In the second round of presidential elections held in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), according to unofficial results, Ersin Tatar, the National Unity Party (UBP) candidate, was elected president with 51.69 percent of the votes…. The Turkish Agency Cyprus (TAK) reported that the Supreme Election Council made a written statement about the election results. According to the statement, the presidential candidate of the National Unity Party (UBP) Ersin Tatar completed the election ahead with 67,322 votes, taking 51.69 percent of the valid votes in the election. Independent candidate Mustafa Akinci finished the election with 62.910 votes and 48.31 percent. (a.a, 18.10.2020)
Comment:
Ersin Tatar, who was elected president by receiving 51.69% of the votes in the second round of elections held on October 18, 2020, completed his high school education in England. He graduated from the University of Cambridge, one of the famous schools of England. Until 1991, he worked at a company named Polly Pack in England. He worked at FMC-NUROL defense company in Ankara between 1991-1992 and worked as the general coordinator of Show TV between 1992-2001. In 2003, he returned to Cyprus and started his political life.
Cyprus is still under the political clout of the British since the day it was detached from the Ottoman State. Throughout the history of the republic, Turkish politicians have carried out the Cyprus policy along the lines of Britain and the United States, depending on the politics of the colonial powers on which they depend. Turkish rulers who are in power and follow politics on the American line since 2002, have insistently tried to implement US politics with respect to Cyprus. They have constantly worked to get people in Cyprus to take over in Cyprus who will pursue politics that are fully compliant with the Erdogan-led AKP. However, due to the fact that the British have an extremely strong influence in Cyprus, they were not able to succeed in this properly.
Upon the fact that Ersin Tatar won the elections in the second round in the presidential elections process held in TRNC, for the first time with the full support of Turkey, statements were used in the Turkish as well as the world media implying that Erdogan had won the elections, because Erdogan had made attempts like opening Maras and supplying water to Cyprus once again by repairing the pipeline which supplies clean water to Cyprus in order to make Ersin Tatar win the elections.
Former President Mustafa Akinci who criticized the attempts of Tatar, who signed together with Ankara for the opening of Maras, and said that the decision of opening Maras was put into practice without his information, had used the following statements: “What has been done is a disgrace to our democracy and is a continuation of a direct interference in the elections. For months now, a systematic and an organized work has been conducted for me not to be elected. A scenario has been written and Mr. Tatar was left with playing the part of a figurant.” (bbc.com, 18.10.2020)
After being elected president, Ersin Tatar made the following statements. “I would also like to thank the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his deputy Fuat Oktay very much. We, as loyal people, feel proud to be with Turkey, which is always on our side while our people struggle for life. We reject those who talk against homeland Turkey for producing election material.” (bbc.com, 18.10.2020) After the elections, President Erdogan made the following statement. “I congratulate Mr. Ersin Tatar, who was elected the President of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, on behalf of myself and the Turkish Nation. Turkey will continue to make every effort to protect the rights of Turkish people of Cyprus.” (bbc.com, 18.10.2020)
Based on these developments we tried to summarize in short, we could make the following evaluations regarding the Cyprus elections.
1- When we take a look at the new President Ersin Tatar’s history, it is seen that he was intensely brought up in charge of the British and that he is not completely far from British politics, because he spent a part of his career in Britain, like the fact that he completed his high school and university education in Britain. Within the period he worked in Turkey, he worked for companies that were in the British line.
2- The fact that Turkey has supported Ersin Tatar seems to be a reflection of the politics Britain follows in world politics during the recent years, rather than the fact that Tatar is completely on the Turkish-American line. Turkey, on the other hand, considers the fact that a politician of its own is in power in Cyprus, even if it is from the outside, and it works to get opportunities to influence him to the extent of possibilities.
3- Within this period, the Cyprus dispute is far from being solved politically on the American line, like it was the case in the past years, because the British will continue to use Fabian and prevention tactics via Tatar who appears to be pro-Turkey, like they did in previous years, because Cyprus is of such a great importance for the British that they never could lose it.
Muhammet Hanefi YAGMUR