The ‘anti-war’ comments made by Mustafa Akinci about Syria have not only sparked the fury of Turkey’s president but have bitterly divided political parties in the north, causing an actual ruckus in the Turkish Cypriot ‘parliament’, and prompting violent death threats against the Turkish Cypriot leader.
Turkish Cypriot media reports on Wednesday were filled with details of the showdown in ‘parliament’ on Tuesday evening when the ruling National Unity Party (UBP) of ‘prime minister’ Ersin Tatar tried to slip through a ‘joint statement’ condemning Akinci without all of the political parties signing on to it.
Akinci, who was slammed by Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday for his comments, had drawn a comparison with Cyprus, essentially saying war was war and in every instance involved bloodshed, though he defended the rights of Turkey to protect itself from terrorism. He said negotiations between Turkey and Syria to resolve issues with the Kurds was the way forward.
Still angry, according to Yeni Duzen newspaper on Wednesday, Erdogan snapped at French President Emmanuel Macron when they spoke on the phone on about Syria.
“’How do you evaluate the statement of the TRNC president over the operation?’, Macron reportedly asked, according to the paper. Erdogan replied: ‘Since when do you recognize the TRNC?”
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