investigations which are being carried out by Turkey’s marine accident investigation department.

He had on Monday promised to resign “if necessary”, but stressed that “but trying to attack someone from the very beginning is unethical”, and called on those criticising him after the ferry sank to “be patient”.

On this front, he said he will wait until after the ferry’s black box is recovered and for its findings to be made clear before making a decision on his future, with efforts still ongoing on Wednesday to recover the wreckage from the bottom of the sea, after it was located at a depth of 550 metres below the surface on Tuesday. 

Arikli has become the subject of fierce criticism from the families of the 20 people who remain unaccounted for after the disaster, who have been waiting outside the entrance to the new port of Kyrenia since Sunday. 

Multiple family members have demanded that Arikli travel to Kyrenia to face them, but Arikli has thus far not heeded their demands. 

Instead, Ustel, ‘finance minister’ Ozdemir Berova, and ‘energy minister’ Olgun Amcaoglu visited the waiting relatives on Wednesday morning, but they were told that those waiting expect Arikli to visit them. 

According to Ustel’s office, the Turkish authorities, led by its transport ministry and “directed” by Ustel himself, will “carry out the necessary examinations to technically determine the causes of the incident”.

Earlier, Ustel had promised that “every aspect of this incident will be investigated” and that “even the slightest negligence will be uncovered”.

“It is both the duty and the responsibility of our state to fully investigate this great tragedy… Our grief is immense today, but our state, with all its institutions, is fulfilling its duty,” he said.

A total of nine people, including the ferry’s captain, Mustafa Oz, and seven members of its crew, remain in custody after having been arrested in the accident’s aftermath. They are all expected to appear in court on Thursday.