Nicosia, Cyprus. Former Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar on Wednesday accused Turkish opposition leader Ozgur Ozel of improperly interfering in last year’s Turkish Cypriot leadership election, which Tufan Erhurman won.
Tatar’s allegations
Speaking to Ada TV, Tatar said Ozel had travelled to the TRNC, declared that Tufan was his candidate and campaigned alongside a CHP delegation.
Tatar said he possessed “video and recording evidence” of Ozel’s involvement.
He said the leader of a Turkish opposition party should not participate in elections in the TRNC.
“He is the leader of the opposition party there. What business does the opposition party have in the elections here?” Tatar said.
Ozel’s pre-election statement
Before last October’s election, Ozel, then leader of the CHP and now leader of the New Party, said the CHP respected the will of the Turkish Cypriot community and its struggle to protect that will, regardless of political affiliation.
He called on individuals and institutions in Turkey to respect the will of Turkish Cypriots and to ensure it was duly respected.
Ozel described the office of the Turkish Cypriot leader as a gateway for Turkish Cypriots to the outside world, saying that respect for their will was important regardless of the election winner.
Election campaigning
After Erhurman’s unprecedented landslide victory, Ozel said Cypriots had elected a president of their own free will against those who oppressed them.
“No one can stand in the way of change, and the time for change has come,” he said.
Before the election, figures from Turkey’s ruling AK Party travelled to Cyprus to campaign for Tatar, including Turkish Vice President Cevdet Yilmaz, former interior minister Suleyman Soylu, former defence minister Hulusi Akar and former footballer Mesut Ozil.