Turkish Cypriot opposition party CTP ‘MP’ Dogus Derya was branded a “terrorist” by pro-‘government’ demonstrators on Monday night after she threw water at the man the north’s ruling coalition claims is ‘parliament speaker’ Ziya Ozturkler during an explosive session in ‘parliament’ earlier in the day.
The protest was organised by ruling coalition party the UBP’s youth wing, who marched from Nicosia’s central Sarayonu square to the north’s ‘parliament’ building in the Koskluciftlik neighbourhood, chanting “break the hands which are raised against the speaker” and “Dogus Derya, resign”.
Outside ‘parliament’, UBP Famagusta district youth branch chairman Dervis Bayraktar gave a speech, saying, “as everyone can see, Derya appears to be a terrorist-like person. We do not want terrorists in parliament, she must resign and leave the parliament.”
Speaking before the demonstration set off from Sarayonu square, UBP secretary-general Oguzhan Hasipoglu said throwing water at Ozturkler was “unacceptable”, though, like his party’s deputy leader had last week, he appeared to use a modicum of circular logic in his justification for the ruling coalition insisting Ozturkler had been duly elected.
“The opposition is creating problems by trying to drag the issue into a discussion about the law. Ozturkler has been declared parliament speaker and this is written into law. It was declared in the official gazette,” he said.
While this is true, Ozturkler was only declared ‘speaker’ and the decision only appeared in the gazette because the ‘government’ willed it so, and the legality of that move is exactly what the opposition is disputing.
The disagreement lies in the disputed validity of three votes cast in an intra-‘parliamentary’ election last month, wherein the ruling coalition insists that Ozturkler won the election, receiving 26 votes in his favour and 23 against.
The opposition insists that given that three of the ballot papers counted by the ruling coalition as votes in Ozturkler’s favour had more than one mark on them, they were invalid, and as such Ozturkler was not duly elected.
Ozturkler himself on Monday night insisted that he is in the right, saying there are “hundreds of people” calling him to tell him as much.
“My phone is not silent. It is important for me to see this love and support. The UBP will continue to walk down this path by coming together,” he said.
The water-throwing incident took place during a chaotic session in ‘parliament’ on Monday morning, wherein Ozturkler arrived in the chamber early in the morning to attempt to secure the ‘speaker’s’ chair and then refused to leave, despite the opposition’s insistence that he has not been elected.
As tensions reached a crescendo and UBP ‘MP’ Emrah Yesilirmak held CTP ‘MP’ Erkut Sahali back from the ‘speaker’s’ chair first by his chest and then by his neck, CTP ‘MP’ Dogus Derya spotted an opening and reached the front of the chamber, picking up a bottle of water and throwing its contents over Ozturkler.
Meclis’te arbede: Öztürkler, koltuktan kalkmıyor, Derya, Öztürkler’e su döktü pic.twitter.com/M6IShq0f8a
— Kıbrıs Postası (@kibris_postasi) November 11, 2024
Shortly after, meetings were held outside the chamber between the various parties’ leadership, and ‘parliament’ was then adjourned for a week.
Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar offered his opinion on the day’s proceedings late on Monday night, saying the CTP’s actions were “attacks and insults which have amounted to tyranny”.
“The actual attack and insults made by CTP MPs against the speaker that we saw today are completely unacceptable. While I strongly condemn these acts, which amount to tyranny, I call on MPs to behave in a manner befitting common sense and the parliament,” he said.
‘Prime minister’ Unal Ustel was not present in ‘parliament’ on Monday, but said that night that “those who are claiming to seek justice are continuing to carry out unlawful acts in parliament.”
“There were also physical attacks on people today. Those who forgot that they were in parliament, the cradle of democracy, left aside their constitutional duties and got into physical fights. Some opposition MPs attacked Ozturkler with water,” he said.
He added, “democracy or law cannot be defended with such ugly attacks. What is being done in parliament today is nothing but tyranny. This is not resistance, it is anarchy.”
CTP leader Tufan Erhurman was, on the other hand, less than impressed by the ruling coalition’s use of language towards and about his party’s members.
“An anarchist, a terrorist. This is the rule which does not change. All the coupists in the world try to smear those who oppose the coup with these words,” he began.
He added that “those who could not elect a parliament speaker in 15 rounds of voting found their ‘solution’ in staging a coup against parliament and have no other choice but to play on the tension.”
