From Cyprus Weekly
Ankara is set to drag a Turkish Cypriot
columnist before a Turkish court in unprecedented legal action that signals a serious escalation in the persecution of dissenters in the occupied north.
No formal charges have yet been laid against London-based columnist
Serhat Incirli who writes for independent daily Afrika. But Turkish Cypriot police have questioned Incirli’s parents at their home in the north, seeking the columnist’s London address and telephone numbers.
Turkish Cypriot
‘prime minister’ Ferdi Sabit Soyer confirmed to reporters Turkey’s Attorney General is preparing a case against Incirli.
He said Ankara wants to file charges against Incirli for two of his articles published in Afrika that were deemed as a “direct insult” to the Republic of Turkey.
If the trial does go ahead, it would be the first time that a Turkish Cypriot journalist is tried in a Turkish court – a development Incirli said would mark a “dangerous” turn in how Ankara suppresses dissent in the north.
Incirli suggested a precedent-setting trial would make Turkish Cypriots easier scapegoats for Ankara to vent its mounting frustration over Turkey’s increasingly troubled EU entry bid.
Incirli said
he “had no idea” why Ankara is preparing to sue him, but he suspects it pertains to his harsh criticism of Turkey’s double standards over Cyprus and its own long-standing Kurdish problem. He said Ankara openly favours the partition of Cyprus, but it
quashes any discussion over Kurdish demands for heightened autonomy within its own borders.
Incirli, who holds a Republic of Cyprus passport, pondered the legal ramifications of Turkey trying a citizen of an EU-member country
it doesn’t recognise.