Tatar tells UN to take action on Palestine
Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar told the United Nations to “take action” in Palestine on Wednesday.
Tatar was speaking at a tree-planting ceremony in the Ankara municipality of Altindag in memory of the 49 Turkish Cypriots who lost their lives in February’s earthquakes in southeastern Turkey.
He asked, “how much can they intervene in Palestine today? We have doubts about that. I guess it is our right to ask here what the UN is doing in an environment where so many children are being murdered.”
He said he “condemned” what was going on in Palestine, adding, “no conscience can tolerate the massacre of innocent civilians and children there. Therefore, we declared three days of mourning in Cyprus, just like here. We mourned for three days.”
Speaking about February’s earthquake, he said Turkish Cypriots had experienced “indescribable pain”, and that projects such as the planting of trees helps to keep the memories of those who died alive.
Tatar was joined at the ceremony by Rusen Karakaya, whose 14-year-old daughter Selin was killed in the earthquake, as well as Altindag Mayor Asim Balci, and Turkish Cypriot ‘finance minister’ Ozdemir Berova.