Tatar denies being slammed at football match

Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar has denied being the target of a protest during a power cut which took place at a football match he was attending on Saturday night.

Tatar was attending the game between Gaziveren, of Kazivera, and Doganci, of Elia, in Lefka, a regional championship final of the fourth tier of Turkish Cypriot football.

There was a short power cut during the game, with it appearing on social media that during the power cut, football fans began chanting in protest at Tatar.

Newspaper Ozgur Gazete published a video of people in the stands shining the torches of their mobile phones in the dark and ironically chanting “equal, sovereign TRNC!”.

However, Tatar described the reports as “completely untrue” in a social media post published the following day.

“Yesterday I went to the match between Gaziveren and Doganci, which I think 5,000 people attended. I saw and felt the sincere love of all the people there, regardless of their political views, whether they are on the left or on the right,” he said.

He added, “I did not encounter any protest due to the power cut, which lasted for two or three minutes. This is completely untrue news. It is fabricated news to create political arguments.”

On the pitch, once power was restored, Gaziveren won the game on penalties and were promoted to the third tier of Turkish Cypriot football.