An ‘election poll’ was published in a newspaper owned by a Turkish company that operates a power station in the north of Cyprus…
The headline smacked of a ‘perception operation’ which portrayed CTP and UBP as though they are going ‘neck and neck’…
According to the poll, in the 6 December elections, CTP will receive 37.5 per cent of the vote…
UBP, meanwhile, is currently at 33.1 per cent…
The message the newspaper wishes to convey is clear: “The political balance is shifting…”
The ‘intent’ behind such ‘manipulative’ headlines in our media has been well known since the 1990s…
First, the opposition party likely to come to power is shown slightly ahead in the polls…
Subsequently, polls are published showing that the government party supported by the newspaper is closing the gap… In the final days of the campaign, however, these polls show the UBP surging ahead, gaining momentum and winning the election…
In this way, the electorate’s vote is steered by a ‘credible’ narrative.
It is well known that this newspaper, under different ownership in the past, assumed the same ‘role’, publishing polls using the same method to support the UBP.
These days, the newspaper’s favourite is Ünal Üstel…
Time and again, he makes the front page with statements that have not a shred of ‘news value’…
So, what has Mr. Ünal done to deserve this ‘support’?
Many things, of course…
Just take a look around… There are no complaints from either the operator of Ercan, or the owner of AKSA…
Our two major ‘business partners’ are benefiting from the ‘stability’ provided by Mr. Ünal…
These foreign companies, which hold the lion’s share of the media pie, are allocating ‘funds’ to this venture and managing to keep their relations with the government ‘stable’ thanks to these ‘affiliates’…
That’s what ‘owner-controlled media’ is all about…
Those coming here to make ‘investments’ from abroad, rather than focusing on their core investments, are first and foremost preoccupied with the idea of ‘having a newspaper here’…
This is why both the company that generates more than half of the electricity produced in the country and sells it to KIB-TEK in ‘cash’, and the foreign capital with tourism investments here, are diving headfirst into our ‘media’.
It is certainly not because there is a lack of ‘news’ in the TRNC…
It seems that, as we head towards the elections, we will witness many more ‘tricks’ from this ‘owner-controlled media’.
However, I do not believe that a ‘media power’ intent on repeating what we experienced in the 1990s will be able to exert the same level of ‘influence’ in the elections as before.
These days, at least, we have social media… There is independent journalism on the internet…
For this reason, it seems highly unlikely that the UBP will be able to consolidate its votes solely through ‘media’ support…
Ünal Üstel and the foreign-backed ‘mastermind’ organising these operations are well aware of this…
That is why, UBP, drawing ‘inspiration’ from the party’s past, has now put new ‘experiments’ into action.
I recall the “you’ve been hired” documents distributed to voters in the 1990s…
Voters would head to the ballot box with notes in their pockets saying, “Go and start working at such-and-such an office on Monday.”
Back then, none of these worked… Let’s see if they’ll work now.
It seems the UBP has thrown itself into the elections with a ‘desperate’ fervour, adding even more to these old habits.
Ünal Üstel has already put its expertise in the field of ‘divvying up’ to use on the ground.
Every day, it’s pulling new ‘doves’ out of a hat…
Having brought its opponents, Sucuoğlu and Taçoy, to heel, it has consolidated its ‘power’ within the party and turned its attention directly to the voters…
In fact, it’s a bit of a ‘help yourself’ affair, but no one seems particularly bothered by it…
No one is concerned about the elections being ‘tainted’…
Nor does anyone care about the ‘plundering’ of the ‘state’ in this manner…
Yet, what matters more than who wins the elections is being able to hold a proper election…
Ünal Üstel, with this ‘plunder’ methodology, is actually demeaning the ‘voter’…
It is showing disrespect for their ‘human rights’…
It is treating the voter’s vote as if it were ‘for sale’.
Although the 2026 budget came into force in January, Ünal Üstel has timed the ‘distribution of gains’ to coincide with the eve of the election.
He has left everything to the last three months…
He is handing things out non-stop…
Are you a farmer? Are you in tourism, or are you a shopkeeper?
Come on, let’s give you a loan at 20 per cent interest…
You’ll pay it back over 36 months; just submit your application and wait…
We’ve also got our ‘grants’, thank goodness…
We’ve set aside 170 million for this…
We’ll distribute 50 million of that to young ‘entrepreneurs’…
That’s not all… We’re going to recruit 200 new police officers…
Apply, but you’ll have to wait…
Do you want a ‘rural plot of land’? That’s easy too… Just wait for the elections…
We’ll also build 5,000 social housing units…
It all occurred to us in the last three months of 2026…
Oh… UBP is also taking credit for ‘investments’ such as schools and hospitals… Yet, for many of these, they didn’t even draw up the plans, carry out the construction, or manage the projects themselves… Ankara provided the funding, Ankara managed the work, supervised it, completed it and handed it over…
The very act of ‘taking credit’ for these investments shows that they are far outside the realm of ‘honest politics’…
However, in my view, the biggest ‘bribe-like’ move will be the distribution of 40,000 lira each to social security beneficiaries…
Social security beneficiaries will have the money in their pockets six days before the election…
Yet, with that money, six new schools could have been built…
Let’s see; these elections will be a test for voters regarding ‘bribes’…
Either the power of ‘money’ will prevail, or the voter will say, “You can’t fool me with money”…
