In Cyprus, Sucuoğlu calls ferry sinking one of the biggest tragedies since 1974
In Kyrenia, Cyprus, the newly appointed transport minister of the Turkish Cypriot administration, Faiz Sucuoğlu, called the sinking of a ferry off the city’s coast one of the biggest tragedies the Turkish Cypriot community has experienced since 1974. Fourteen people remain missing after the vessel capsized.
Search for the missing
As Cyprus Mail reports, Sucuoğlu said that the priority task is to reach the 14 missing people, who, according to the official’s assumption, are on the sunken vessel, and return them to their families.
According to him, since taking office on Friday, he has maintained close contact with the families of the missing. Sucuoğlu also intends to visit daily the people waiting for news about their loved ones near the new port of Kyrenia following the ferry’s capsizing.
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The official said that the Turkish Cypriot administration and the Turkish government are making significant efforts to find the missing. On Monday, the deep-sea research and survey vessel Optimus Prime joined the search operation. Sucuoğlu said its capabilities are planned to be used to reach the people more quickly by applying a drilling and destruction method.
Personnel changes
Sucuoğlu was appointed to the post after his predecessor, Erhan Arıklı, was removed amid the ferry disaster. Sucuoğlu previously headed the government of the Turkish Cypriot administration, but was removed from office in 2022 after a political crisis surrounding his attempt to dismiss the then finance minister, Sunat Atun.
Hasan Taçoy was also appointed to the administration as energy minister, replacing Olgun Amcaoğlu. Taçoy had previously held the post during Ersin Tatar’s time in office.
