Tuğcu: Özkıraç’s Appointment Is Significant

Ahmet Tuğcu, the President of the Cyprus Turkish Electricity Employees Union (El-Sen), strongly criticized the appointment of former EL-SEN President Kubilay Özkıraç to the position of Chairman of Kıb-Tek’s Board. In his statement after the appointment, Tuğcu pointed out that Kıb-Tek’s management had recently started to defend the interests of capital, acting according to the instructions of Prime Minister Ünal Üstel.

El-Sen's Board of Directors made a press statement in front of the Kıb-Tek headquarters at 11:00 AM today regarding the appointment of the new Kıb-Tek Board Chairman by the Council of Ministers.

Tuğcu reminded that Özkıraç had ended his term as EL-SEN President on August 6, 2022, and that financial reports during his presidency were never cleared. He also emphasized that the union's decision book, computer hard disk, and two laptops had gone missing, and a police report had been filed, with the investigation still ongoing.

Tuğcu stated that they had no belief in Özkıraç’s success in his new position and argued that the appointment aimed to divide and weaken EL-SEN and pave the way for the privatization of KIB-TEK. He noted that the appointment was part of an operation initiated by the “ÜST” administration to block EL-SEN’s determined struggle.

Tuğcu asked, "Is Kubilay Özkıraç’s appointment a claim of being people-oriented by Prime Minister Üstel, or is it a sign of Özkıraç’s change of allegiance?" and left the issue for public comment.

Bıçaklı: I Expect Özkıraç to Solve Problems

TÜRK-SEN President Arslan Bıçaklı commented on the changes made in the Kıb-Tek Board of Directors. He acknowledged that changes in public institutions and unions were sometimes necessary, especially when management fails. Bıçaklı stated that the removal of KIB-TEK’s Board Member Hüseyin Paşa should not be seen as a failure on its own.

Bıçaklı, while wishing Özkıraç a "successful" term, expressed that he expected Özkıraç to find solutions to Kıb-Tek’s problems, particularly criticizing the dependence on the private sector for electricity production. He recalled the 2019 protocol signed as part of the "Let’s not surrender to Aksa" campaign and expressed his hope that Özkıraç would implement this protocol.

Bıçaklı emphasized the need to protect KIB-TEK’s public structure and for unions to take a firm stance during this process. He also stated that he would not tolerate any interference with the union members or unions under his leadership.

Peksever: Public Money is Being Transferred to Allies

El-Sen Secretary-General Hüseyin Peksever pointed out the management problems at Kıb-Tek and accused the government of transferring public funds to allies. Peksever criticized the current management and claimed that only the allies of capital could claim satisfaction.

He stressed that Kıb-Tek needed a board composed of experts to implement reforms and criticized the appointment of Hüseyin Paşa, who was accused of driving Değirmenlik Municipality into a financial crisis, as the new Chairman of the Board. Peksever also pointed out that Kıb-Tek still lacked a financial director and expressed concerns about the lack of action from the Court of Accounts despite complaints.

Maviş: El-Sen is Our Ally, the Problem is Poor Management

KTÖS Secretary-General Burak Maviş highlighted the importance of union solidarity and emphasized that the main issue at Kıb-Tek was poor management. He also criticized the electricity sector for its ties to Aksa, stating that decisions in the electricity sector should serve the public good.

Maviş expressed that if Özkıraç supported decisions that favored the government, the unions would oppose them, and reiterated that the unions would continue their struggle against government policies.