Nicosia, Cyprus. Former Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar rejected as “completely unfounded, baseless, and untrue” allegations linking him to underworld dealings and illegal cash election donations. The accusations were cited in a report published on Wednesday by news website Bugun Kibris.
Report cites interview excerpts
Tatar, who served as Turkish Cypriot leader between 2020 and last year and previously served as both ‘prime minister’ and ‘finance minister’ in the north, was named in the Bugun Kibris report.
The website published excerpts of an interview it had undertaken last year with Cemil Onal, the former financial advisor of Turkish Cypriot businessman Halil Falyali. Onal was shot dead in May last year after other excerpts of the same interview had been published by the website. Falyali was shot dead in 2022.
Claims of visits and cash collections
In the latest excerpt, Onal was quoted as saying, “Ersin Tatar would come to Halil Falyali’s house in Ayios Epiktitos once a week, sometimes every two weeks, sometimes twice”.
Onal was also quoted as saying Tatar would not come in his official car and would only come with his bodyguard, Asim, adding that Tatar would “also collect cash at the house,” with the money used for election campaigns and the renting of office space.
Allegations involving Kanal T and campaign funding
Onal was quoted as saying he had “sent a lot of money” to Kanal T, the television channel Tatar created in 1996 and sold in 2023.
“I sent 30,000TL in 2016. 30,000TL. I had it deposited from Istanbul,” Onal was quoted as saying, with 30,000TL worth around €8,000 at the time. He added that Tatar would be provided with “however much he needed”.
Onal was further quoted as describing how money would be delivered to Tatar for election campaigns and office rentals, saying it would be given to Tatar at the house in Ayios Epiktitos.
Reference to Erhan Arikan
In the excerpt, “Erhan” was described as referring to Erhan Arikan, a lifelong member of the north’s largest political party, the UBP, of which Tatar was also a member until his election as Turkish Cypriot leader.
What do you think about the allegations and Tatar’s denial?
