Thread by @EsraAygin

A team of NGO representatives, lawyers and researchers investigated allegations of Turkey's intervention in the elections for the #Turkish Cypriot leader in 2020. Some shocking revelations by @MustafaAkinci_1, @CGurcag, @DenktasSerdar as well as a number of journalists. #cyprus

@MustafaAkinci_1 told the rapporteurs that a team from Turkish Intelligence Agency MIT directed the elections on behalf of Ersin Tatar, who won against Akinci. "Akinci won't win. We took every measure. Even if he wins, he won't be there for long" MIT team told a number of people.

Report: Turkey's ambassador in Nicosia told @MustafaAkinci_1: "You want federation. You want a different identity regarding Turkishness. You want the Turkish Cypriot identity. Turkey, with all its institutions wants a change here."

Akinci's private secretary @CGurcag tells rapporteurs that he was invited to meet with MIT officials. He was told regarding #Akinci: "The enemy is at the door. We need people, who love Turkey, who will not betray Turkey, who will cooperate with Turkey, to lead this place."

"We don't want Akinci there," MIT tells @CGurcag. "He will not win. We will make sure he doesn't win. Even if he does, nothing will be the same. We know everything about the people close to him. We know every breath they take..."

"I urge you to convey to #Akinci. It will be the best for him, his family, and his close colleagues to withdraw his candidacy. Tell him to announce this on Facebook tonight. We come from the very top. Nobody and nothing is more important than Turkey's survival" MIT official says.

After finding out about this threat, @MustafaAkinci_1 summons Turkey's ambassador to his office. The Turkish ambassador replies: "It is Ankara's orders. I cannot come."

@DenktasSerdar tells rapporteurs that MIT officials also told him to withdraw his candidacy. "If you withdraw your candidacy, you will be able to establish the good relations that you haven't so far been able to establish with Turkey (Recept Tayyip Erdogan)" he was told.

Journalist @rasihresat who worked in the election campaign of @DenktasSerdar tells rapporteurs that he was pressured by the Turkish embassy officials to leave Denktas's campaign and to join Tatar's campaign. "I was declared persona non grata when I refused" he says.

Journalist and head of @BasinSenKibris @AliKismir says he was invited to meat with a team from Turkey. "They told me they were the ambassadors of the Republic of Turkey," says Kismir.

"We are here to make sure Akinci is not elected. He will not be elected. This man is a US agent. This man is an enemy of Turkey. This man is cooperating with the Greek Cypriots" the Turkish team told @AliKismir.

The Turkish team told @AliKismir to convey to @MustafaAkinci_1: "If Akinci is elected he will have very bad things happen to him. So he should withdraw, buy his ticket and fuck off to the United States. We know that he has a Greek son-in-law. We know what his daughter is up to."

"For the sake of the future of Turkey and the TRNC, Akinci should not be elected. If he is elected very bad things will happen. Something will happen to him. We don't know what that might be. He is only symbolically sitting there anyway. His mandate is over."

"Whether he (Akinci) is elected or not, we have a list for after the elections. We know all the enemies of Turkey. We know all the agents. We will take all of them to Turkey" the Turkish team tells @AliKismir

@AliKismir is told his name will be deleted off the list of 'the enemies of Turkey' if he withdraws his support for #Akinci. He is also told some 50 journalists have been persuaded to withdraw their support and he is the only remaining one.

Journalist Pinar Barut, who published photographs showing that AKP's publicity team along with Turkish Vice President Fuat Oktay were on the island working on behalf of Ersin Tatar told the rapporteurs that she was threatened.

Barut was called an agent working for foreign intelligence agencies through an official press release the next day. She also received a phone call from a person close to Ersin Tatar asking her who her source was.

"When I told him I would not reveal my source, he told me that I would be arrested when I set foot in Turkey for being an agent. He told me 'I am saying these for your own good. If you tell me who your source is, nothing will happen to you" Barut says.

@tufanerhurman who spoke with the rapporteurs on the allegations of Turkey's interference in the elections later refused to sign his deposition. Therefore, his statements were not included in the report. (Am I disappointed? No!)