Arikli’s YDP withdraws from north’s ruling coalition

Turkish Cypriot far-right political party YDP leader Erhan Arikli on Friday said his party has officially withdrawn from the north’s ruling coalition, two days after he was dismissed from his position as ‘transport minister’ by ‘prime minister’ Unal Ustel. He told television channel Kanal T that he had officially informed the UBP, the largest coalition party and the party to which Ustel belongs, of his own party’s decision to withdraw its support for the coalition, with his party’s internal decision-making bodies having voted to do so shortly after he was relieved of his duties. “I sent the letter yesterday at 11 o’clock. You can ask Ahmet Savasan,” he said, in reference to the UBP’s secretary-general, who had on Thursday said that despite Arikli announcing late on Wednesday night his plans to leave the coalition, no official notification of such a decision had been received. The YDP’s withdrawal leaves the coalition, which now comprises two parties, the UBP and the DP, with an effective majority of just three in the Turkish Cypriot legislature. Related Articles • Two more bodies pulled from Kyrenia ferry wreck, death toll rises to 12 • Crew ‘locked doors of passenger cabin’ as Kyrenia ferry took on water • Families of Kyrenia ferry missing taken to Nicosia to meet Yilmaz • Kyrenia ferry captain ‘bought Honduran licence for $3,500’ • Arikli says decision to sack him was ‘not ethical’ • Arikli sacked as north’s ‘transport minister’ Of the legislature’s current 49 members, the coalition now commands the support of 23 members of the UBP, two members of the DP, and one independent, Hasan Tosunoglu. The opposition now comprises 18 members of the CTP, the YDP’s two members, and the remaining three independents, Aysegul Baybars, Izlem Gurcag Altugra, and Jale Refik Rogers. Ustel has thus far not named a new ‘transport minister’. Arikli was relieved of his duties on Wednesday, three days after a passenger ferry sank off the coast of Kyrenia, killing at least 12 people, with Ustel saying that he had done so “order to ensure that our police and judicial authorities can conduct the investigation without leaving any room for doubt” or fears of conflicts of interest. He stressed that the decision to relieve Arikli of his duties “is not a political move directed at the YDP”, saying that “we have been serving this country together with our coalition partners for four and a half years“, and that both the DP and the YDP “have contributed to the achievements we have brought about and the reforms we have implemented”. “However, we cannot allow the shadow of suspicion to arise during the investigation process,” he said, before then stressing that “no one of whose duties we have relieved can be declared guilty until the judiciary delivers its verdict”. Arikli had become the subject of fierce criticism from the families of those missing in the aftermath of the ferry disaster, with scores of people having waited outside the new port of Kyrenia for news of their loved ones. Multiple family members had demanded that Arikli travel to Kyrenia to face them, but he did not heed their demands before being relieved of his duties on Wednesday evening.