Northern Cypriot president sentenced to pay damages to journalist

Northern Cypriot President Ersin Tatar has been sentenced to pay damages for his remarks against a journalist who made election-meddling allegations against Turkey before the 2020 presidential elections.

Before the election, the Özgür Gazete newspaper documented secret meetings between then-PM Tatar and Fuat Oktay, the then vice president of Turkey, and reported it as “Here are the photos of election meddling.”

Following the publication of the news, Tatar accused the newspaper and its editor-in-chief, Pınar Barut, of “spying for foreign countries” in a press release on the Prime Ministry’s official website.

Özgür Gazete filed a lawsuit against Tatar. The Nicosia District Court ordered Tatar to pay 20,000 Turkish liras to the newspaper.

The result of the case was a significant victory for the press and journalists in Cyprus, Barut said after the trial. Barut emphasized that Tatar had jeopardized their safety with his statements: “In many parts of the world, when politicians and power centers do not like the news about them, they can target journalists. Due to this targeting, someone can commit violent crimes against journalists, whether materially or spiritually. Many journalists have lost their lives, been murdered, removed from the profession, or silenced for this cause.

“Following Ersin Tatar’s statements at that time, we were subjected to serious threats and pressure. Politicians cannot make slanderous accusations, defamation, or targeting statements against journalists, disregarding the lives, safety, and professional security of journalists when there is news they do not like.

“With the result of the case, our confidence in the Turkish Cypriot judiciary has increased even more. We believe that this is a very important gain in terms of statements that can be regarded as crimes by politicians against journalists. I want to emphasize that this result is very important for the Turkish Cypriot press and journalists. We will also donate the compensation we have won to stray animals.”

Pinar Barut’s lawyer, Mine Atli, dedicated their victory in the lawsuit to Kutlu Adali, who was assassinated after her reports on state-sugar relations in Cyprus in 1996.

(HA/VK)