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Outrage over Adalı
The latest video posted by convicted gang leader Sedat Peker touches upon Cyprus, the murder of Kutlu Adalı, drug trafficking and how the island has been turned into a hub for criminal activities. Peker pointed the finger of blame at former Turkish Police Chief and former Interior Minister Mehmet Ağar as well as former head of the Special Police Division Korkut Eken. Sedat Peker: “They told me there was a man in Cyprus who was selling us out to the Greek Cypriots and to find two men (to kill him). I told them I would send them my brother to do the job. It didn’t go through. They later found someone else to do the job.”
- CTP leader Tufan Erhürman: “The attorney’s office and police must act immediately”
- They will be tried again –The Turkish appeals court ruled that 19 suspects including Mehmet Ağar, İbrahim Şahin and Korkut Eken should be tried again for their involvement in 18 unsolved murders.
People really crippled by the economic crisis
People are struggling against the decrease in their purchasing power caused by the pandemic, the devaluation of the Turkish Lira, the shrinking economy and constant price hikes. Kıbrıs compared the retail prices of 34 items sold in the market. When compared the prices in April 2020 with those in May 2021, Kıbrıs found out that the retail price of the 29 items out of 34 has increased.
- The highest expenditure is salaries for the civil servants – Finance Ministry in 2020 issued ₺4.5bn (€450m) in salary payments under 22 items. Among these, ₺2.5bn (€250m) was given to the civil servants.
“We did not shoot (him), they did it”
Sedat Peker, who is speaking out after fleeing from Turkey, made confession-like claims about the murder of Turkish Cypriot journalist Kutlu Adalı. In his seventh video, Peker said Mehmet Ağar, who once served as Interior Minister in Turkey, asked him to kill Adalı and added he sent his brother to carry out the orders. However, after finding out that Adalı was indeed a patriot and not a traitor, he did not fulfil the task. Peker claimed that Mehmet Ağar and Korkut Eken were behind the murder of Kutlu Adalı.
This can’t go on like this
The historic Kyrenia Yacht Harbour and the old surrounding buildings are crumbling away as a result of neglect. Local restaurant and cafe owners are unhappy with the situation.
- Kutlu Adalı murder being brought to parliament – Erhürman, Özyiğit and Özersay called on the authorities to launch an investigation into the claims.
Planned in Turkey, murdered in Cyprus
Sedat Peker in his seventh video talked about Kutlu Adalı’s murder. The latest video by Sedat Peker, which was viewed by 25 million people, caused tremors again. Peker accused Mehmet Ağar and Korkut Eken of planning Kutlu Adalı’s murder… “They wanted a professional hitman for the job, so I recommended my brother,” Peker said, adding however in the end Adalı was murdered by another one of Mehmet Ağar’s men in Cyprus.
- 75 positive coronavirus cases and one death in the south, 28 cases in the north…
Main News
Video allegations on Kutlu Adalı’s murder shake North
Yenidüzen, Kıbrıs, Havadis, Diyalog, Avrupa
Internal Security
OVERVIEW
Videos posted by gang leader Sedat Peker on allegations of corruption among top Turkish officials continued to grip millions of Turks as well as Turkish Cypriots on Sunday.
Convicted criminal gang leader Peker, who has a large following on social media, on Thursday released the seventh of a series of videos on YouTube revealing what he said was the truth behind Turkish Cypriot journalist Kutlu Adalı’s murder.
For more than two weeks, in often rambling monologues addressed to the camera from behind a desk, Peker has been making uncorroborated allegations regarding suspicious deaths, rape and drug dealing, alleging links to officials close to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
Peker in his latest video linked former police chief and interior minister Mehmet Ağar and head of the Special Police Division Korkut Eken to Adalı’s murder. He said he had been instructed to find two assassins to kill Adalı whom he was told was a traitor to the national cause and was working in collaboration with the Greek Cypriots.
He said that he had sent his own brother Atilla Peker to carry out the hit but due to unforeseeable circumstances the assassination had not gone ahead. Peker said that Adalı was later killed by another group of assassins hired by the Turkish deep state at the time.
Peker claimed that the high-ranking officials had ordered the hit to silence Adalı who was investigating illegal actions by military and government officials in the north. He also said the same former minister who wanted Adali killed was responsible for the killings of another journalist, Ugur Mumcu, and the husband of Pervin Buldan, current co-leader of the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP).
Peker said Adalı, who was Editor-in-Chief of Yenidüzen newspaper and a novice critic of the administration in the north was believed to have been ready to reveal those involved in the theft of the St Barnabas bible by high-ranking military officials.
He was gunned down outside his home on July 6, 1996. A Turkish investigation did not uncover who was responsible, and the European Court of Human Rights fined Turkey in 2005 for a failure to carry out an “adequate and effective investigation into the circumstances surrounding the killing.”
Peker in his video also claimed that businessman Halil Falyalı who owns hotels in Kyrenia was involved in drug trafficking and money laundering in the north via his businesses.
In the meantime, Turkish police detained Sedat Peker’s brother on Sunday. Organised crime police detained Atilla Peker and a personal guard at a rented house in the Aegean province of Mugla, Turkish media reported. The reported detention came hours after Peker posted his video.
His video meanwhile, sparked a debate on social media, with prominent figures calling on the authorities to reopen the case and launch an investigation into Adalı’s murder.
Republican Turkish Party (CTP) leader Tufan Erhürman, People’s Party (HP) leader Kudret Özersay, the leader of the Social Democratic Party (TDP) Cemal Özyiğit and Mayor of Nicosia’s Turkish Municipality (LTB) Mehmet Harmancı all called on the police and prosecutor’s office to launch an investigation.
Erhürman also said that he will raise the matter in parliament on Monday. The CTP also said that the investigation into Adalı’s murder should be reopened. In a written statement issued on Sunday, the CTP called on the police, the president and the government to act and said it will follow developments closely.
HP leader Özersay said he was disgusted by the allegations and said it was everyone’s duty to investigate the claims made by Peker, and if true to bring those responsible to justice. Regarding allegations of drug trafficking, he said the accused should either come out and deny the claims or tell the truth. Özersay called on the police department, the prime minister and the president to act on this issue immediately.
TDP leader Cemal Özyiğit also drew attention to the seriousness of the allegations and said the claims must be swiftly investigated by the authorities. He said his party will do all that is necessary to make sure an investigation is carried out.
LTB Mayor Mehmet Harmancı said that Peker’s claims once again proved that the north was Turkey’s backyard where all its filth poured into. He questioned whether there was anyone in the north bold or courageous enough to investigate the allegations.
Current Editor-in-Chief of Yenidüzen Cenk Mutluyakalı said in an interview with Turkey’s Medyascope that it will not be possible to crack Kutlu Adalı’s case or another case until the north becomes part of international law, a member of the UN or EU.
He said that Peker’s remarks only revealed how nationalism and nationalistic rhetoric is used as a cloak to disguise illegal activities. Mutluyakalı said that the same nationalistic rhetoric was being used by the current Turkish Cypriot leadership which branded a section of the Turkish Cypriot community which desired a settlement in Cyprus as traitors and pro-Greek Cypriot.
In the meantime, Halil Falyalı also refuted the claims made by Peker in an interview with famous Turkish journalist Cüneyt Özdemir on his YouTube channel. “We have never had any dealings with drugs or whatsoever,” Falyalı said, adding that all his business operations were legitimate and licensed.
He also said he had never met in person with any of the individuals Peker named in his videos.
The crossings are like a life-line support
Yenidüzen, Kıbrıs, Havadis, Diyalog, Avrupa
CBMs
OVERVIEW
Leader of the Social Democratic Party (TDP) Cemal Özyiğit also questioned the reasons why the bicommunal technical committee on health failed to reach a common agreement to reopen the crossings.
In a social media post on Sunday, Özyiğit urged the Turkish Cypriot members of the health committee to publicly announce what they had proposed, which was deemed “too complicated by the Greek Cypriot members as claimed by the Greek Cypriot media.”
He said almost everyone has been anxiously awaiting to hear good news on the reopening of the crossings. “The crossings especially are like a lifeline support for the shopkeepers and artisans at such economically difficult times,” Özyiğit concluded.
New era at the KTSO
Yenidüzen, Kıbrıs, Havadis, Diyalog, Avrupa
Economy
OVERVIEW
Ali Kamacıoğlu was elected as the new president of the Turkish Cypriot Chamber of Industry (KTSO) on Saturday at the chamber’s ordinary general congress.
Kamacıoğlu received 223 votes while his rival and incumbent president Candan Avunduk received 183 votes.