Nicosia, Cyprus. Sibel Tatar, wife of former Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar, said she is considering entering frontline politics after receiving a political offer from Kudret Ozersay. The HP, led by Ozersay, said any discussions should not be treated as a concrete offer or linked to candidacy claims.
Tatar says she is considering a political offer
Tatar told news website Haber Kibris that she had been given a “political offer” by Ozersay about three weeks earlier and that she is in the decision-making process. She said she believes that “in times like this, everyone who loves their country should do their part,” and added that she would inform Ozersay of her intentions shortly.
HP distances itself from candidacy speculation
The HP sought to distance itself from claims that Tatar would stand as a candidate for the party in the next Turkish Cypriot legislative election. Party secretary-general Turgut Alas said potential conversations between Ozersay and Tatar should not be considered a concrete offer.
Alas said the HP and Ozersay meet everyone who requests a meeting and keep dialogue open, adding that the party acts with awareness that it must govern all segments of society fairly, equally, and impartially. He said it was not the case that everyone the HP meets will become a candidate for the party and that it would be incorrect to interpret such meetings as the offering of a place on the ballot.
Public opposition to proposed hijab rule changes
For most of her public life, Tatar had been reticent to openly express political opinions, but this changed last year when she openly opposed attempts by the Turkish Cypriot ruling coalition to legalise the wearing of hijabs by girls in public schools.
In a social media post in April last year, she wrote that she would have marched alongside the 13,000 Turkish Cypriots who demonstrated against the change had she not attended a museum opening with her husband. She described the move as an “unnecessary change in the regulations” and praised what she called the “rightful reaction of the people to take to the streets.”
She wrote that if not for the opening of the Cyprus doors and chests museum, the date of which had been decided months earlier, she would have been at the march. Days later, she phoned television channel Kanal T and reiterated her position, saying the changes would “definitely not be compatible with Cypriot Turkishness and the Cypriots.”
What impact could Sibel Tatar’s decision have on the next Turkish Cypriot legislative election?