Source: CNA
The “decree” dismissing the “Minister of Public Works and Transportation,” Erhan Arikli, signed by the Turkish Cypriot leader, Tufan Erhurman. The “prime minister,” Unal Ustel removed him “to ensure the investigation” into the shipwreck off the coast of occupied Kyrenia, which left nine dead and 20 missing — the body of one of them was recovered and identified yesterday. The catamaran had set sail at noon on Sunday from Kyrenia bound for Tasouzu in Mersin.
ΣΧΕΤΙΚΑ ΑΡΘΡΑ
The suspension came hours after Arikli attempted to preempt developments, announcing that he would request the transfer of the “Port Authority” from his “ministry” to the “Office of the Prime Minister” until the conclusion of the investigation and the lifting of his “parliamentary immunity.” This was followed by the withdrawal of the Renaissance Party (KA), of which he is president, from the “government.” He described it as “unethical” that he learned of his dismissal over the phone.
Ustel argued that the decision was not directed against his coalition partner and that the presumption of innocence applies. The chairwoman of the Republican Turkish Party (RTP), Sila Usar Incirli, countered that the “government” is not shirking its responsibility by dismissing a “minister,” while the president of the Community Democracy Party (KKD), Zeki Çeler, called it a “belated and incomplete step,” demanding mass resignations. Labor unions had already called for his resignation.
SEE ALSO: Revelations about the shipwreck: The captain of the ill-fated catamaran held a purchased “made in Honduras” captain’s license
Who is he?
Born in 1962 in Ardahan, located on the Turkey-Armenia border, he came to Cyprus with his family after the invasion in 1975. A graduate of the Theological School of Ankara University, with three master’s degrees and a doctorate from the Azerbaijan Academy of Sciences, he served as a “special representative” of the regime in Baku and Central Asia and taught as a professor at Arabaev State University in Kyrgyzstan. In the early 1990s, he led nationalist organizations in the occupied territories. He returned in 2014, founded the KA in 2016—a party that relies on settlers and the nationalist “electorate”—and in 2018 was elected “member of parliament” for Famagusta. With two “members of parliament,” his party participated in the Oustel “government” for four and a half years.
SEE ALSO: “I want her body—at least to have a grave”: A thriller in the search for the missing victims of the ill-fated catamaran
Deryneia 1996
His name is included on the arrest warrants issued by the Republic of Cyprus for the fatal beating of Tassos Isaac in the Deryneia buffer zone, on August 11, 1996. He is one of five individuals wanted on international warrants. In September 2012, he was arrested at the airport in Kyrgyzstan based on an Interpol alert, but was released following Turkish intervention and returned to the occupied territories without being extradited. He publicly admits that he was “one of the organizers” who led people to the roadblocks.
Last August, following reports of a new arrest warrant, he posted that the Greek Cypriot side was “dredging up” the issue again, called Turkish Cypriots who support the initiative “bastards,” Turkish Cypriots who support the initiative “bastards,” and defended the shooting of Solomos Solomos, writing that “a flag must not be lowered.”
READ ALSO: From the “beheading” of Arikli to election scenarios: A political thriller in the occupied territories in the shadow of the maritime tragedy
“He would castrate the traitors”
A few years ago, his confrontation with journalist Sener Levent brought back into the spotlight a 2001 front-page article from the newspaper “Avruppa,” titled “He would castrate the traitors!” In his writings from that period, he called for the torture of anyone who referred to the Turkish army as an “occupying force,” writing, among other things, that he would extinguish a cigarette on their tongues. He says today that he went in person to the newspaper to apologize, but adds: “If it happened today, I would do the same.”
