The Greek Current

Erdogan's heavy-handed meddling in elections in occupied Cyprus

Episode Summary

On Sunday, Ersin Tatar, a rightwing hardliner backed by Ankara, won a closely contested Turkish Cypriot leadership election beating incumbent Mustafa Akinci in a runoff. The election was marred by Turkey’s heavy-handed meddling in favor of Tatar. Dr. Aykan Erdemir, the senior director of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies' Turkey program and a former member of the Turkish Parliament, joins us to analyze the results of the election and what the outcome means for reunification talks and Turkish President Erdogan’s policy of escalation in the Eastern Mediterranean.

Episode Notes

On Sunday, Ersin Tatar, a rightwing hardliner backed by Ankara, won a closely contested Turkish Cypriot leadership election beating incumbent Mustafa Akinci in a runoff. The election was marred by Turkey’s heavy-handed meddling in favor of Tatar. 

Dr. Aykan Erdemir, the senior director of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies' Turkey program and a former member of the Turkish Parliament, joins us to analyze the results of the election, and what the outcome means for reunification talks and Turkish President Erdogan’s policy of escalation in the Eastern Mediterranean.

You can read the articles we discuss on The Daily Roundup here:

Aykan Erdemir’s report on Erdogan’s meddling in Turkish Cypriot elections

Anastasiades, Tatar to meet next week

Greece Seeks Arms Embargo, Halt to EU-Turkey Customs Union

Albania, Greece take maritime dispute to international court

US pitches Greece on a frigate co-production deal