A surprise protest was staged by the Women’s Organisation of the Republican Turkish Party (CTP) at Ercan Airport on Saturday, Yeniduzen reports.
The protest was held against the persistent neglect of worker and passenger safety, the squandering of public resources to private companies, the forgiveness of tax debts for T&T company director Emrullah Turanlı, and the failure to pay the airport’s electricity bills.
Alongside party officials, a large number of members participated in the protest, where ironing boards, vacuum cleaners, and various other electronic household items were placed in front of the airport.
Holding banners and placards with slogans such as “Where Do We Plug in Emrullah’s Bill?”, “Emrullah’s Debts Burn Holes in People’s Pockets”, “Emrullah, Stolen Electricity Will Catch Up to You”, “This Workplace Lacks Safety”, “No Schools, Hospitals, Nurseries, Only Corruption and Plunder”, “Cancel the Taşyapı Contract”, “The Appointed Government is Selling the Country”, CTP women chanted slogans like “Take your AKSA while you’re leaving, Emrullah!”, and “Since electricity is free, Emrullah, you do the laundry.”
During the protest, the CTP Women’s Organisation’s statement, which was a damning critique of the airport operator and the government, was read out by Secretary General Gülden Karakaya, saying the following:
“The reason for our gathering here today as the Women’s Organisation of the CTP is to protest against the exploitation of our people by Emrullah Turanlı, the owner of the T&T company, and the appointed government that supports this exploitation by depleting our country’s resources. Emrullah Turanlı, who has faced numerous lawsuits against him in Turkey and whose many projects have been halted by court orders, came to our country in 2012 with no prior experience in airport construction, promising to complete Ercan Airport in four years; however, from the very first day, he deviated from the tender specifications, entrenched himself in the resources of the Turkish Cypriot people, and caused harm to our people.
“Emrullah Turanlı, who has misrepresented his income by showing lower revenues from the Ercan tender and funnelled the profits he obtained through illicit means to other companies he established in the TRNC, has caused significant loss of revenue to the public.
“Since 2012, the collaborating ministers who represented the government in the tender process have signed additional contracts contrary to the tender specifications and in a manner that would protect Emrullah Turanlı’s interests, enabling T&T to exploit this community for years. Continuously delaying construction work at Ercan for trivial reasons, Emrullah Turanlı has failed to complete projects that should have been finished in 4 years, even after 11 years, while initiating baseless lawsuits against the TRNC government.
“ During this period, he has facilitated the evasion of an additional income of 218 million euros from the state.
“Despite knowing that it is illegal, Emrullah Turanlı continues to bring workers and machinery to the TRNC on behalf of Taşyapı, refusing to pay the customs duties and taxes due for the machinery. Unable to clear the machinery from customs due to unpaid taxes, he makes derogatory and humiliating statements to the international community about our people.
“There is a need to clarify another point here. Although still in the construction phase, this new airport has neither been donated to us by anyone nor has its cost come from Turanlı’s pocket. On the contrary, every penny of the cost has been paid by us, the Turkish Cypriot people.
“While the contract signed in 2012 stipulated that the operating rights would be transferred to the state after 25 years, in 2037, the process is now being attempted to be extended to 2051 with the so-called “additional contract 5”!!!
“As the public is currently witnessing through the media, the appointed UBP-DP-YDP government has absurdly nullified the 59 million euro tax that Emrullah Turanlı owed to the state, citing ridiculous reasons such as “suffering losses during the pandemic,” contrary to the tender specifications. While an ordinary citizen’s electricity would be cut off for a mere 650 TL bill, the government has waived the collection of Emrullah Turanlı’s 56 million Turkish Lira electricity debt, essentially donating public funds to Turanlı.
“Furthermore, with the signing of additional contract 5, the ground has been prepared for the opening of new lucrative opportunities worth hundreds of millions of euros in favour of Turanlı, under the pretext of “resolving disputed issues” with a seven-member arbitration panel to be established by the director of the State Airports Authority of Turkey. The appointed government has not hesitated even a bit to bypass the will of our judiciary while doing all of this.
“As if all this were not enough, Erhan Arıklı, who was appointed as the Minister of Transportation and caused our country to incur a loss of 24,334,000 dollars in two years due to fuel purchases without tender, along with the UBP government, allowed the airport to open before the completion of its construction, disregarding human life. With this disgraceful decision, they once again prove that they do not care about the safety and interests of the people.
“As a result of this arbitrary but equally scandalous decision, construction site electricity continues to be used in the terminal. Due to Turanlı’s habit of engaging in illicit activities and Arıklı’s shameless attempt to evade responsibility regarding risking human lives, one of our workers was severely injured in the explosion. The safety of workers and passengers is far more important than Turanlı’s unjust profits!
“Emrullah Turanlı is exploiting the resources of the Turkish Cypriot people to create a bright future for himself, burdening all his debts onto the shoulders of our people. Our people, who are struggling under heavy economic conditions, should not have to pay the price for Emrullah’s reign.
“In an environment where scandals erupt daily, where corruption and lawlessness prevail, the crimes committed by the UBP-YDP-DP Thieves government against the people are unacceptable. It is time to say “ENOUGH!” to these collaborators who disregard the will of the people, plunder the country’s resources, intertwine with criminal organisations, unlawfully seize public funds, and spend the hard-earned income of the people for their own interests. The legal ground to say “ENOUGH” is the “TERMINATION” clause in the tender specifications. Turanlı’s contract must be terminated now!”