Tatar kicks off re-election campaign

Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar formally kicked off his campaign to win re-election on Monday evening, bringing together the three political parties which have endorsed his campaign for his first major rally of the year ahead of October’s election.

Tatar’s candidacy has been endorsed by all three parties which make up the north’s ruling coalition, the UBP, the DP, and the YDP, and dignitaries and other members from all three parties turned out to attend the rally.

The party’s leaders spoke first, with YDP leader and the north’s ‘transport minister’ Erhan Arikli the first to take the stage.

“This election is a choice to be made between those who want to walk together with Turkey, and those who want to walk in line with America, the United Nations, and the European Union,” he began.

“We are a political movement which says, ‘if there is a question of the nation, the homeland, and especially of our motherland, the rest is just details’.”

He went onto say that the ruling coalition’s three parties are “creating a national consensus”, and that the parties are willing to “leave our political differences aside to go to the presidential election with a single candidate”, before turning his attention to those who support a federal solution to the Cyprus problem.

“We still have those who want a federation. Negotiations have been going on for 60 years. After the Annan plan, after Crans Montana, there is nothing left to discuss. [Former Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa] Akinci handed over a map at Crans Montana, and he offered ‘zero soldiers and zero guarantees’. Despite this, the Greek Cypriot leader [Nicos Anastasiades] flipped the table. What more can we give?”

As such, he said, “the book of federation is closed”.’

“The option of a federation is over, as far as the Turkish Cypriots and our motherland Turkey are concerned. We are in favour of a two-state solution based on sovereign equality. We do not have the luxury of discussing other formulae,” he added.

He closed his speech by saying that the three parties of the Turkish Cypriot right “will give our full support to Ersin Tatar for his re-election”.

“We have united around Tatar. We will go door to door for his re-election, and we will succeed,” he said.

DP leader and ‘tourism minister’ Fikri Ataoglu was the next to speak, telling the attendees that Tatar has “defended the rights and the interest of the people tirelessly throughout his term in office”.

“Based on the reality of two separate peoples, two separate sovereign states, the Turkish Cypriots’ fight for equality and independence is very valuable for us,” he said, adding that Tatar “showed the whole world that he will not live in anyone’s shadow”.

“The national vision put forward by our president is not only the guarantee of today but is also the guarantee of tomorrow. The DP fully supports this vision. Come on, let’s unite our hearts and continue the TRNC’s honourable march even further. We are ready to walk together with Tatar for a strong and sovereign future,” he said.

While UBP leader and ‘prime minister’ Unal Ustel did attend the event, he chose not to speak to the crowd, as his sister had died on Monday morning. In his place, the UBP’s secretary-general Oguzhan Hasipoglu took to the stage.

Hasipoglu told the attendees that his party is supporting Tatar’s campaign for re-election “because Ersin Tatar is the candidate of the Turkish Cypriot people’s fight for existence”, before offering criticism for opposition party the CTP, which endorsed its party leader Tufan Erhurman’s campaign two months ago.

“The federal solution model advocated by the CTP aims to bring the idea of a single sovereignty and of ‘zero soldiers and zero guarantees’ to the table. We are absolutely against this. Ersin Tatar is against a single sovereignty and against the end of Turkey’s guarantor rights,” he said.

“Tatar said he would end talks for a federal solution when he took office in 2020, and he kept this promise.”

With this in mind, he said this October’s election is “not an ordinary election”, adding, “this election is the election of a vision, a preference for the future”.

“The Greek Cypriot side had run away from the negotiation table, said no to the referendum, and has threatened the Turkish Cypriot people with property lawsuits. Who are you to threaten the Turkish Cypriot people? Who are you to talk about cooperation?”

He closed his speech by offering his well wishes to Turkey, and thanked the country’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Vice President Cevdet Yilmaz, highlighting Erdogan’s calls for the international community to recognise the north as an independent country at his UN general assembly speeches.

“We will also win the presidency in this process of independence. Our people will win, the nation will win, common sense will win. Our path is one, our cause is one, our candidate is one!”

Tatar was then the last to speak, saying that “we have experienced a lot of pain as a nation, but we have never collapsed or given up”, and that “we have emerged from difficulty stronger”.

“We will resolutely continue with our new vision based on the sovereignty and equality of the Turkish Cypriot people. We will continue our fight for our people to be able to live in these lands. We will continue on our path with new policies and a new vision,” he said.

“It is of vital importance for the Turkish Cypriot people to support their own government, their own institutions, and their own state. We are loyally committed to our state and to our people. With the support of the Republic of Turkey, our greatest goal is to carry the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, which is located in the heart of the Blue Homeland, to a more prosperous future.”

The “Blue Homeland” doctrine outlines Turkey’s maritime claims in the Black Sea, the Aegean, and the Mediterranean.

Tatar then called on the Turkish Cypriots to “unite around our common goal”, adding that “many games are being played against us, but we will maintain our unity and solidarity, put aside our differences, and manage the upcoming process together”.

“The Turkish Cypriot people will never be left without a state or a republic. We will continue this honourable fight together.”

At the end of Tatar’s speech, high-profile supporters of his, including ‘ministers’ past and present, took to the stage in a show of unity.