Ulaş Barış writes: A Brief Overview of the EP Election Results...

The European Parliament elections held yesterday brought about interesting and saddening outcomes.

Let's start with the worst for us: Niyazi Kızılyürek lost the election, and our presence in the European Parliament has come to an end.

The defeat of the professor surely delighted certain 'leftist' heroes who have declared him, and consequently us, as 'racist and apartheid' due to his federalist stance.

Alongside them, the Volkan gang, which headlines 'Niyozeris' almost every day, also rejoiced. Let them celebrate together. They might as well take the 'youth' who found himself at the bottom of the ballot box in yesterday's results; it suits them perfectly.

The truth is, Niyazi Hoca (professor) was a significant figure for the Turkish Cypriots who have been completely marginalized and silenced since 2020, with their wills suppressed. He worked hard and strived throughout his 5-year term. Some never saw or wanted to see these efforts.

Yet, he always kept the Cyprus issue on the agenda and pursued an active political stance to the best of his abilities.

Now, that voice has been silenced. Only the status quo enthusiasts can claim that this is a good thing.

Of course, I consider that the Turkish Cypriot voters who did not go to the polls also played a role in this outcome.

Contrary to previous elections, the voters in the north of Cyprus, which witnessed a considerably intense campaign compared to previous elections (5676 votes), showed less participation this time than in previous elections (5860 votes). Nobody expected a significant turnout, but at least a doubling of the previous elections' turnout was anticipated.

It didn't happen. Let's say, so be it.

Another noteworthy point is that despite the support for Hoca's active campaign, CTP (Republican Turkish Party) couldn't mobilize its own base. It was once a party with a very effective mass mobilization, but it's evident that this mobilization has vanished. Of course, it's possible to evaluate that the faction within the party openly campaigning against the election also influenced the turnout.

Among all these failures, in my opinion, Volt, the most meaningful and noteworthy party in the election, emerged with a very promising result for the future. Perhaps Volt, which will likely become the most talked-about party in the coming period, approached the election threshold of 3.6% with the approximately 3% of the votes it received.

For Volt, Cyprus' first two-communal party, to emerge with such a result in its first election is a success in my view. It is necessary to support this party and advance this project.

It's not unlikely that we'll see them in the Republic of Cyprus Parliament in the first elections in the south. Furthermore, if a Turkish Cypriot enters that parliament, undoubtedly, it would mark a significant turning point.

On the other hand, in my opinion, the biggest loser of yesterday's election was AKEL (Progressive Party of Working People). Losing one of its two seats in the European Parliament and trailing by over 3% compared to its main rival DISY (Democratic Rally) is not satisfactory for AKEL. It seems that AKEL, which is expected to undergo a change with Stefanos Stefanu taking over as the General Secretary last year and turn to new policies, hasn't lived up to those expectations. And when they fail to deliver, they leave the stage to social media influencers!

The 24-year-old independent candidate Fidias Panayiotu, who campaigned by saying "I don't know what politics is," and uttered nonsensical things in absurd videos, is undoubtedly the biggest winner of yesterday's elections.

His 19.5% vote share is a slap in the face to traditional Greek Cypriot politics. Just think, if he had received 2% more votes, he would have surpassed even AKEL, the oldest party in Cyprus. Fidias's voters are predominantly from the young demographic, as can be expected.

Emerging as a new example of internet phenomena in the post-truth era, Fidias achieved an incredible result by securing 39.5% of the votes from the 18-24 age group, 27.5% from the 25-34 age group, and 19% from the 35-44 age group. It seems that young Greek Cypriot voters have little faith in party politics. Or perhaps, they have no interest in politics at all.

So, what does this mean?

Certainly, much can be said, but in a survey conducted among the 18-24 age group in the south about 3-4 years ago, I saw that the majority of participants were in an apolitical stance. The significant majority of this age group, who do not care about the solution of the Cyprus issue, had an attitude on the issue that meant 'sticking to the status quo, which means that the no-solution is the solution'.

I think it has emerged with this result that the politics in the Greek Cypriot side, although not as sterile, nepotistic, and bigoted as ours, is also far from the people, especially the youth.

Again, when we look at the results, it is noteworthy that ELAM (National Popular Front) became the 3rd party and increased its vote share to around 11.5%. It seems like the extreme-right, which has achieved significant results throughout Europe, benefiting from endless sources such as increasing xenophobia and racism, has been rewarded.

The extreme-right is on the rise almost everywhere in Europe; it's the second party in Germany and the first party in France. There are tremendous increases in Eastern European countries as well. The reasons for these are what I listed above.

So, if you ask whether the rise of the extreme-right poses a danger of disintegration for the EU, potentially, this can be considered, I would say.

That is, right-wing parties gained power, Macron, who lost to Le Pen in France, dissolved the parliament and decided to go to early elections, Belgian Prime Minister De Croo resigned, far-right Meloni won the elections again in Italy, and in Germany, the far-right AfD emerged as the second party in the elections. It's possible.

Discussions starting with "The EU is collapsing" immediately began after every EP election.

But the EU will continue on its path.

Because the unique administrative structure of the EU, the relatively less powerful and effective role of the EP among the 3 major organs (Commission, Council), and critical factors such as the socio-economic interdependencies of the countries do not allow for this.

In short, the results of yesterday's election are noteworthy and require consideration in every aspect. But it's not the end.

It didn't turn out well for us either. But that's okay.

What's important is to draw the necessary lessons and understand them.