Newsroom
Veteran Turkish Cypriot politician Serdar Denktas threw his support behind Republican Turkish Party (CTP) leader Tufan Erhurman ahead of next month’s contested “presidential” elections in the north.
Denktas, who recently launched the Social Justice and Struggle (TAM) party, said his endorsement was a matter of “logic, not emotion.” While his party members are free to choose their own candidate, he made clear he believes Erhurman offers the best balance in relations with Turkey.
“Erhurman will not clash with Ankara, but he also won’t simply say yes to everything,” Denktas said Thursday, just hours before candidacies officially closed. “He can create a healthy environment for consultation.”
Without naming names, Denktas suggested the election will come down to two main contenders and hinted that one of them fails even the most basic test of communication. “You can’t understand what one of the candidates is saying. That makes discussion or debate impossible. At least with the other candidate, even if you disagree, you can engage, argue, and eventually reach an agreement,” he said.
Denktas also outlined his party’s centrist identity, saying that old divisions of left and right have blurred. “TAM is a centrist party that believes in both a strong welfare state and individual freedoms. For too long, politics here have been trapped in two narrow perspectives. We want to break those chains.”
He argued that the community has been boxed in by endless talk of a federation or a two-state solution. “This rhetoric has become a prison,” he said. “We must open up new discussions that are lawful, realistic, and within UN parameters. It’s time to stop hiding behind excuses like embargoes and restrictions.”
