With just hours to go before the Turkish Cypriot community heads to the polls for the new TC leader elections, former Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akıncı posted a public statement on Facebook criticizing Turkish involvement in the campaign and expressing measured optimism about the outcome.
On the Last 48 Hours
Referring to developments in the final two days before voting, Akıncı said that “visits by politicians, former footballers and singers from Turkey were not enough to change the mood.”
Akıncı’s Statement
“Last July, in four consecutive posts, I tried to share publicly my views, thoughts and concerns regarding the elections. I pointed out then that, provided there was no interference like in 2020, the candidate supported by Erdoğan, the AKP and the MHP would face a difficult contest.
“What unfolded in the last 48 hours before the vote seems to have confirmed this assessment. The successive visits by politicians from Turkey, well-known artists and veteran footballers did not, in my opinion, manage to overturn the atmosphere. On the contrary, they highlighted a key drawback: the lack of knowledge and understanding of the Cypriot reality on the part of that campaign (i.e., Ersin Tatar’s).
“This, after all, is the feeling prevailing among Turkish Cypriots. We should not forget, of course, that the northern part of Cyprus has now become more Turkey than Cyprus.
“I do not know what is happening behind the scenes, but past experience teaches us what can happen within just 48 hours. Nevertheless, I maintain a careful optimism.
“I hope that after 19 October a truly new era will begin, new not just rhetorically, but substantively.
“The Turkish Cypriot community, through Tufan Erhürman, must assume the dual role that falls to it: to be both the creator and the overseer of this new period.”