Turkish Cypriot political parties unite to condemn Israel

All four political parties in the north’s ‘parliament’ as well as independent ‘MPs’ united on Monday to release a joint condemnation of Israel.

The statement, which accused Israel of committing “crimes against humanity”, was signed by ‘prime minister’ Unal Ustel on behalf of the UBP, opposition leader Tufan Erhurman on behalf of the CTP, Hasan Tosunoglu on behalf of the DP, ‘transport minister’ Erhan Arikli on behalf of the YDP, and both independent ‘MPs’ individually.

“Israel’s attempts to violate the most basic of human rights, the right to life, by targeting civilians and defenceless Palestinian people in the Palestinian territories, especially in Gaza, through terrorism, violence, and especially by targeting hospitals, have reached a grave level,” a joint statement said.

“The heinous attacks carried out by the IDF in and around Gaza with all kinds of weapons and bombs have cause the deaths of many innocent people, including babies and children,” it added.

“As the TRNC Assembly of the Republic, we strongly condemn this cruelty and contempt for the law, and emphasise that we fully support the decision taken by the United Nations General Assembly to call for a permanent humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza.”