Front Page Headlines
A little bit of everything in the middle
The National Unity Party (UBP)-Democratic Party (DP)-Rebirth Party (YDP) minority government has been set up under the leadership of Ersan Saner. The public is expecting the new government to address the economy. People are complaining that they are struggling and that their purchasing power has dropped significantly.
Here is the cabinet
The Ministers that will serve in the UBP-DP-YDP coalition have been announced. President Ersin Tatar has approved the new cabinet. The list of ministers will be presented to the Turkish Cypriot parliament today (Thursday).
- 39 pieces of historical artefacts found in a hotel room – Narcotics and anti-smuggling police unit carried out yet another successful operation. The police raided a hotel room in İskele (Trikomo) in an operation named ‘Thunder’ and arrested one person.
Surprising cabinet
Many names in the UBP-DP-YDP minority government’s cabinet will long be topic for speculation and discussion. It was a strange decision to remove Olgun Amcaoğlu, who had worked as a bureaucrat at the finance ministry for many years and who was successful at his post especially during the pandemic, now appointed as the Education and Culture Minister. Agriculture Minister Dursun Oğuz was appointed as the Finance Minister instead. It was learned that Oğuz has good relations with the Justice and Development Party (AKP). It is said that the new government’s focus will be getting more money from Ankara.
- They will spend the Christmas period at home – As a result of the increasing Covid-19 cases in South Cyprus, new and stricter measures are implemented.
- UNFICYP is like a Covid-base – A total of 24 people – two civilian personnel, four police officers and 18 peacekeepers – have tested positive for Covid-19. There have been 33 cases in UNFICYP since March.
Surprise list from Saner
The TRNC achieves a new success by forming its 42nd cabinet in 42 years. Four of the ministers in the former cabinet shifted places. As part of the shocking changes, Finance Minister Olgun Amcaoğlu became the new education minister while the Agriculture Minister Dursun Oğuz became the new finance minister. Education Minister Nazım Çavuşoğlu became the new agriculture minister. Tourism Minister Kutlu Evren became the new interior minister. While two important names in the former cabinet, Hasan Taçoy and Faiz Sucuoğlu did not take their place in the new Council of Ministers, Tahsin Ertuğruloğlu was appointed to the post of Foreign Minister from the outside. The only name that did not change in the cabinet was Health Minister Ali Pilli.
- He surrenders – It emerged that it was Mustafa Eğmez who aided the 13 suspects who tried to cross over to the south illegally.
Here are those who will govern (us)
Here is the (new) cabinet. The only minister that kept his seat in the new cabinet is Ali Pilli. Faiz Sucuoğlu and Hasan Taçoy, who competed for the UBP leadership, were left out of the cabinet. Tahsin Ertuğruloğlu, who had once said he will take up arms and head to the mountains to wage a guerrilla resistance should the TRNC be dissolved, has now been awarded the seat of foreign minister. Koral Çağman, even though he had said he would not enter a cabinet that included Erhan Arıklı, became the Labour and Social Security Minister.
- 363 positive coronavirus cases and two deaths in the South, 20 cases in the north.
Main News
The cabinet for the three-party coalition is unveiled!
Yenidüzen, Kıbrıs, Havadis, Diyalog
Governance & Power Sharing
OVERVIEW
The acting leader of the National Unity Party (UBP) presented the new cabinet to President Ersin Tatar on Wednesday.
In a statement given outside the office of the president, the prospective prime minister Ersan Saner said the coalition government, without wasting any more time, will start its work.
“The country is in a difficult position at the moment. There are serious economic problems, therefore, we need to tackle the economy first,” Saner said.
Nonetheless, the composition of the new cabinet revealed that Olgun Amcaoğlu, who served as finance minister, was shifted to the post of National Education ministry while former Agriculture Minister Dursun Oğuz has been appointed as Amcaoğlu’s replacement for the post of finance minister.
While the Health Minister Ali Pilli protected his seat, Tahsin Ertuğruloğlu was appointed to the post of Foreign Ministry. Nazım Çavuşoğlu, who served as the Education Minister under the UBP-People’s Party (HP) coalition is appointed as the Agriculture and Natural Resources Minister in the new cabinet.
Kutlu Evreno is the new Interior Minister.
UBP’s Kyrenia MP Ünal Üstel was appointed as the Minister of Transportation and Public Works.
This appointment is thought-provoking as the former minister Tolga Atakan from the HP had been instrumental in removing Üstel from the duty of Tourism Minister after he had allowed a group of Turkish businesspeople to fly to the north in their private jet and enter the country without being subjected to mandatory quarantine which was the rule at the time.
The incident, which was dubbed the ‘private jet scandal’, had cost Üstel his seat then.
The remaining ministerial seats are filled by the UBP’s coalition partners. In this regard, Rebirth Party (YDP) leader Erhan Arıklı has become the Economy and Energy Minister in addition to holding the title of Deputy Prime Minister.
Democratic Party (DP) leader Fikri Ataoğlu returned to his former post under the four-party coalition from 2018 to 2019 and became the Minister of Tourism and Environment. DP MP Koral Çağman has become the new Labour and Social Security Minister.
The cabinet list will be read out in the Turkish Cypriot parliament on Thursday launching the start of a debate on the government programme.
Once the program is debated, a vote of confidence will be held.
The new cabinet must receive a simple majority of the votes in parliament to win a vote of confidence.
EU sanctions not a major problem for Turkey, Erdoğan says
Yenidüzen, Kıbrıs, Havadis, Diyalog
EU Matters, Energy, Regional/International Relations
OVERVIEW
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Wednesday downplayed the potential of EU sanctions on Turkey, saying the country is used to such threats and sanctions and that they would not cause a major problem.
“The EU’s proposed sanctions on Turkey would not be a major problem for us. The EU has been already imposing sanctions on Turkey from time to time for years,” Erdoğan told reporters in a news conference at Esenboğa Airport in the capital Ankara ahead of his departure for an official visit to attend victory celebrations in Azerbaijan’s capital Baku.
Noting that the bloc has been imposing sanctions on Turkey since 1963, Erdoğan said the EU has never been an honest partner.
“The EU has never kept its promises, but we have waited patiently since that day and continue to wait patiently,” Erdoğan said.
The Turkish president’s comments came as EU leaders are expected to hold a summit Thursday and decide whether to impose sanctions on Ankara or not.
Touching upon Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ recent remarks in Athens turning the Turkey-Greece dispute into a Turkey-EU dispute, Erdoğan said Athens has always refrained from solving issues through dialogue.
“They are the ones who consistently leave the [negotiation] table,” the president said, adding that Greece has also turned down NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg’s call for dialogue.
Greek officials have not been attending the NATO-led deconfliction talks over the Eastern Mediterranean dispute since October 9, according to Ankara.
“But we, on the other side, continue to stand up straight and will continue to do so,” Erdoğan said, as he pledged determination to preserve the interests of Turkey and the Turkish Cypriots in the Eastern Mediterranean.
“If Greece acts honestly, then we will continue to stay at the table,” he added.
Meanwhile, Turkish Presidential Spokesman Ibrahim Kalın on Wednesday described a draft EU summit statement about potential sanctions on Turkey as “disappointing.”
Speaking during a German Marshall Fund virtual think tank event, Kalın said he has reviewed the document and hoped EU leaders would “avoid that language of sanctions and threats against Turkey because sanctions will never work.”
“We believe that our larger geopolitical, geostrategic agenda should not be hijacked by a very narrow agenda and maximalist demands of individual member countries,” he said.
“Yes, we do have differences with some countries over certain issues, but they should not dominate, they should not define the very parameters of our relationship with the EU.”
UNFICYP confirms 24 personnel have Covid-19
Yenidüzen, Kıbrıs, Havadis, Diyalog, Avrupa
Internal Security
OVERVIEW
Twenty-four United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) personnel are currently positive coronavirus cases, bringing the total since the start of the outbreak to 33, UNFICYP said on Wednesday.
It added that nine have made a full recovery.
In a written announcement, UNFICYP said it continued to work closely with the authorities to ensure that all relevant protocols to prevent and mitigate the risk of Covid-19 are strictly adhered to.
“From the earliest manifestation of the outbreak in Cyprus, UNFICYP put strict measures in place to safeguard personnel and the wider community. In light of the progression of the virus on the island, the mission has stepped up these measures to ensure continuity of operations and to prevent the spread of the virus within the mission, as well as externally. We take our responsibility to care not only for personnel and their families but also for the communities we serve, extremely seriously,” it said.
The UN force said that more than half of its civilian staff was currently working from home as a precautionary measure and that incoming military contingents were required to quarantine for 14 days in their countries before deployment to UNFICYP and a further 14 days upon their arrival.
“A robust process of contact tracing and dedicated quarantine/isolation facilities supervised by UN medical personnel are in place and are utilized as required,” it said.
UNFICYP, however, stated that despite its stringent procedures there are currently two civilian positive cases of Covid-19, four UN police officers and 18 military personnel, a total of 24 staff members.
The UN force said it has issued strict guidelines to uniformed personnel on mitigating the spread of the virus, including minimizing physical contact with the population, in particular when on patrols, use of PPEs as necessary and stringent hygiene practices.
The mission regularly reviews its contingency plans and follows the guidance provided by the WHO, UN headquarters and the Cypriot authorities, it added.
“UNFICYP continues to stand in solidarity with people across the island during these challenging times, contributing to peace and stability in Cyprus to the utmost of the mission’s capabilities,” it concluded.