'We are pariahs in our own country': Northern Cypriot MP lashes out at Türkiye's policies
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In Northern Cyprus, the opposition reacted strongly to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan dealing directly with the government in Northern Cyprus beyond the knowledge of its parliament.
Republican Turkish Party (CTP) MP Doğuş Derya made a speech in the parliament on Thursday, October 6, which was widely shared on social media.
MP Derya criticized North Cyprus's dependency relation with Türkiye, she said, "Unfortunately since the political problem of the island is without a solution, our dependency relations with Türkiye are all the time demonstrated as if a great favor is done for us and issues not related with what this society needs are brought up neglecting all our other problems and bypassing them, dictated from above such as the palace. To present the palace as a park is interesting. Because you are saying 'Why do you object to a park?' Where in the world is a park made by uprooting trees?"
"You have made the entire existence of the Turkish community in Cyprus a pariah," she remarked.
CLICK - Erdoğan's 'good news' for Northern Cyprus turns out to be a new presidential palace
"Did we need a palace?"
"Did we need a palace in order to prove that we are a state? Not only that." Oğuzhan said, adding, "Cyprus Turks are excited. I have not seen any Cypriot Turk who is excited but I have seen many who are angry.
"In a country where three women go to the police for being subject to violence, two children are abused in a week, where poverty is growing, this project of 2 billion 500 million is only for transferring money to companies supporting the government in Türkiye as an extension of what is being done in Türkiye.
Derya counted the 12 palaces of Erdoğan and said, "Friends, do you see the abundance of palaces, do we have any deficit of palaces? You should go and see the Cengiz Topel hospital. The walls are moldy, again a tap used by patients, it is again rusty. People are dying without any apparent reason in the State Hospital –many equipment are missing- and we are trying to find out the reason."
She also criticized the accelerated armament race both in Türkiye and Greece and added, "Therefore you should not approach these issues as a football fan. You should see what is happening about your country. We will continue to defend a federal solution, a two region, two-society federal solution based on political equality in this country against armament, against all kinds of militarist movements. Anyone may talk nonsense anywhere they like. President Erdogan said "You should recognize TRNC." They should please recognize first, that it is a separate state, that this state has institutions, that this state has a parliament." (AEK/EP/VK)
