Denktaş: There is interference from EU and UN

INDEPENDENT presidential candidate Serdar Denktaş spoke to Hasan Hastürer, a journalist and columnist at CyprusToday’s sister newspaper Kıbrıs, and declared that the first message he would convey if elected would be: “We are waiting for our human rights to be returned to us.”

With 30 years of political experience behind him, Mr Denktaş also hit out at other candidates, who he mentioned by name, accusing them of using the name of his late father, TRNC Founding President Rauf Raif Denktaş, in their electioneering.

“My father should be seen as an idol, a guiding light for this community’s welfare and development,” he said.

Mr Denktaş also spoke about his upbringing, saying that he was raised in a home where the main topic of conversation was the Cyprus issue — and described how the loss of his elder brother, Raif, affected him not only emotionally but also defined his political stance.

In the interview, he described Turkish Cypriots as being members of a “great nation” which opposed “oppression by the UK and Greece” and which continues to unjustly suffer under embargoes and political isolation. “I take great pride in being part of that great nation,” he said.

Responding to a question about the election process, Mr Denktaş said: “Unfortunately, there is interference . . . not from Turkey, as many people seem to think, but from [UN Secretary-General Antonio] Guterres and approaches from the EU.

“All I want is for them to let us live in our own democracy.”