Turkish Cypriot man ‘faces five years in jail’ for sharing a post calling TRNC president Ersin Tatar a circus monkey

Image Source: Yeneduzen

A Turkish Cypriot man is facing up to five years in prison for allegedly “insulting the president” after he referred to TRNC president Ersin Tatar as a “circus monkey” in a social media post, according to reports on Thursday.

According to report by Turkish Cypriot local newspaper Yeniduzen on Thursday, 57-year-old Erol Baycan, a farmer in Lefke is due to appear in court on Friday regarding the post, which he re-shared in August 2022.

The original post, written by another user, read:
“Our circus monkey, kept in a cage, has escaped from his home in Lefkosia. He’s very clownish and friendly. Anyone who sees him is kindly asked to inform his owner, the Turkish embassy.”
The post included a photo of Tatar.

Baycan reshared the post with the caption “gunaydin, galimera,” meaning “good morning” in Turkish and a phonetic approximation in Greek.

Speaking to Yeniduzen on Thursday, Baycan explained, “I woke up, checked my phone, and saw the post. It made me laugh so much, so I shared it from a Facebook page. Since then, I’ve had to report to the police station once a week for two and a half years.”

He also mentioned that prosecutors tried to ban him from travelling abroad during the trial, but the judge denied the request.

“The judge considered my job, my family, and my children. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have been allowed to travel,” he said.

Baycan added that the authorities initially attempted to charge him with “forming a secret alliance to overthrow the regime,” but those charges were later dropped due to a lack of evidence.

He recalled being contacted by police about a month after sharing the post:
“They told me there was a complaint and asked me to come in. When I arrived, the officers were laughing. I gave my statement and explained I didn’t write the post—I only reshared it and added ‘gunaydin, galimera.’ I didn’t know it was a crime to share it. I even said, ‘If it’s forbidden, I apologise.’”

Baycan believes the case is part of a broader crackdown on freedom of expression in north Cyprus.

“We’re used to this now. We don’t have the right to speak freely, to criticise, or to express our views. If you challenge the dominant narrative, you’re labeled a Greek Cypriot sympathiser or anti-Turkish. To be considered a ‘model citizen,’ you have to think, speak, and obey like them. But if you demand your rights, speak the truth, or criticise the system, you’re branded a ‘terrorist,’” he said.

Source: Yeniduzen