Forger resigns from university
A CONVICTED forger who was appointed to the Board of Trustees of the European University of Lefke (EUL) by Deputy Prime Minister and Rebirth Party (YDP) leader Erhan Arıklı resigned this week following a major row in Parliament.
Okan Erdemsiz announced his resignation on Tuesday, just a day after Dr Arıklı had defended his decision to other MPs.
The Deputy PM had to be restrained by other lawmakers after he became involved in a heated debate with Republican Turkish Party MP Erkut Şahali, which led to the parliamentary session being suspended.
A comment by Dr Arıklı that he had “paid his debt of loyalty” to Mr Erdemsiz, one of the founders of the YDP, caused an uproar in the chamber, with shouts of “are state departments rehabilitation centres?” in reply.
Dr Arıklı hit back by saying: “I’ve appointed him, it’s finished. If you have any complaints, go to the courts. I don’t need to ask all of you who I can appoint.”
After sitting down the Deputy PM “withdrew” his final comments, but that failed to ease the tension between him and Mr Şahali, who continued to shout and gesture at him.
Earlier in the session Dr Arıklı, who is also the
Economy and Energy Minister, defended Mr Erdemsiz’s reputation.
He said Mr Erdemsiz is a retired member of the Security Forces and a man who is “loved and respected” in his community.
Dr Arıklı said that lawyers had told him that Mr Erdemsiz’s previous convictions for forging documents “to prevent a young person’s life being ruined” were not a barrier to being appointed to the EUL job, and stressed the importance of the “reintegration” of offenders.
He said it was “unacceptable” that Erdemsiz should be “punished for life” for his crimes.
People’s Party leader Kudret Özersay said that the appointment of a person convicted of forging documents and fraud to EUL is
“not only unethical but also illegal”.
In a written press statement issued the following day, Mr Erdemsiz said:
“I am one of the founding members of the YDP. My aim is to serve my country and my people. In this context, I have no personal expectations of any position. . . Dr Arıklı considered it appropriate to appoint me as a member of the EUL Board of Trustees. This appointment made me and my family proud and honoured.
“However, I see with regret attempts to . . . offend me, my family, my party leader, my party and my [friends] by highlighting an unfortunate event that has been left behind.
“I would like to express my eternal gratitude to my family, [Dr Arıklı] and my fellow friends, who have been beside me and supported me.
“I respectfully announce to the public that I have resigned from . . . the EUL Board of Trustees.”