UBP rejects all 17 appeals over primary vote as fraud claims divide Turkish Cypriot party

Nicosia, Cyprus. The UBP, the largest political party in the Turkish Cypriot community, announced on Monday that it had turned down all 17 appeals lodged against the preliminary outcome of its Saturday primary. The vote was held to decide the party’s list for the Turkish Cypriot legislative elections in December.

Incumbents set to lose their seats

The ruling likely brings the political careers of three incumbents to an end. ‘Parliament speaker’ Ziya Ozturkler was not chosen as a candidate in his home constituency of Morphou. Fellow sitting legislators Emrah Yesilirmak and Firtina Karanfil were likewise passed over in their home constituencies, Trikomo and Lefka respectively.

A fourth sitting UBP legislator, Hakan Dincyurek, had already said in the early hours of Sunday that he would not seek re-election, because he believed Saturday’s results were fraudulent. He also stepped down as ‘health minister’.

Leadership silent

The announcement was made while party leader and ‘prime minister’ Unal Ustel was in Turkey, where he spent the whole day in meetings with Turkish Vice President Cevdet Yilmaz, Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and Defence Minister Yasar Guler. Ustel has not yet commented publicly on the claims that the votes were counted fraudulently. His office said on Monday that he had discussed the Turkish Cypriot authorities’ next financial protocol with Turkey with Yilmaz, and the Cyprus problem with Fidan.

The chairman of the UBP primary election council, Huseyin Pasa, could not be reached for comment either. He was taken to hospital on Monday morning with chest pains.

Reactions from candidates

Ozturkler did comment on Monday, before the decision was announced. He said he maintained his objection but would respect whichever final decision was reached, adding: “I have full faith and confidence in the grassroots of our UBP”.

Other candidates were harsher. Redif Nurel, who had hoped to appear on the party’s list in Kyrenia, claimed that Pasa had tried to go to hospital even though doctors had told him he was fine. He also asserted that roughly 3,000 votes were missing from the ballot boxes there, and that around 3,000 fake digital votes were cast in the names of members who never came to vote. Nurel said the party’s secretary-general, Ahmet Savasan, was responsible for the system and that “He needs to be arrested”.

Opposition complaint

The opposition TDP was also unconvinced. Its secretary-general, Redif Ekinci, and Nicosia candidate Deniz Birinci filed a formal complaint about the matter with the Turkish Cypriot supreme election council.