New Turkish Cypriot ‘transport minister’ Faiz Sucuoglu on Monday said that the sinking of a ferry off the coast of Kyrenia last month was “one of the greatest tragedies” Cyprus has seen “since 1974”, as he formally took over the role.

“Our primary task and goal is to reach the 14 people who are missing after this tragic incident and whom we believe are on the sunken boat, and return them to their families. This will be our first step,” he said.

He added that since being named as the new ‘minister’ on Friday, he has been “in close contact” with the families of the missing, and that he has will continue to make daily visits to those who have remained outside the new port of Kyrenia since the ferry capsized waiting for news of their loved ones.

“Despite their great sorrow, they are receiving the information with understanding and are trying to get through this waiting period patiently. It is a great tragedy. It is one of the greatest tragedies the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus has experienced since 1974. It has affected all of us and society as a whole deeply,” he said.

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He went on to say that both the Turkish Cypriot authorities and the government of Turkey are “making intensive efforts” to locate the 14 people who remain unaccounted for after the ferry disaster, before making reference to the Optimus Prime, the deep-sea research and survey ship which joined rescue efforts on Monday.

“This ship has a different capability and feature. We aim to reach these people very quickly using a drilling and breaking method. We will also be following this matter closely,” he said.

Sucuoglu had been deposed as ‘prime minister’ in 2022

Sucuoglu’s return to the Turkish Cypriot cabinet is a marked change of political course, after he was deposed as ‘prime minister’ in 2022, just months after being named as the leader of the largest Turkish Cypriot political party the UBP, and winning a legislative election.

He was faced with political deadlock when he attempted to dismiss his ‘finance minister’ Sunat Atun, with Turkish Cypriot leader of the day Ersin Tatar having refused to sign off on Atun’s sacking.

Sucuoglu’s solution was to have his whole ruling coalition resign and form a new administration without Atun.

However, the move backfired, and the new coalition lost multiple confidence votes before it could form. Subsequently, Unal Ustel held meetings with then Turkish ambassador Metin Feyzioglu and with Tatar, before being asked by Tatar to form an administration of his own and being named ‘prime minister’ shortly thereafter.

Two years later, Sucuoglu ran to be ‘parliament speaker’, but lost an internal UBP vote on who the party’s candidate should be.

After the election, Sucuoglu was photographed leaving the legislature building in its rear car park, and reportedly said he would “never come back”.

His appointment as ‘transport minister’ comes after Erhan Arikli, his predecessor, was removed from office in the aftermath of the ferry disaster.

In addition to the appointment of Sucuoglu, Ustel also appointed Hasan Tacoy as his ‘energy minister’, replacing Olgun Amcaoglu. Tacoy had previously served as ‘energy minister’ under Ersin Tatar, and had therefore been present at the outset of discussions related to the planned natural gas pipeline between Turkey and Cyprus.