Minister rejects speed fines,

AGRICULTURE and Natural Resources Minister Erkut Şahali is refusing to pay speeding tickets totalling almost 30,000TL that were racked up by two official cars belonging to his department, before he came to office.

The fines were issued by police after the vehicles were caught by speed cameras a total of 95 times from November 14 last year to January 7 — the date of the general election.

Mr Şahali, of the Republican Turkish Party, was appointed to his post on February 2, taking over from National Unity Party İskele MP Nazım Çavuşoğlu.

The cars were caught by cameras on the Lefkoşa-Gazimağusa, Lefkoşa-İskele and İskele-Ercan routes, according to documents seen by Cyprus Today’s sister newspaper Kıbrıs, leading to suspicions that the “same person” was behind the wheel of both.

A request from the ministry to have 68 of the tickets revoked was rejected by police chief Süleyman Manavoğlu.

Another document unearthed by Kıbrıs revealed officials at the ministry had asked to change one of the car’s number plates to a civilian one, just two weeks before the election. Ministers and MPs are banned from using official vehicles during the pre-election period, the paper added.

The cars were identified by Kıbrıs as the official vehicle used by Mr Çavuşoğlu during his tenure and a Range Rover belonging to the Agriculture and Natural Resources Ministry. Mr Şahali — who suffered minor injuries after losing control of his own car and crashing at 3am on February 10 — confirmed the fines.

“I am not going to pay [them],” he said. “I shall wait for the matter to go to the courts. The investigation that will be done there will establish who was driving these cars.

“Whoever was behind the wheel is responsible. I will not assume the responsibility as the Agriculture Minister.”

He added that the car previously used by Mr Çavuşoğlu had since been transferred to the Finance Ministry.