TRNC Assembly reads motion to dismiss Transport Minister Arıklı

At an extraordinary session of the TRNC Assembly on September 10, Prime Minister Ünal Üstel’s motion to dismiss Minister of Public Works and Transport Erhan Arıklı was read out. The document was sent to the Presidency following the Filo Jet ferry disaster near Kyrenia.

The decision to dismiss the minister was published in the Official Gazette on September 2, and Üstel made it public the following day. According to him, Arıklı was relieved of his post so that the police and judicial authorities could conduct their investigation without any doubts. Finance Minister Özdemir Berova temporarily assumed the duties of the ministry.

The personnel changes were not limited to the minister: the ministry’s undersecretary, one of its directors and the head of the Ports Authority also lost their posts.

At the same session, lawmakers began preliminary discussions of two separate requests for a parliamentary investigation. They call for the causes of the disaster to be established, licensing and oversight procedures to be examined, and possible negligence and administrative responsibility to be investigated. One of the requests was submitted by a group of deputies from the Republican Turkish Party (CTP).

The agenda of the third extraordinary session also included a bill approving an additional protocol with Turkey that amends the agreement on the development of fibre-optic infrastructure. Lawmakers also returned to amendments to the law on elections and referendums that had been sent back for revision, as well as two documents concerning the status and remuneration of civil servants.

The search for those missing in the Filo Jet sinking has entered its eleventh day. As of September 10, 14 people had died and another 14 were still missing.