Arikli removed as ‘transport minister’ after fatal Kyrenia ferry sinking

Kyrenia, Cyprus. Turkish Cypriot ruling coalition party YDP leader Erhan Arikli said on Wednesday night that ‘prime minister’ Unal Ustel’s decision to remove him as ‘transport minister’ was not “ethical”.

The decision came three days after a ferry sank off the coast of Kyrenia, killing at least nine people.

YDP to discuss coalition support

Arikli said Ustel had called him to say he was compelled to remove him from office to protect the integrity of the investigation.

“So this was the end of the road. The prime minister called me to inform me that he was compelled to remove me from office for the sake of the investigation’s integrity. As he is the head of the government, I respect his decision, even if I do not consider it ethical,” he said.

He said YDP’s decision-making assembly would meet on Thursday to discuss withdrawing support for the ruling coalition. Arikli had been the party’s only cabinet member.

Earlier on Wednesday, Arikli had said he had cancelled plans for the assembly to meet and consider withdrawing support from the government because of the ferry disaster. Following his removal from office, he reversed that decision.

Opposition criticism

Later on Wednesday night, opposition CTP leader Sila Usar Incirli said Arikli’s removal would allow Ustel to escape accountability.

“For over five years, our country has been living through what is essentially a nightmare. The Unal Ustel government, which has eroded the state’s institutional infrastructure, paralysed oversight mechanisms, completely eliminated meritocracy, and shaken the foundations of the state through corruption and mismanagement, cannot absolve itself of responsibility simply by sacking a single minister,” she said.

Incirli said the government’s mismanagement lay at the root of many adversities faced by the public and said Ustel could not evade political accountability through Arikli’s dismissal or cabinet reshuffles.

She also referred to the coalition’s refusal last month to accept her calls for the Turkish Cypriot legislature to be recalled from its summer recess to discuss safety issues following a series of stabbings.

“The government blatantly avoided discussing this vital matter and refused to face the public,” she said.

Incirli said the state had become an entity that generated problems rather than one that served and protected people. She cited the “fake prescription scandal”, the death of a newborn baby who was erroneously fed alcohol, and the collapse of a grain silo in July.