{"id":10221,"date":"2023-06-12T09:59:01","date_gmt":"2023-06-12T06:59:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/penna.cydialogue.org\/?p=10221"},"modified":"2023-06-22T22:47:05","modified_gmt":"2023-06-22T19:47:05","slug":"im-banned-from-entering-the-silihtar-palace","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/penna.cydialogue.org\/im-banned-from-entering-the-silihtar-palace\/","title":{"rendered":"I’M BANNED FROM ENTERING THE S\u0130L\u0130HTAR PALACE!"},"content":{"rendered":"
I came home!
\nPoured an extra double whiskey!
\nThe cheap kind!
\nA brand I could afford!<\/p>\n
-*-*-<\/p>\n
Threw some ice cubes into the glass…
\nWaited for it to chill…
\nI slowly sipped it down…
\nThen got on my bike…
\nCompleted my 12-kilometer route, and in the evening, I will be a guest on the main news on Sim TV!<\/p>\n
-*-*-<\/p>\n
I’m writing this article after enjoying my 50-minute bike ride…
\nAm I feeling good?
\nYes!<\/p>\n
-*-*-<\/p>\n
Now let’s get to the point… -*-*-<\/p>\n I completed my accreditation in advance… -*-*-<\/p>\n On the way to the meeting, I chatted with two of my colleagues; I told them, “I’m going to the press conference”; my friend replied, “They won’t let you in” and he laughed…<\/p>\n I said, “Why wouldn’t they? Are they crazy?”…<\/p>\n -*-*-<\/p>\n But I had a similar feeling myself! -*-*-<\/p>\n I reached the gate! -*-*-<\/p>\n I showed my press card, and they opened the gate, directing me to the security booth… -*-*-<\/p>\n She said, \u201cPlease give Brother Serhat a press card to wear around his neck.\u201d -*-*-<\/p>\n We chatted with colleagues for about 30-35 minutes… -*-*-<\/p>\n The place was crawling with police officers… -*-*-<\/p>\n I walked towards the area where the press conference was to be held…<\/p>\n As I was chatting with Meltem Sonay, the Editor-in-Chief of Yenid\u00fczen Newspaper, and Canan Onurer, the Editor-in-Chief of K\u0131br\u0131s Postas\u0131, the female police officer who had given me the ID card came up to me…<\/p>\n Very politely, she said, “Mr. Ayd\u0131n Akkurt asked, ‘Who let this man in?’… -*-*-<\/p>\n Of course! -*-*-<\/p>\n I walked towards the gate! -*-*-<\/p>\n I took off the ID I wore around my neck and returned it… -*-*-<\/p>\n Never in my life had a thank you made me so emotional! -*-*-<\/p>\n But not because they told me to leave or they kicked me out… I was deeply touched…<\/p>\n -*-*-<\/p>\n Mine were actually tears of joy… -*-*-<\/p>\n Each of our friends who were denied entry into Turkey passed before my eyes… -*-*-<\/p>\n The person who wanted me to be kicked out was Ayd\u0131n Akkurt…\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0But later I learned that the press advisor of the Turkish Embassy, whom I do not know, went up to Ayd\u0131n Bey, and had a go at him, asking him, “Why did you let this guy in?”<\/p>\n -*-*-<\/p>\n Our police officers are sad! -*-*-<\/p>\n So, they claim to have a sovereign and equal state! -*-*-<\/p>\n I have seen and lived through it all! -*-*-<\/p>\n They can kick me out not only from the palace or the universities but also from the land they keep under their occupation… But I will speak boldly; they cannot kill the love I have for Cyprus, nor can they ask me to split that love in two!<\/p>\n -*-*-<\/p>\n Was this some form of punishment they gave me? -*-*-<\/p>\n In the meantime, if I was told \u201cI was allowed to ask [a question<\/em>]\u201d what would I ask Erdo\u011fan?<\/p>\n If given the opportunity, my first question would be, \u201cMr President, the Republic of Turkey is an indivisible whole; well then can the Republic of Cyprus be divided? If so, would this division pose a problematic precedent for Turkey?”<\/strong>…<\/p>\n My second question would have been related to whether or not he was aware of the Turkish Cypriots who are denied entry into Turkey…<\/p>\n I was unable to ask!<\/p>\n -*-*-<\/p>\n Oh, what did Erdo\u011fan say? <\/p>\n A very high-level civilian official from the United Nations (UN)… -*-*-<\/p>\n Well, it’s embarrassing to say, but the TRNC is cheaper than water for someone who is paid in Euros or Dollars! -*-*-<\/p>\n Anyway, our UN official went into the sea with his wife… -*-*-<\/p>\n It was a big and deep cut! -*-*-<\/p>\n Private or public, it doesn\u2019t matter! -*-*-<\/p>\n Anyway, the woman drove the car, they wrapped his foot with a towel and they crossed over to the South… -*-*-<\/p>\n Is TRNC a sovereign and equal state? [Photo insert: Photograph published in Yenid\u00fczen newspaper showing Serhat \u0130ncirli being escorted from the place where Mr Erdogan was due to give a press conference<\/em>]<\/p>\n A journalist can defend any view; a journalist, commentator, or reporter becoming news this way is the most evident indication of a country’s state of weakness, humiliation, and feeble democracy…<\/p>\n Source: I’M BANNED FROM ENTERING THE S\u0130L\u0130HTAR PALACE!<\/a><\/p>\n
\nAs you know, Tayyip Erdo\u011fan arrived in TRNC…
\nA press conference was scheduled for 2:30 pm, and I wanted to listen to Erdo\u011fan for the first time at our President’s place, the Silihtar Palace…[Translator\u2019s note: Quirini bastion where the building now sits used to be called the Silihtar or armory during Ottoman times<\/em>]<\/p>\n
\nI also sent my press card…
\nI wasn’t informed about anything…
\nI went, taking with me my ID and press card…<\/p>\n
\nI was full of excitement like a child!<\/p>\n
\nThere were a group of 40-50 Turkish nationals at the gate chanting \u201cRecep Tayyip Erdo\u011fan\u201d…
\nOne of those waiting in line to enter was our very own mufti in official robes!<\/p>\n
\nI went through the X-ray machine…
\nThere were two female police officers in the room…
\nI addressed one of them as “sister-in-law”…
\nHer husband is my friend…
\nIn fact, the shirt I was wearing was her husband’s old shirt…<\/p>\n
\nI put it on and stepped into the garden…<\/p>\n
\nWe joked around!
\nI had this sense of unease within me…
\nI teased the friends who spoke to me, \u201cDon\u2019t talk with me, they\u2019ll fire you\u201d…<\/p>\n
\nThere were some with whom I had done my military service; those who were even as close as my relatives…<\/p>\n
\nWe told him, ‘We did.’ Ayd\u0131n Bey told us that it was forbidden for you to be here. We didn’t know. I will kindly ask you to leave”…<\/p>\n
\nI didn’t object at all!
\nShould I fight with the police?
\nShould I create a scene by yelling and shouting?<\/p>\n
\nSilently!
\nThere were 6-7 police officers at the gate…
\nAs I said, there were some I served in the military with, people I knew…<\/p>\n
\nOne of them opened the gate, and one of them said, “Thank you, Serhat abi [brother<\/em>]!”<\/p>\n
\nCan a 55-year-old, 120kg, 1.90m tall giant man cry?
\nEven if it was in silence, I really did cry!<\/p>\n
\nThe thank you of the police as I exited made me cry…<\/p>\n
\nThe happiness that I was on the right path!
\nThey were also a little of the bitterness I felt!<\/p>\n
\nI was not allowed entry into the presidential palace in my own country, which was the public\u2019s property, where I attended dozens of press conferences, interviews, and meetings over the years…<\/p>\n
\nAyd\u0131n Akkurt is pathetic!
\nErsin Tatar is a loser!<\/p>\n
\nHow ironic!
\nYou are nothing more than a fake farce!
\nA discourteous, indifferent, irrelevant, false, and disgusting fake farce!<\/p>\n
\nI am both a citizen of the Republic of Cyprus and the United Kingdom!
\nI have no need for this fake state!<\/p>\n
\nIn fact, let alone kicking me out; they can even kill me because I don\u2019t share their views…<\/p>\n
\nHave they punished me?
\nAs I said, they are pitiful and pathetic!<\/p>\n
\nI couldn’t listen!
\nWe’ll read the news!<\/p>\n
\nThe ordeal the UN employee went through…<\/strong><\/h4>\n
\nHe crossed over to the TRNC with his wife over the weekend…<\/p>\n
\nAnd despite all kinds of pollution, it is a beautiful geography…<\/p>\n
\nAnd then the expected happened!
\nThe poor guy stepped on a broken glass bottle and cut his foot!<\/p>\n
\nHe went to a hospital with his wife!
\nBut they refused to treat him at the hospital!<\/p>\n
\nA person who is injured!
\nWhat’s more, he is a foreigner!
\nA guest!<\/p>\n
\nThey stopped at the first clinic they found and received first aid treatment!
\nHe had nine stitches and was warned he could have died if he had waited a little longer!<\/p>\n
\nCome on, really!<\/p>\n