The worst economic crisis in Turkish Cypriot history

 April 14, 2024

We have lost hope in this country, shopkeepers say

The annual inflation rate in the northern part of Cyprus hit 94.5 per cent in March as Turkish Cypriots continue to experience the worst economic crisis in their history. Inflation compared to February rose by 6.9 per cent – the highest monthly inflation since the crisis began in 2021.

According to the official figures announced by the Statistical Institute, monthly food inflation in March was 3.4 per cent, which brought the food inflation to 220 per cent since 2022. The price of bread has increased by 25 per cent since the start of this year alone.

‘Bairam meal turns sour,’ a front page on daily Halkin Sesi read, reporting about the exorbitant food prices ahead of the Eid festival (Bairam) this week. The festival marks the end of the holy month of Ramadan.

Even though Turkish Cypriots are among the most liberal Muslims globally, the Eid festival is a very important time of the year when families come together for feasts and celebrations.

‘Barbecue remains a dream during Bairam,’ wrote Star Kibris. ‘Baklava is for the price of gold this Bairam,’ headlined Kibris Postasi.

The Turkish Cypriot economy has been in freefall since 2021 as the Turkish lira continuously declined in value against most major global currencies because of the unorthodox interest-rate-cutting policies of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The official currency in the north is the Turkish lira, which lost some 40 per cent of its value in the past year alone. It has shed a further nine per cent this year. Keeping rates artificially low led to skyrocketing inflation, placing Turkey among the top five inflation champions in the world along with Zimbabwe, Sudan, Venezuela and Argentina.

Annual inflation in Turkey in March was 68.50 per cent, while the monthly inflation was 3.16 per cent.

Last month, Turkey’s central bank raised its key interest rate to 50 per cent in an attempt to combat inflation. Policymakers cited a “deterioration in the inflation outlook.” The central bank predicts Turkish inflation will rise towards 80 per cent by the summer.

The north adopts the Turkish key interest rate.

The fall in the value of the Turkish lira affects Turkish Cypriots even more as the economy is almost completely dependent on imports. Even imports from Turkey are indexed to the dollar. Transportation and import costs are also exacerbated by a cumbersome public administration that creates additional expenses. Moreover, many goods, services and expenses such as real estate, cars, rent and school fees are in foreign currencies although people’s salaries are paid in Turkish liras.

The flow of foreign currency into the Turkish Cypriot market through the increasing number of foreigners living there has also worsened inflation as each sector started to determine prices according to the higher purchasing power of foreigners, according to economists. Unlike in a normal economy, where the value of the local currency would increase with foreign currency inflow, the value of the Turkish Lira didn’t increase as it is not determined by the Turkish Cypriot economy.

“The money inflow with uncertain sources plays a big role in the increase [in inflation],” Turkish Cypriot economics professor Engin Kara of Cardiff University wrote on his social media account. “In the near future, a large part of the economy will be comprised of this money.”

Soaring prices in the northern part of the island have left people, especially those on low or fixed incomes, with plummeting purchasing power and a decline in their living standards. The Cyprus Turkish Civil Servants Union (KTAMS) calculated that a family of four earning the minimum wage is living right at the hunger threshold.

According to KTAMS, the hunger threshold – the amount needed to maintain a healthy, balanced and adequate diet – for a family of four as of the end of March, was 23,644 Turkish Lira (about €687). The minimum wage in the north is currently 24,000 Turkish lira (about €697).

As Turkish Cypriots experienced a huge drop in their purchasing power leading to a decline in their living standards, they also saw their debts rocket.

According to the official figures of the Turkish Cypriot central bank, total borrowing from banks increased 61 per cent as of the end of 2023 compared to the previous year to 87 billion Turkish lira (about €2.5 billion). As of 2022, the total borrowing stood at 53.9 billion (about €1.6 billion).

Together with borrowing, the amount of non-performing loans also increased 58.2 per cent by the end of 2023 compared with 2022 to 4,176 million Turkish liras (about €121 million).

The uncontrollable price increases also deeply affect businesses that have to grapple with constant increases in costs. In the last two months alone, bottled gas and electricity prices increased 7.8 per cent, while fuel prices increased 10.8 per cent.

Head of the chamber of shopkeepers and artisans (KTEZO) Mehmet Ali Ardic told daily Yeniduzen last week there is a 70 per cent closing rate in small food and beverage businesses as they cannot keep up with the increasing costs.

“We have lost our hope in this country,” head of the association of restaurant owners Arif Bayraktar said. “We are just rowing the boat in vain. We are not getting anywhere.”

https://cyprus-mail.com/2024/04/14/the-worst-economic-crisis-in-turkish-cypriot-history/

Ever-widening divisions between rich and poor in north

By Esra Aygin

December 3, 2023

Many families are surviving on less than the hunger threshold of €557 a month

The price of bread was recently increased by a further 20 per cent

A growing number of Turkish Cypriots live below the poverty threshold, while the income inequality between the richest and poorest segments of the society reaches unprecedented levels, a recent survey has revealed.

According to the 2021-2022 household budget survey conducted by the statistics institution in the northern part of Cyprus, almost 15 per cent of the population are currently living under the poverty threshold.

For comparison purposes, calculated with the methodology used in the European Union member states, the ratio increases to 22.8 per cent according to economists. This places the north among Romania and Bulgaria – the two EU countries with the largest percentage of people living below the poverty threshold.

The survey also shows that while poverty is growing, the high-income segment of the society is receiving a much larger percentage of the population’s total income. The Gini coefficient, which shows the degree of inequality in the distribution of income, is 0.37. According to economists, a Gini coefficient greater than 0.4 indicates that there is a big income gap in the society, which often leads to social and political instability or tension.

The survey results “show a huge inequality in income distribution, where the Turkish Cypriot middle class is fading into poverty, while the rich are getting richer,” economist Mustafa Besim explains to the Cyprus Mail. “The distortion in the distribution of income in the society has never been this bad.”

Besim highlights that GDP per capita has remained almost the same in the last 15 years – around 14,000 dollars – while the equality in distribution of income has deteriorated. The Gini coefficient in the previous survey conducted in 2015 was 0.33.

Hunger threshold

Making the situation grimmer, a calculation by the Cyprus Turkish Civil Servants Union KTAMS has revealed that a family of four earning the minimum wage is not only poor, but is in fact living below the hunger threshold.

According to KTAMS’ calculations, the hunger threshold – the amount needed to maintain a healthy, balanced and adequate diet – for a family of four as of October was 17,074 Turkish lira (about €557). The minimum wage is 15,750 Turkish lira (about €501).

“Those earning the minimum wage are left to starve,” Ktams head Guven Bengihan stated when announcing the findings. “People with minimum wage do not have the money they need to get enough food for their families.”

“I earn the minimum wage and have three children, who go to school,” Hamit Manga told the daily Yeniduzen a few weeks ago in a street interview. “I can only make ends meet because I do an extra job… I am worried about the future of my children. It looks like the only thing I will leave them will be debt.”

“It’s impossible to save money. We are only saving the day,” stated Mustafa Altinkalb in the same interview. “Many people are selling whatever they have just to survive. The rich have become richer, and the poor have hit rock bottom.”

“There is no middle class anymore,” said Mehmet Kadiri. “The rich lead super lives and the poor are struggling at the bottom… We are like a hopeless patient living on life support.”

Inflation

One of the main reasons that distorted the distribution of income to this extent is inflation, according to economist Besim. Turkish Cypriots have been going through one of the worst economic crises in their history since 2021 as the Turkish lira continuously declined in value against most major global currencies. Just this year, the Turkish lira lost 40 per cent of its value. This has led to soaring prices in the northern part of Cyprus, where the economy is dependent on imports.

According to the Statistical Institute, the annual inflation was 78.6 per cent in October. The monthly inflation was 1.9 per cent, while the monthly food inflation was recorded as 3.3 per cent. Earlier this week, the price of bread increased a further 20 per cent.

Although the official currency in the north is the Turkish lira and people’s salaries are also paid in lira, many expenses like rent and school fees are in foreign currencies, which exacerbates the situation. As Turkish Cypriots, especially those on low or fixed incomes, have experienced a huge drop in their purchasing power leading to a decline in their living standards, they have also seen their debts cascade as most borrowing in the north is done in foreign currencies.

Construction boom

Tens of thousands of houses are being built and sold mostly to foreigners in places like Trikomo

However, parallel to the increase in poverty and the income inequality, there is a huge amount of cash flow into some sectors such as construction and real-estate in recent years.

Ten of thousands of houses are being built and sold mostly to foreigners – mainly Russians and Iranians – in areas like Kyrenia and Iskele/Trikomo. Lack of reliable statistics and the overall problem of the unregistered economy makes it impossible to calculate exactly how big the construction and real estate sector is, but economist Merkan Hamit roughly estimates, looking at the construction projects and the prices, that property sales generate an annual 1 billion dollars in the north. This is almost one thirds of the gross domestic product.

It is estimated that the unregistered economy amounts to 80 per cent of the total economic activity.

According to the Chamber of Shopkeepers and Artisans (Ktezo), while small businesses, particularly in the food and beverage sector, are steadily going out of business, brokers, consultants and real estate agents, primarily run by foreign citizens, are taking their place. Data from Ktezo show that half of the small food and beverage businesses opened in recent years have closed down, while almost one third of new workplaces that have opened so far this year are linked to the real estate sector.

“There is a lot of economic activity in certain sectors, but due to a lack of effective public policies from adequate regulations, to controls and taxation policies, the revenue that is generated is not distributed equally to the society,” says Besim. “While certain segments of the society are getting ridiculously rich, others are not able to benefit from this economic activity… There is a very rich group on the one side, and then a very poor group on the other.”

The income inequality and the ensuing shrinking middle class has serious social implications, according to Besim.

“As the middle class becomes poorer, it starts spending its income solely on the basics such as food, health and shelter,” he explains. “The smaller the middle class, the smaller segment of the population spends on education, arts, culture. This completely distorts the social structure of the society as a strong middle class is required for a strong democracy. The lack of a strong middle class means those in power aren’t questioned or criticised. It is easier to govern societies with such a big income inequality. Unfortunately, this is where we are headed.”

https://cyprus-mail.com/2023/12/03/ever-widening-divisions-between-rich-and-poor-in-north/

Stark increase in north’s population

By Esra Aygin

November 5, 2023

Numbers could be up as much as 40 per cent since 2011

Some 60,000 new homes were sold in the last seven years, the majority of which were bought by foreigners

The population of the north may have increased by as much as 40 per cent since the last census in 2011, compared with a ten per cent growth rate in the south of the island, sparking a furious debate on why Turkish Cypriots are being left to ‘guesstimate’ how many of them are left and if they themselves have become a minority.

“We know the population!… There are some numbers that you can talk about and some that you cannot. There are some things that cannot be said,” lashed Unal Ustel, head of the Turkish Cypriot ruling coalition, on live TV recently when asked why there are no plans to do a census in the northern part of Cyprus.

Besides leaving the presenter and viewers speechless, the statement once again ignited the debate about the mystery around the population living in this part of the island.

“What is it that you can’t talk about?” opposition deputy Dogus Derya immediately took the social media. “What are you trying to hide? That we have become a minority in our own country?”

The last census in the north was done in 2011 with unofficial United Nations supervision and found the de jure population to be some 286,000, excluding Turkish military and their families residing in military bases. Although there were widespread reports of undercounting, this is the only figure that the Turkish Cypriot statistics office currently has, to make projections.

Taking the 2011 census as a basis, the office has recently announced a projected population of almost 400,000 as of the end of 2022. This figure was found unrealistic by most including the head of the statistics office Irfan Tansel Demir himself, who acknowledged that the projection has a considerable margin of error because of the time that has passed since the last census in 2011. Demir also raised questions about the accuracy of that census “because many people were not found at home.”

Even with these official numbers, however, the increase in population is stark. The difference between the 2011 census and the 2022 projection points to an almost 40 per cent increase in population in 11 years. The population growth rate in the Republic of Cyprus during the same period was less than 10 per cent.

Senior researcher Mete Hatay from PRIO Cyprus Centre, who has done extensive research on the population in the northern part of Cyprus, says that the projection only takes into account criteria such as fertility and death rates of the community and does not include the vital – and presumably huge – number of those, who are working in the black economy or who have overstayed their visas.

“We know that the population is at least half a million, but we don’t have the necessary details to make a healthy estimate,” says Hatay. He adds that “in any case, at any given moment, Turkish Cypriots are a minority in the northern part of Cyprus.

Turkish Cypriots in every walk of life feel the consequences of the overpopulation. Last month, the Cyprus Turkish Teachers Union (KTOS) official Akgun Kacmaz, talked about the shortness of teaching staff and mentioned that container classrooms had been set up in many public schools to manage the student numbers due to the increasing population.

Izlem Gurcag, who was responsible for the health dossier of the northern part of Cyprus, admitted in August as she was leaving her post that, “Our financial resources are not enough for the population that is cascading every day.”

Hatay says that as well as the size, the composition of the population in the north is also changing rapidly. Whereas until a few years ago the non-Turkish Cypriot population was almost exclusively Turkish, recently there is a tremendous number of people from other countries flowing into the north.

Currently there are some 110,000 foreign university students in over 20 universities in the north – mostly from Africa, Arabian Peninsula, Africa, Middle East, and Far East. They come to the northern part of Cyprus on a student visa, which is very easy to get. For the first time this year, the number of students from these third countries exceeded the number of students from Turkey.

The last couple of years also saw a huge increase in the Russian and Iranian population in the northern part of Cyprus. Russian news agency Itar Tass reported a few months ago that some 50,000 Russians live in the northern part of Cyprus, where Kremlin recently started mobile consular services. According to the official data by the tourism department, only in January-September this year, some 39 thousand Russians and 33 thousand Iranians came to north through the sea and airports.

“We don’t want to know”

Researcher Hatay argues that there is a deliberate political decision not to make any census “because we don’t want to know.”

“First of all, the more ambiguous the population numbers are, the more it can be politicised,” asserts Hatay.  “Everyone benefits from the ambigiouty. Some ask for more money based on inflated numbers, some use the ‘Turkish Cypriots are becoming extinct’ fear to get votes.”

But more importantly, according to Hatay, a census would reveal certain realities on ground, such as the alarming number of people – mostly university students – working in the black economy.

“A huge system of exploitation has been set up through universities,” says Hatay. “There are slave students here.”

The higher education sector, which is one of the main engines of the Turkish Cypriot economy, has grown in an uncontrolled fashion as the policy has been to open as many universities and attract as many foreign students as possible. According to the US State Department’s Trafficking in Persons Report in 2022, in many cases, foreign students are promised low tuition fees, accommodation and access to good jobs. Once in the northern part of Cyprus, they end up being exploited as cheap labour, or forced into prostitution or drug trafficking. Some are smuggled into the Republic of Cyprus.

According to Hatay, not doing a census also serves conveniently to obscure the size of certain groups of people in the country.

These groups do not just consist of Turks anymore – whose increasing presence in the north has always been contentious.

“They especially don’t want to talk about the foreign property owners,” says Hatay.

According to Hatay, some 60,000 new homes were sold in the last seven years, the majority of which were bought by foreigners. The numbers in the official gazette show that the number of foreigners – mostly Russians – investing in property has significantly increased as of November 2022, which coincides with the sanctions on Russian nationals due to the war in Ukraine. Russians can easily buy property in the northern part of Cyprus as banks here are not part of the international Swift system and operate via Ankara, which has not put sanctions on Russia. There currently are a further 15,000-20,000 thousand ongoing construction of homes. According to economist Merkan Hamit, looking at the construction projects and the prices, it can roughly be estimated that the property sales generate an annual 1 billion dollars, which is almost one thirds of the gross domestic product of the northern part of Cyprus.

Turkish Cypriot judiciaries have recently been warning about a risky money circulation in the northern part of Cyprus, whereby large amounts of money are coming in for real estate purchases but then going completely unchecked.

In some cases, these foreign property owners have been revealed as individuals wanted by Interpol. Earlier this week, Russian citizen Vladislav Apakov wanted by Interpol for embezzling large amounts of money, was found to be residing in the north. In June, another Russian national Stanislav Mitrushi wanted by Interpol for money laundering, was arrested in the north. Last year, Australian fugitive Mark Buddle also wanted by Interpol for links to a transnational criminal syndicate was arrested in the north, where he had acquired a sizeable amount of property. The recently published Global Organised Crime Index 2023 states that “In areas not under the effective control of the Republic of Cyprus, there are a number of people wanted by Interpol.”

Considering how important the higher education and real-estate sectors are for the economy of the northern part of Cyprus, this order of exploitation and illicitness needs to continue, and it can only continue if the ambiguity continues.

“The northern part of Cyprus, which has long been isolated from the world, has now integrated with the world through a system of exploitation and illicitness,” concludes Hatay. “And the long-standing controversy and speculation surrounding the population serves to maintain this. For this to continue, we have to not know.”

https://cyprus-mail.com/2023/11/05/stark-increase-in-norths-population/

Fake prescriptions case rocks the north

By Esra Aygin

October 22, 2023

One doctor wrote 7,800 prescriptions in a month

The investigation concerns fake prescriptions forged by pharmacists in the name of patients eligible for social insurance and signed by doctors

The ongoing investigation into the “fake prescription” scandal in the northern part of Cyprus has shaken Turkish Cypriots as they witnessed respected doctors and pharmacists – including former officials – arrested and brought to court in handcuffs one after the other over the past month.

A former speaker of the Turkish Cypriot assembly and former head of the governing coalition; a former official responsible for the health dossier in the north; relatives of the current official responsible for health; and former members of assembly were among some 50 doctors and pharmacists, who have been arrested in the past month as part of the investigation on the medical prescription forgery. Most of those arrested have been released on bail after spending at least one night in detention.

The scheme is believed to have cost the Turkish Cypriot administration 60 million lira (over €2 million) just in 2023.

Put simply, the investigation concerns fake medical prescriptions forged by some pharmacists in the name of patients eligible for social insurance benefits and signed by some doctors. By pretending to sell the medication to the patients and submitting the fake prescriptions to claim money, the pharmacists got wrongfully compensated by social insurance.

While some of the signing doctors were paid by the pharmacists per signature, others are understood to be alleging an abuse of trust, where they gave signed prescriptions to pharmacies and didn’t realise what was being done with them. The barcodes of the medication in question were removed, and they were either sold to other patients or disposed of. In some cases, the arrested doctors and pharmacists believed to be part of the scheme were relatives.

As the arrest of well-known doctors and pharmacists being investigated on charges of forgery and circulation of official documents, undeserved gains, making the social security department incur losses, laundering proceeds of crime, and fraudulent procurement, has become a daily incident in the northern part of Cyprus, police keep finding trash bags full of prescription medication without barcodes worth tens of thousands of euros disposed in fields in various remote areas.

The investigation, which currently only covers prescriptions written in 2023, was prompted by a criminal complaint by the labour and social security department of the Turkish Cypriot administration on September 13.

Shortly after taking office in August, “the director of social insurance came to me with his concerns,” Sadik Gardiyanoglu, the official responsible for the labour and social security dossier, said during a live TV show on Tuesday. “He said there was a significant, abnormal number of prescriptions being submitted to the system.”

Reading from a list, Gardiyanoglu continued: “There is a doctor, who wrote 6,900 prescriptions in one month. There is another one, who wrote 7,800.

“This is impossible,” he explained. “It is impossible for a doctor to see 6-7 thousand patients in a month.”

According to Gardiyanoglu, some doctors were arrested as they were trying to leave through Ercan/Tymbou airport or Ayios Dhometios crossing point.

Court testimonies suggest that there were a number of doctors with an average of over 30,000 prescriptions in just the first seven months of 2023, while most doctors wrote an average of 300 prescriptions in the period in question.

Some of those arrested in the case

Doctor Cagri Cemaler, the vice president of the Cyprus Turkish Medical Doctors Association (KTTB), which has declared support for the investigation, confirms that the main suspicion is on around five to six doctors but underlines that all need to be investigated. The Cyprus Turkish Pharmacists Association (KTEB) also expressed support for the police and judiciary in the process.

“As a legal expert, I have to say that the information we have so far shows us that at the end of this process, some people will most likely be found to have committed serious crimes,” stated main opposition Republican Turkish Party CTP head Tufan Erhurman earlier this week.

How about the administration?

Director Tahir Serhat of the social insurance unit, who prompted the investigation by taking his concerns to Gardiyanoglu, has told a number of Turkish Cypriot dailies over the past month that he first realised an anomaly in the prescriptions in 2021 when he was an inspector. Serhat explained that the anomaly involved just one pharmacy at the time, and a criminal complaint was made to the police. The case was never taken forward.

Many are now questioning why the current investigation is only focusing on doctors and pharmacists when the social insurance unit continued to make the payments even after detecting an anomaly, and when there obviously were others, who caused a delay in the investigation.

“Why was an investigation, which had to start in 2021, delayed until September 2023?” asked lawyer Asli Murat in the daily Yeniduzen. “What did the police or the ministry officials do during the time in between? Social insurance payments continued in full. Public finances were wasted… Should we not also be talking about a negligence on the part of the administration? Will there be action against the administrative staff and those who did not take the investigation forward in 2021, or who prevented it?”

Independent member of the Turkish Cypriot assembly Jale Refik Rogers, who herself comes from the health sector, agrees: “The administration is at least as guilty as those, who have committed forgery, because it prepared the grounds for such forgery and made it possible to waste public resources… There is a serious lack of organisation and inspection from the moment of getting the medication to the point of supplying it to the patients. The current system is open to exploitation.”

Presumption of innocence

Another aspect of the investigation being vigorously debated is the practice of handcuffing the suspects and parading them in front of the journalists, who most of time are printing their photographs and names openly in media outlets.

“The principle of presumption of innocence dictates that nobody can be declared a criminal because of a crime they allegedly committed, before they are convicted,” underlines lawyer Murat. “Contrary practices resemble the forms of punishment used in Middle Ages.”

According to lawyer Hasan Esendagli, who is the head of the Turkish Cypriot Bar Association, there is no legal grounds for handcuffing the suspects, and this is only done on an order by the police “in an attempt to not seem like it is making an exception for certain people”.

Over the years “police have been accused of making privileges to some people,” said Esendagli. “So now, in an attempt to show they treat everyone equal, they are violating human rights and freedoms.”

The bad hygiene in the cells, where the suspects are being held during detention is also contentious.

“With the argument that they may damage the evidence, or run away, the doctors and pharmacists are being kept in cells full of bedbugs, where there is no adequate clean water,  toilet facilities or hygiene,” stated CTP depty Filiz Besim. “They have no bed to lie down on and are denied books.

Meanwhile, the Media Ethics Board (MEK) has made a series of statements calling on the media to not print photos and names of the suspects.

Drawing attention to the likely outcome that some totally innocent doctors and pharmacists are being victimised alongside those, who have committed a seemingly organised crime, journalist Cenk Mutluyakali asks:

“Those, who are found to be guilty, will be punished. But who will pay the price of the disgrace and cruelty inflicted on those who will be found not to be guilty?”

https://cyprus-mail.com/2023/10/22/fake-prescriptions-case-rocks-the-north/

Trial of journalist an attempt to ‘silence’ Turkish Cypriot dissent

By Esra Aygin

October 8, 2023

Case centres on a meeting held by Turkey to sway 2020 Turkish Cypriot elections

Turkish Cypriot journalist Ali Kismir

The unprecedented criminal case that has raised eyebrows both locally and internationally, in which Turkish Cypriot journalist Ali Kismir faces up to ten years in prison for “insulting and defaming” the Turkish Cypriot security forces, began on Friday.

Kismir is being charged for an article about Turkey’s meddling in the 2020 elections for Turkish Cypriot leader. The journalist, who is also the president of the Turkish Cypriot Journalists Union (Basin-Sen), had written that Turkish officials held a meeting in a building belonging to the Turkish Cypriot security forces command to sway the elections in favour of current leader Ersin Tatar. He likened the security forces command building to a “brothel, where the will of Turkish Cypriots is sold and bought”.

After Friday’s hearing, which was postponed to October 27, Kismir’s lawyer and head of the Turkish Cypriot Bar Association Hasan Esendagli explained to the Cyprus Mail that the case is a dangerous precedent as it is the first time a high criminal case has been brought against a journalist under the law regulating military crimes and stipulates such a serious jail sentence.

“We are going through a period where we are facing everything we feared,” said Esendagli, who is voluntarily defending Kismir. “Criminal cases against people because of their opinions, ideas, words and articles are a practice of outdated, oppressive regimes. Such actions are used as weapons to make sure people are silent, that they fear to talk and write.”

As Turkey’s pressure on the media in the northern part of Cyprus grows, there is a lot of fear in the community that this could be a first step in following Ankara’s lead in imprisoning opposition journalists.

“Many journalists and dissidents are in jail in Turkey,” said Esendagli. “Unfortunately, from the cases that are being brought, we are getting indications that such a trend is also desirable here. There exists a mentality that would like to create a similar situation here.”

Currently 21 journalists are imprisoned for their professional activities in Turkey, according to the European Federation of Journalists EFJ. According to the Independent Communication Network BIA, which monitors press freedom violations in Turkey, during July-September 2023, an additional 206 journalists were on trials facing prison sentences.

International non-profit organisation Reporters Without Borders RSF, which defends and promotes press freedom around the world, also drew attention to Turkey’s growing pressure on Turkish Cypriot journalists in its 2023 Press Freedom Index.

“Sanctions and prosecution, including criminal proceedings, are being brought against journalists, who criticise the Turkish or Turkish Cypriot government, military, or authorities,” RSF said.

About Kismir’s case, Pavol Szalai, head of RSF’s EU-Balkans desk stated: “By denouncing Turkey’s meddling in Turkish Cypriot elections, Ali Kismir was just doing his job as a journalist. This abusive prosecution is nothing but an attempt by the Turkish Cypriot authorities to intimidate and muzzle journalists.”

The case against Kismir drew strong reaction from opposition parties and politicians, trade unions, intellectuals and local and international journalists’ organisations.

Turkish Cypriot Akel MEP Niyazi Kizilyurek, in a parliamentary question submitted to the European Commission, said: “This is an attempt by the ‘authorities’ to restrict press freedom and freedom of expression through the threat of imprisonment… What steps does the Commission plan to take to secure the civil rights, press freedom and freedom of expression of European citizens, which are being violated in Turkish Cypriot community?”

Former Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci

Intervention

The enormous pressure Ankara put on the Turkish Cypriot community during the 2020 leadership elections was documented in an investigative report, which revealed shocking details of threats, pressures and blackmail against incumbent leader Mustafa Akinci, as well as other candidates and journalists.

The meeting by Turkish officials including commanders and Turkish Central Intelligence Agency MIT officials in a Turkish Cypriot security forces command building to sway the elections in favour of the current leader Ersin Tatar – the subject of Kismir’s article – was also confirmed by Akinci in this report.

According to Akinci, a number of Turkish Cypriot deputies invited to this meeting were told by the-then Turkish ambassador in the northern part of Cyprus: “You have before you not only the ambassador, but the Turkish state. The Republic of Turkey definitely wants Tatar. It doesn’t want Akinci. For the Republic of Turkey, this is a matter of survival. You will work to make sure Tatar is elected.”

Tatar won the elections with 51.69 per cent of the votes, ousting Akinci.

Kismir, who is well known for his writings critical of Ankara’s policies and its Ankara-backed leader Tatar, was one of the journalists who received threats by Ankara during the same 2020 election campaign.

According to the report, Kismir was invited to meet with a team from Turkey, who introduced themselves as “ambassadors of the Republic of Turkey” and was told: “We are here to make sure Akinci is not elected… This man is an enemy of Turkey… If Akinci is elected he will have very bad things happen to him.”

Kismir was also told that he is on a list of ‘enemies of Turkey’.

In fact, Kismir was among a dozen Turkish Cypriot journalists, trade unionists, writers and activists, who have been denied entry to Turkey in recent years on grounds that they pose a security threat.

Kismir also lost his job at a local news portal earlier this year after publishing an article criticising Tatar. His article was removed from the website of the portal, and he was told that his web TV programme was also cancelled. He was also told by his employers that “the office of Tatar and others had called numerous times to complain” about him.

Shortly before Friday’s hearing, Kismir called on the Turkish Cypriot community to defend not only his personal freedom of expression but the freedom of expression of the whole society in what he described as a “political case aimed at silencing dissident voices”.

“Unless this struggle turns into a social struggle, today it will be me, who is on trial, and tomorrow it will be someone else,” said Kismir. “We have to say, ‘enough is enough’.”

https://cyprus-mail.com/2023/10/08/trial-of-journalist-an-attempt-to-silence-turkish-cypriot-dissent/

Doubts cast on ‘giant project’ to supply north’s electricity

By Esra Aygin

September 10, 2023

An agreement signed with a private Turkish company to produce all the electricity in the north is riddled with problems say those in the field, who fear further dependence on Turkey

Turkish Cypriot head of coalition Unal Ustel and Turkish vice president Cevdet Vilmaz sign the agreement

Turkish Cypriot authorities have pledged to give up local electricity production entirely and become completely dependent on a planned cable from Turkey to the north.

The provisions of the recent agreement with private Turkish energy company Aksa to create the electricity cable link reveal that the pledge to get power exclusively through this cable was made blindly, as the details of the project – like the capital cost, sales price or transmission capacity – are still unclear.

According to the agreement, Aksa, which has close ties with Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party AKP, will carry out a feasibility study by July 2024. An ‘interconnection construction and operation agreement’ will then be signed, and within five years the cable link will be fully operational.

Following a memorandum of understanding for an electricity cable project from Turkey signed between Turkish Vice President Cevdet Yilmaz and ‘prime minister’ in the north Unal Ustel, an agreement was signed between Aksa and the Turkish Cypriot public electricity authority Kib-Tek on July 19. No public tender was held for the selection of the company to carry out the electricity cable project and it is not clear how Aksa was chosen.

With the agreement, Turkish Cypriot authorities have pledged that once the cable is operational all electricity needs in the north will be met by it. “The existing electricity plants will only be put into use if the electricity supplied through the cable is inadequate or there is a technical need,” the agreement states.

“After the feasibility study we will rapidly take the steps to materialise this giant project. We will put the signature of Aksa on this energy bridge with the TRNC,” Aksa CEO Cemil Kazanci said after the agreement was signed.

“We are realising a 30-year-old dream. This project will make TRNC a real part of the ‘Turkish Century’,” Ustel added.

Aksa’s facility in the north

Even though the idea of the cable link has been voiced at various points in the past, it was set as a top priority by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan after his re-election in May. Branded “the second project of the century” after the water pipeline from Turkey to the northern part of Cyprus, the cable link is promoted by Turkish and Turkish Cypriot officials as “the solution to the electricity woes on the island”.

Turkish Cypriots have been suffering from sweltering power cuts mainly due to lack of necessary maintenance, repair and investments in the electricity infrastructure. Moreover, as electricity is mainly produced using imported fuel oil, high electricity prices due to the volatility in fossil fuel prices, the war in Ukraine and the depreciation of the Turkish lira, are crippling the community.

Experts, civil society and opposition parties are questioning however, the logic of making such a huge commitment without a tender and without knowing the costs.

“Handing the electricity cable project to a private company without a public tender and with a guarantee to purchase… is in total violation of law. There is no provision in the agreement that stipulates how the costs will be calculated in the electricity cable project and this violates basic principles of economy. This agreement is aimed at selling off the assets of the community and is a destructive step and an illegal attempt that does not protect the interests of the people,” the Republican Turkish Party CTP, which took the agreement to the High Administrative Court along with the Cyprus Turkish Electricity Authority Workers Union El-Sen, said.

The Turkish Cypriot Chamber of Mechanical Engineers, which filed a criminal complaint over the agreement saying no regard was paid to public interest, said that the agreement only serves to give a private company a monopoly and increase its revenues.

“How can you ever say, ‘I will get 100 per cent of my country’s electricity through a cable?” asked chamber president Ayer Yarkiner. “How can you be this clueless? The term ‘project of the century’ is only being used out of ignorance. Nowhere in the world can a country put its signature under an investment without knowing its cost effectiveness.”

However, this is not the only point of contention. Although the agreement mentions an ‘interconnection’ none of the provisions describe a two-way transmission of electricity between Turkey and the north. The method that is envisaged in the agreement seems to be a system whereby electricity will be transmitted one-way from Turkey to the north by Aksa.

“Interconnection in the world is an alternative to diversify resources and decrease cost or ensure energy supply in case of failures,” explains energy economist and electrical engineer Yusuf Avcioglu. “There is no two-way transmission here. The agreement says ‘you will not produce electricity. I will give it to you through the cable.’ This is not interconnection… We have nothing to gain from this… We are totally surrendering to Aksa and Turkey.”

The second power station in the north near Kyrenia

The Turkish Cypriot ruling coalition sold the project to the public by reassuring them that they would be exporting the power generated by solar energy to Turkey through the cable and reducing energy costs.

Besides a solar farm, households in the north have the right to set up solar panels and sell to the grid.

“You lied to people,” CTP deputy Asim Akansoy said in a speech to the Turkish Cypriot assembly. “You said it would be a two-way transmission and we would sell our solar energy. Now you are handing 100 per cent of energy production to Aksa with a guaranteed purchase agreement.”

Experts agree that a simple one-way cable rather than an interconnection is detrimental for the Turkish Cypriot community, and being totally dependent on Turkey for electricity supply is one of its biggest risks.

Electricity prices are also expected to spike because the investment cost of the cable project plus all the operational and other expenses would be reflected in electricity bills. Reports in the Turkish media put the cost of the cable project to somewhere between $500 million to $1 billion.

At the same time, Turkey is an observer member of the European Network of Transmission System Operators for Electricity (ENTSO-E), which is the ultimate arbiter regarding the connection of a third state to the main grid. As long as the Cyprus problem remains unresolved, ENTSO-E is not likely to grant a permit to Turkey to make an interconnection with the northern part of Cyprus.

The contentious agreement also stipulates a guarantee of purchase whereby Aksa, through its electricity plant in Kalecik/Gastria in the Famagusta district, will produce at least 49 per cent of total electricity generated in the north for 15 years “during the transitional period until the cable is operational.” Despite persistent questions by opposition parties and civil society, Turkish Cypriot authorities have not been able to explain why this guarantee of purchase has been given.

This is seen by experts as a move to ensure Kib-Tek becomes idle even before the cable project begins operating.

“There is no limit to how much Aksa can produce,” explained president of the Chamber of Electrical Engineers Uner Kutalmis. “There should have been a limit so that the public electricity authority Kib-Tek remains relevant. There is no Kib-Tek anymore. There is only Aksa.”

After starting operations in the north in 2003, Aksa already produces 45 per cent of the electricity used in the northern part of Cyprus.

Furthermore, although the agreement gives the right to the Turkish Cypriot authorities to revoke it if Aksa fails to render the cable link operational in five years, an ensuing article states: “If either the Republic of Turkey or TRNC back out of the interconnection system, this will not be a reason for the revocation of this agreement.”

But you cannot just revoke this agreement after becoming so dependent on a private company, Avcioglu said.

“To be able to revoke this agreement, you need to have a production capacity that meets your needs. Right now, Aksa produces 45 per cent of the total electricity here. Do you have the capacity to cover that? No, not unless you make the necessary investments. Without doing that, you cannot just say, ‘I am revoking the agreement and I am surrendering half of the country to darkness’.”

https://cyprus-mail.com/2023/09/10/doubts-cast-on-giant-project-to-supply-norths-electricity/

Property sales in north going unchecked

By Esra Aygin

August 27, 2023

Estimates suggest that about 50 per cent of foreign transactions are not recorded

Some 7,000 permissions were given to foreigners to buy property in the northern part of Cyprus since January 2021.

According to the figures in the Turkish Cypriot official gazette, a total of 1,179 permissions were given in 2021, and 2,810 permissions were given in 2022. In 2023 however, in just the first eight months, the permissions given to foreign nationals has already reached  almost at 3,000.

The buyers are mostly Turkish nationals investing in the Kyrenia area in Esentepe/Ayios Amvrosios and Tatlısu/ Akanthou. They are followed by an ever-increasing number of Russians investing in İskele/Trikomo.

Experts, however, insist that as high as the figure 7,000 sounds, the actual number of properties purchased by foreign nationals is much higher.

Far more properties are being bought in the north by lawyers on behalf of foreigners, or Turkish Cypriot companies with “silent foreign partners” than what official records show for such transactions, according to economist Mertkan Hamit.

Foreign nationals need a permission from the Turkish Cypriot administration and are currently limited with only three property purchases. Moreover, the controlling 51 per cent of companies investing in real estate must belong to a Turkish Cypriot ‘citizen’.

However, local lawyers acting on behalf of foreigners or Turkish Cypriot companies with foreign multinationals in the background can and do buy as many properties as they want.

“There are tons of property sales that are not included in the official figures,” says Hamit. “These are mostly to foreign investors, who buy tens of properties in one transaction through a Turkish Cypriot partner.”

Hamit estimates that about 50 per cent of transactions are not recorded.

Board member Hüseyin Sadeghi of the Turkish Cypriot Real Estate Agents Union agrees.

“Many multi-national companies are overcoming the limitations imposed by law by either establishing companies “just for show” in the north, or using a lawyer as a front and getting the right to purchase unlimited number of properties,” says Sadeghi.

According to Hamit, looking at the construction projects and the prices, it can very roughly be estimated that the property sales generate an annual 1 billion dollars. This is almost one thirds of the gross domestic product of the northern part of Cyprus.

TURKISH NATIONALS 

While 90 per cent of foreign buyers in 2022 were Turkish nationals, the rate has dropped to 70 per cent this year with significant investments coming from Russians.

Russians can easily buy property in the northern part of Cyprus as banks here are not part of the international Swift system and operate via Ankara, which has not put sanctions on Russia. In fact, the numbers in the official gazette show that the number of foreigners – mostly Russians – investing in property has significantly increased as of November 2022, which coincides with the sanctions on Russian nationals due to the war in Ukraine. As of that date, the Turkish Cypriot administration’s officials granted hundreds of permits in each sitting as can be seen from the decisions published in the official gazette.

In fact, Russian news agency Itar Tass reported earlier this month that some 50,000 Russians live in the northern part of Cyprus, where Kremlin recently said it would open an office to provide consular services.

Following Russians, other buyers are from Israel, Ukraine and Iran.

In 2021, Forbes Magazine named İskele/Trikomo as the best place in the world for beachfront property investment for those looking to live or retire abroad. The other four top spots listed by Forbes were in Columbia, Brazil, Mexico and Belize.

Property sales are especially noteworthy in İskele/Trikomo, which according to estimates tripled in population in the last ten years.

“Especially in the Long Beach area in İskele/Trikomo, 90-95 per cent of our clients are foreigners,” says real estate sales representative Özder Özbulut. “The majority of our clients are from Russia.”

It is not unusual to see billboards advertising homes for sale in Cyrillic in the area.

THE LIRA

The depreciation of the Turkish lira and the economic crisis mean that Turkish Cypriots cannot afford to buy property, especially in areas like İskele/Trikomo, where high demand has spiked prices.

“Local buyers cannot really take advantage of the investments in Long Beach in İskele/Trikomo,” adds Özbulut. The price of land and property is very high due to high demand by foreigners.”

The shopkeepers in Trikomo, who recently spoke to the Yenidüzen newspaper, acknowledge that foreigners are now keeping them afloat.

“The crisis has affected us immensely,” Ayşen Biçici told Yenidüzen. “We would have closed our shops down a long time ago if it were not for the foreigners. The foreigners have kept the local economy alive.”

“Locals are not buying anything,” said Meycan Rıylı. “They come into the shop, ask for the price of things, and leave without buying anything. I can say that recently our sales are entirely to foreigners. If it were not for the foreigners, I would have closed my shop down a long time ago.”

DISPLACED GREEK CYPRIOTS

The land in İskele/Trikomo area is almost entirely owned by Greek Cypriots, who were displaced in 1974.

Recently, Yeni Bakış newspaper reported that most of the property recently being sold to foreigners in the northern part of Cyprus is on Greek Cypriot land. Citing data released at the end of July, the paper said that 4,209 properties were listed for sale in Kyrenia, Trikomo, Famagusta, Nicosia, Morphou and Lefka – out of which only 975 had a Turkish Cypriot title deed. The rest were Greek Cypriot properties.

Recently, Greek Cypriot media has reported that the government of the Republic of Cyprus is considering legal measures to deal with the sale of Greek Cypriot properties in the northern part of Cyprus.

In a speech he gave to mark the closing of the 2022-2023 judicial year in June, judge Fadil Aksun, who is the head of the Nicosia High Criminal Court, made a stark warning about the large amounts of money coming into the northern part of Cyprus for real estate purchases.

“Large amounts of money are coming into the country, but there is no control over whether a real estate purchase indeed takes place,” said Aksun. “I would like to draw attention to the fact that there is a risky money circulation in our country.”

Aksun added that the court determined 12 flats purchased as part of a money laundering scheme in the 2022-2023 judicial year. The flats were seized.

OTHER ISSUES

The endless construction in İskele/Trikomo is giving rise to problems, as necessary infrastructure is not in place to accommodate the thousands moving into the new buildings. The biggest problem is the sewerage.

Last summer, photographs surfaced on social media of raw sewage in the sea off Long Beach and green water on the coast. Earlier this month, an analysis by health officials in the same area found potentially dangerous levels of intestinal enterococci, a bacteria characteristically found in human faecal matter.

“Wastewater and the ensuing seawater pollution in İskele are environmental disasters that have arisen from years of unplanned development,” says Sibel Paralik, head of the Turkish Cypriot Chamber of Environmental Engineers.

Another problem is the significant water shortage, which İskele/Trikomo mayor Hasan Sadıkoğlu says is due to the rapid increase in population.

The lack of planning coupled with such an influx of foreign population has not only lead to infrastructure problems but also integration problems.

“There are serious insufficiencies in terms of the orientation, integration, language learning, and education of the foreigners who buy properties and start living here,” says Sadıkoğlu. “There are not enough classrooms. Teachers have a difficult time because the children don’t speak Turkish.”

Last month the Turkish Cypriot Teachers Union KTÖS said according to a survey it conducted in 72 primary schools, 62 per cent of the schools do not offer language support for students who don’t know Turkish.

“In at least 15 primary schools, ten per cent of students are foreigners and don’t speak Turkish,” the union stated. “The school with the highest percentage of foreign students is in İskele, with 40 per cent. In many places in the world, foreign students cannot make up more than ten per cent of a classroom and they are offered special programmes. In our country, some classrooms are made up of 40-50 per cent foreigners. There are no orientation programmes for them. This will inevitably lead to irreversible problems.”

https://cyprus-mail.com/2023/08/27/property-sales-in-north-going-unchecked/

Ergun Olgun: too yielding or too hardline?

By Esra Aygin

August 13, 2023

Speculation over the reasons for resignation of Turkish Cypriot leader’s representative

                                                                        Ergun Olgun

The Turkish Cypriot leader’s special representative Ergun Olgun recently unexpectedly resigned, sparking speculation that he was no longer seen fit for the job by Turkey. However, there are conflicting arguments over whether he was seen too yielding for a Turkey that has been insisting on a two-state solution in Cyprus; or whether he was seen too hardline for a Turkey that is recently signalling a more constructive stance.

Ergun Olgun, the 80-year-old die-hard advocate of an independent Turkish Cypriot state and the constant right hand of all hardline leaders from the late Rauf Denktash to Dervish Eroglu to the current Ersin Tatar, cited old age and said he was retiring rather than resigning.

“I am 80 years old. I don’t know how many more healthy years I have left. I want to spend time with my family,” he told the media, denying rumours of any disagreements on the Cyprus issue with Tatar or Turkey.

His resignation came a month after he was harshly criticised by ultra-nationalist circles for disclosing at a panel at Famagusta’s Eastern Mediterranean University DAU, that the Turkish side had abandoned its condition that the unilaterally declared Turkish Cypriot state – the ‘Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus TRNC’ – be recognised by the United Nations Security Council.

“We have right now passed beyond that link about a Security Council decision, and we have conveyed this to the Greek Cypriot side,” Olgun said at a panel on Turkey’s Foreign Policy in the Mediterranean. “We said…negotiations between the two sides can begin without that link, or condition… This is not something we made public, but we can say it in a closed setting… We are looking for ways to find alternative formulas.”

He was responding to former negotiator and leader of the People’s Party HP, Kudret Ozersay, who, at the same panel, criticised the Turkish side of setting the condition that the UN Security Council recognises the Turkish Cypriot state before starting any kind of negotiations. This condition was tabled by the Turkish side during an informal meeting with UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres in Geneva in April 2021.

“Where did you find the right to abandon our national policy, which is to demand that the UN Security Council acknowledges our sovereign equality and equal international status?” asked ultra nationalist Sabahattin Ismail in his column in the daily Kibris after the recording of the panel was uploaded on YouTube. “Is Turkey and President Tatar aware of this?… What kind of an insanity is it to say one thing to the people and then compromise from the national policy behind closed doors?”

To ward off speculation that the special representative had left his post as a punishment for making this revelation or even this compromise, Tatar and Olgun gave a joint interview to the semi-official news agency TAK, constantly repeating they had no problems or disagreements. This only served to amplify the rumours. During the interview, the two also reiterated that the negotiations can only start with the acknowledgment of sovereign equality and equal international status.

“There were those, who were not comfortable with Ergun Olgun, and who even did not find him enough of a Turkish nationalist or pro-TRNC and kept attacking,” wrote journalist Serhat Incirli in the daily Yeniduzen. “And Ersin Tatar could protect Ergun Olgun. He didn’t.”

Other observers, however, underline that a small window of opportunity may have opened for Cyprus due to Ankara’s recent interest in reconciling with the European Union after the Turkish presidential elections and draw attention to the fact that Olgun’s resignation comes at a time of a seeming slight shift in Turkey’s position vis a vis the Cyprus problem.

In a recent statement, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan not only referenced the Annan Plan and expressed hope for a lasting and just peace in Cyprus, but he also spoke of a renewed rapprochement with the EU especially on visa-free travel and the customs union.

“We will not hesitate to take responsibility for the island of Cyprus to achieve a lasting and just peace,” said Erdogan following a cabinet meeting in Ankara. “We have shown our sincerity on this issue in every process up to now, including the Annan Plan, and we will [do it] again if necessary.”

Erdogan mentioned his meetings with world leaders including US President Joe Biden, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and French President Emmanuel Macron at the recent Vilnius Nato summit and said: “We have seen during these meetings that we have no problems with any country that cannot be solved. Provided that dialogue and diplomacy are given a chance, we believe that misunderstandings will be overcome, and disagreements will be solved.”

Shortly after President Erdogan, Turkish National Defence Minister Yasar Guler called for a fair and permanent solution to the Cyprus problem.

“The immediate solution of the Cyprus problem through securing the legitimate interests and security of Turkish Cypriots is one of the most important priorities of our country,” he said. “We have cannot afford to lose another 50 years on this. Our wish is that…a strong will is put forward for the peaceful, equal, and fair solution of the Cyprus problem, based on international law…”

Asked about a possible policy change by Turkey vis a vis Cyprus, Turkish Cypriot leader Tatar was in full denial.

“The policy that we are pursuing is the correct policy,” he told the media. “AKP [Justice and Development Party] and MHP [Nationalist Movement Party] are supporting this policy. There can be no turning back after this point. This is now an established policy.”

Underlining that the fact that elections in Turkey are over also provides for a greater room for manoeuvre. Fikri Toros, a deputy from the main opposition Republican Turkish Party CTP, says he expects some movement in the Cyprus issue as of autumn this year when the UN General Assembly will be held.

“I believe that the fact that Turkey has prioritised the revival of its relations with the EU and the US will open a new window of opportunity for the solution of the Cyprus problem,” says Toros.

Former negotiator Ozdil Nami agrees:

“Turkey had to keep its guard up… before the elections in Turkey. Turkey backtracking to this extent in the Cyprus issue was not rational. It was about internal politics. It was aimed at winning the elections. And that has happened.”

Nami added that Tatar would change his current hardline policy with just a phone call from Turkey.

It is not unprecedented for Turkish Cypriot negotiators or special representatives to suddenly change when there is a shift in Turkey’s Cyprus policy. In 2014, during Dervish Eroglu’s leadership, Turkish Cypriot hardline negotiator Osman Ertug was replaced with Kudret Ozersay. This was seen as an indication of Ankara’s willingness to keep the process alive and even bypass Eroglu following the joint statement of February 2014.

Days after his resignation, Olgun warned against a Greek Cypriot aim to extort concessions from Turkey by exploiting its possible desire to improve relations with Brussels and said it is impossible for Turkey to change its Cyprus policy.

The coming days will demonstrate the true reasons of Olgun’s departure as the person to replace him will bear the hints of the course Turkey will want to take in the Cyprus problem.

https://cyprus-mail.com/2023/08/13/ergun-olgun-too-yielding-or-too-hardline/

Anger over administration-sanctioned Quran courses in north

By Esra Aygin

July 30, 2023

Secularism under threat as summer courses for children offered in mosques

Children in a mosque receiving instruction in the Quran during their summer break (Yeniduzen)

“Today, the tyranny of secularism [in the northern part of Cyprus] has matched the tyranny of Greek Cypriots. This secularist tyranny…must end now.”

These were the words of Ali Yıldız, the president of the Turkish trade union Diyanet-Sen, which represents employees of the Directorate of Religious Affairs in Turkey. Yıldız was reacting to the backlash in the secular and modern Turkish Cypriot community against Quran courses targeting minors in mosques during the summer.

Online Turkish Cypriot newspaper Bugun Kıbrıs revealed that the Turkish Cypriot education authorities had given permission for children to be taught the Quran by imams in mosques during the summer break.

In recent years, Quran courses were being offered illegally in mosques by imams without the permission of the Turkish Cypriot education department, which feared the reaction of the Turkish Cypriot community. Police occasionally raided these courses. As revealed by Bugun Kıbrıs, the Turkish Cypriot education department now seems to have bent under the pressure, and on July 3 gave official permission for Quran courses for children at mosques.

In 2021, the Turkish Cypriot constitutional court had ruled that Quran courses cannot be organised without the permission, supervision and control of the Turkish Cypriot education department, drawing the fury of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

“We will never tolerate steps that impede the Quran education of our children in northern Cyprus,” Erdogan had responded and urged the Turkish Cypriots to fully adopt Turkey’s practices on religious education.

“The notion of secularism is not what they imagine it to be and northern Cyprus is not France,” he had asserted.

The Bugun Kıbrıs newspaper ran photos of young boys and head-scarved girls attending these courses, where they are offered fruit juices, ice cream and other sweets. It also reported that the imams could, every now and then, be heard shouting at the children.

The courses are especially appealing to lower-income families, who need to go to work and do not want to leave their children alone at home during the summer months.

The Turkish Cypriot ruling coalition and the education department was under heavy criticism from the media, civil society organisations, opinion leaders and some politicians for giving permission for the Quran courses.

“The education ministry is committing a crime by allowing minors to be taught by imams with no pedagogical formation, who deceive and brainwash them with ice cream,” stated Selma Eylem, head of the Cyprus Turkish Secondary School Teachers Union Ktoeos.

Calling this an attempt to make Quran courses a part of formal education, Eylem added that these courses are part of the social engineering being carried out by Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party AKP.

While most Turkish Cypriots consider themselves Sunni Muslims, they practise a very peaceful and moderate version of Islam in contrast with the Turks of Turkey. Among the most liberal Muslims globally, Turkish Cypriots are not influenced by organised religion, rarely attend mosques, and adhere to a very strict form of secularism. The Turkish Cypriot constitution safeguards secularism in the northern part of Cyprus.

Mine Atli, head of the Social Democracy Party TDP, agrees that the Quran courses at mosques are part of the efforts of Ankara to change the secular characteristic of the Turkish Cypriot community.

“All this is being done under the name of ‘freedom of religion,’ but these courses are completely based on Sunni Islam,” says Atlı. “We will not remain silent in the face of this crime committed against our children. We will not let our country drown in the darkness of AKP.”

“Education should be given at schools by teachers,” the main opposition Republican Turkish Party CTP said in a written statement. “We are against reactionary impositions and illegal practices aimed at social engineering.”

In recent years there is an undeniable Islamisation in the northern part of Cyprus with the Turkish government providing significant support to Sunni Islamic activities here. Consequent economic protocols signed between the Turkish Cypriot administration and Ankara introduce conditions that constantly aim to consolidate the role of Islam in Turkish Cypriot society from strengthening the religious affairs department, to organising religious youth camps to building more theology schools, religious complexes, tekkes and shrines.

The backlash in the Turkish Cypriot community against the Quran courses grew even bigger with the statements of Diyanet-Sen president Yıldız from Turkey, who continued:

“49 years ago, the Turkish army risked their own lives and protected… our [Turkish] Cypriot brothers from the Greek invasion and the Greek Cypriot tyranny… Now a group in the northern part of Cyprus, which characterises itself as secular, and which has a mentality parallel to that of Greeks, is trying to eliminate all religious beliefs and values from public space, including education. What needs to be fought against is this mentality. Not those, who teach and study our glorious book Quran.”

A few days later another provincial head of Diyanet-Sen, Mehmet Akif Gerboga added flames to the fire by stating:

“The tyranny of this group, which is an enemy of Islam…is the same as the tyranny of Greek Cypriots. The tyranny of this group, which poses as secular, should end… We believe that the Turkish Cypriot people deserve neither the tyranny of Greeks nor this group, which has no national or moral values.”

Underlining that secularism is not only safeguarded in the Turkish Cypriot constitution but also the Turkish constitution since 1937, former ombudswoman and retired judge Emine Dizdarlı, said no one has the right to meddle with and attack the Turkish Cypriot way of life.

“Secularism is not tyranny, it is civilisation,” asserted Kudret Ozersay, head of the People’s Party HP, on his social media account. “It is the safeguard of all freedoms, and mainly freedom of religion and faith. Nobody has the right to present the secularism of Turkish Cypriots as blasphemousness.”

Burak Mavis, secretary general of the Cyprus Turkish Teachers Union Ktos, during a press conference last week, said small children are being subjected to religious exploitation at the Quran courses and defined these as part of efforts to institutionalise sharia law.

Cyprus Turkish Civil Servants Trade Union Ktams head Guven Bengihan agreed:

“Recently there are attacks against the Turkish Cypriot secular way of life. There are planned efforts to establish an anti-secular system here.”

“Religious culture and moral knowledge” classes, which basically consists of teaching Sunni Islam became a compulsory subject in Turkish Cypriot schools in 2009, with most teachers coming from Turkey. In 2012 the Hala Sultan theology college was inaugurated. Currently there are plans to establish a second theology college in Famagusta. Turkish financial support has been instrumental in these activities, funnelled via the assistance office at the Turkish embassy in Nicosia.

Many Turkish Cypriots feel threatened by the Islamic hegemony culminating in more and larger mosques, Quran courses, plans to establish more theological schools, more conservative imams and religion teachers coming from Turkey, the mushrooming religious cults and sects, and attempts to change the Turkish Cypriot education system.

https://cyprus-mail.com/2023/07/30/anger-over-administration-sanctioned-quran-courses-in-north/

Incompetence reigns in historic Kyrenia renovation works

By Esra Aygin

July 16, 2023

Architects resign as harbour revamp months behind and contract not followed

Businesses have been shuttered during the renovation works which began last December (Yeniduzen)

A baffling combination of incompetence and lack of coordination and controls in the renovation and restoration project of the historic Kyrenia harbour has left the site in shambles as the works have halted with no date in sight for their completion.

The renovation of the Kyrenia harbour, which dates back to the Venetian times, began early last December. The 20 million Turkish lira (about €680 thousand) project comprised of the restoration, maintenance and repair of the building facades and the main street of the harbour, as well as the upgrading of the water supply, sewage, electricity and telephone infrastructure.

The Turkish Cypriot tourism body responsible for the project said at the time that the works were to be completed by the end of May this year, just in time for the start of the summer season. A series of setbacks including the omission of electricity infrastructure works, and delay in payment for the construction tender pushed the completion date to the end of June. However now, in mid-July, works have halted and there is no explanation of when and how the renovation will be finalised.

Concrete has been poured by Kyrenia castle in opposition to the architects’ wishes (Yeniduzen)

The latest setback in the project, which has been plagued by inaptitude from the very beginning, came when last week, contrary to the original plan, the main street of the harbour was paved with concrete. This caused an uproar among experts and the public, who argued that the concrete paving amounted to the destruction of one of the most important cultural assets in Cyprus.

The debate revealed that the stakeholders – such as the body responsible for historic sites – had not been consulted or involved in the project, and that the necessary approvals and permissions regarding the construction and the materials to be used had not been secured. Moreover, the original project drawn by Turkish Cypriot architects Ali Yapıcıoglu and Ali Tekinel had arbitrarily been tampered with during the implementation phase.

For the paving of the main street, “we had proposed a surface that looked like natural stone with local characteristics,” say the architects, who resigned and quit the works following the most recent setback.

“They asked us to change that to regular concrete. We said this would be inappropriate as concrete would be incompatible with the historic setting and surroundings of the harbour. We informed them in writing. They didn’t listen.”

Yapıcıoglu and Tekinel underline that when they submitted their project, they asked the tourism body responsible for the works that the necessary permission be obtained before going ahead with the renovation.

“These approvals were never obtained,” say the architects. “We insisted that all materials to be used in the project be seen and approved by all stakeholders. This was never done.”

The architects, who normally should have had the obligation and authority to control the implementation of the project, were also kept at bay from the beginning.

The uproar regarding the material used to pave the main street of the harbour led the authorities to take the decision to dismantle the concrete and to replace it with stone parquet.

“However, the contracting company is yet to accept the changes to the project,” says project coordinator Orhan Atasoy from the tourism body.

The tender for the renovation and restoration project was awarded to the Tosunoglu construction company, which is owned by Hasan Tosunoglu – a deputy from the junior partner Democrat Party (DP) of the Turkish Cypriot ruling coalition.

The lack of transparency regarding what else in the original project has been arbitrarily changed and what exactly is the project to be implemented from now on is causing a lot of concern.

“It looks like the tourism season will be over, but the renovation will not be,” wrote journalist Cenk Mutluyakalı of one of the most beautiful marinas in the Mediterranean.

“With the resignation of the architects, the project remains unclaimed and its fate uncertain.”

Associate professor Ege Uluca Tumer of the Architecture Department and the Urban Research and Development Centre at the Eastern Mediterranean University agrees.

“This rehabilitation project does not have an owner, or an apparent owner anymore,” she says. “This makes it impossible to correctly discuss which scientific restoration principles or design criteria are being followed in the implementation of this project… This is certain to cause irreversible mistakes. We may see at the end of the day that the work being done is far from restoring the ancient marina in concordance with its history.”

Kyrenia harbour businesses on the brink of bankruptcy

The halting of the works has pushed the local small businesses in the Kyrenia harbour, home to dozens of restaurants, small hotels, cafes and bars, into desperation.

The small businesses owners, who have had to close their shops down since the end of last November, made a joint statement last week saying they were “on the brink of bankruptcy”.

“The project has not been completed on the promised date, and the works have now been halted,” said the business owners, who underlined they were already struggling even before the renovation due to the destructive effects of a two-year-long pandemic and a crippling Turkish economy. “This halt will lead to a very serious injustice and suffering.”

At the onset of the project, the Turkish Cypriot administration had announced a grant of a total of 2.8 million lira (around €97 thousand) in order to support the businesses. That grant had totally been paid out as of end of May and the administration has announced that there would be no extra compensation.

The business owners demanded compensation for each month their shop remained closed and threatened to take legal action.

https://cyprus-mail.com/2023/07/16/incompetence-reigns-in-historic-kyrenia-renovation-works/

North’s electricity deal with Turkey as elusive as ever

By Esra Aygin

July 2, 2023

The north suffered a total of 5,277 power cuts in 2022, two times worse than in Pakistan

Teknecik power station in the north

Plans to create an electricity cable link from Turkey to the northern part of Cyprus are far from transparent, with experts warning that if the interconnection method isn’t implemented, the Turkish Cypriot electricity woes would be worsened rather than alleviated.

In recent weeks, newly re-elected Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his vice president Cevdet Yılmaz, who paid separate visits to the island, listed among their priorities an undersea electricity cable project from Turkey to put an end to the power cuts in the north. This was taken as a sign that the project that has been voiced occasionally for the last decade will finally materialise.

Turkish Cypriots have been suffering from sweltering power cuts mainly due to lack of necessary investments in the electricity infrastructure and frequent fuel shortages. There were a total of 5,277 power cuts in 2022 according to economist Mertkan Hamit, which makes the country two times worse than Pakistan with the worst average monthly electricity supply according to World Bank data.

Moreover, as electricity is mainly produced using imported fuel oil, high electricity prices due to the volatility in fossil fuel prices, the war in Ukraine and the depreciation of the Turkish lira, are crippling the community. The price of electricity increased by over 190 per cent since the beginning of 2022, according to the figures from the Turkish Cypriot statistics department.

But will the undersea cable project, which according to Turkish ambassador Metin Feyzioglu, would cost US$780 million (€717 million) solve the problem?

While the finer details of the cable project have not been made public, experts are expressing concern over the lack of transparency and warning that if the plan is to merely buy electricity from a power generator in Turkey through a one-way system rather than an interconnection permitting a two-way transmission of electricity between Turkey and the north, this would worsen energy supply security and further increase prices.

“I fear that the project on the table right now might merely be an electricity transfer without interconnectivity,” says Ozdil Nami, who was responsible for the energy dossier in the north between 2018 and 2019.

“The truth of the matter seems to have changed.”

There are political difficulties in front of establishing an interconnection with Turkey, as the country is an observer member of the European Network of Transmission System Operators for Electricity (ENTSO-E), energy economist and electrical engineer Yusuf Avcıoglu explains to the Cyprus Mail.

ENTSO-E, which unites European Union member states’ transmission grids, was established by EU countries in 2009 to increase energy supply security. There is a permanent connection between Turkey and the ENTSO-E’s Continental Europe grid since 2015 via Bulgaria and Greece.

“ENTSO-E is the ultimate arbiter regarding the connection of a third state to the main grid,” says Avcıoglu, who is also the former vice-chairman of the board of directors of the Turkish Cypriot electricity authority Kıb-Tek. “Therefore, ENTSO-E’s permission and approval is needed for any interconnection made by Turkey.”

According to Avcıoglu, as long as the Cyprus problem remains unresolved, ENTSO-E will not grant a permit to Turkey to make an interconnection with the northern part of Cyprus, and the only method that can be approved and implemented at the moment is the “isolated area feeding” method.

This is exactly the method the experts are warning against.

“This means electricity can only be transmitted one way by Turkey to the north through a power generator set up separately from the main grid,” Avcıoglu says. “This is not interconnection. A two-way transmission will be impossible. We would not be able to export the power generated by solar energy.”

Besides a solar farm, households in the north have the right to set up solar panels and sell to the grid.

A simple one-way cable rather than an interconnection would be detrimental for the Turkish Cypriot community Nami tells the Cyprus Mail.

One of the biggest risks is becoming dependent on the electricity supply from Turkey.

According to reports, the cable from Turkey “will meet one thirds of the total demand. This is a huge share. The smallest problem or failure would make the country plunge into darkness,” says Nami. “On top of that, we would not be able to sell our extra electricity generated by solar panels and the electricity prices would spike because the investment cost of this huge project plus all the operational and other expenses would be reflected in the electricity bills.”

In this case, it is vital that other alternatives are considered, experts say.

Caglayan Cesurer, the president of the Cyprus Turkish Electricity Authority Workers Union (EL-SEN), also made a statement warning about the risks or the project.

“If you connect the north to Turkey through a system which will allow us to buy electricity when needed and to sell electricity when needed, then go ahead,” said Cesurer. “But what you are trying to do here is to set up a system for a one-way purchase from a power generator in Turkey. At all costs, we will never allow a one-way sales agreement with Turkey through a cable.”

A question that arises at this point is, would Turkey, which has an income of about €2 billion per year as a result of its membership in ENTSO-E, go ahead with an interconnection with the northern part of Cyprus and risk being sanctioned?

“It is possible,” says Nami. “It is totally up to the political will of Turkey.”

Nami says that during his tenure in 2018, there was not enough political will on the part of Turkey to push forward with this.

“Turkish officials wanted to realise the project but also did not want any problems with ENTSO-E.”

However, Nami also relays to Cyprus Mail that during his meeting with ENTSO-E officials in Brussels the same year, he was told that Turkey would not be massively sanctioned if it went ahead anyway and made an interconnection with the north without ENTSO-E’s permission, as many member countries are benefitting significantly from Turkey’s presence on the grid.

As the Turkish Cypriot community awaits to find out about the details of the cable project,

Olgun Amcaoglu, who is currently responsible for the economy and energy dossier in the north, recently told reporters that the Turkish Energy and Natural Resources Minister Alparslan Bayraktar “has assured us that there would not be any problems with ENTSO-E”.

Clearly clueless about the plans, Amcaoglu concluded: “President Erdogan also conveyed to us that they are taking full responsibility.”

https://cyprus-mail.com/2023/07/02/norths-electricity-deal-with-turkey-as-elusive-as-ever/

Varosha hotel sales could just be the start

By Esra Aygin

May 7, 2023

Commentators in the north say the three properties reported to be sold this week could lead to legal amendments so more could follow

Hotels on the beach front in Varosha

The agreement made for the purchase of three hotels in Varosha between a Turkish Cypriot businessman and their Greek Cypriot owners appears to have no validity and is most probably an attempt to push for legal amendments in the north to open the way for the sale of properties in the fenced-off city.

A Turkish Cypriot newspaper recently reported that a Turkish Cypriot businessman bought the Cleo Hotel, the Golden Seaside Apartment Hotel, the Aegean Hotel and two apartment building floors in Varosha from their Greek Cypriot owners.

However, lawyer Murat Metin Hakkı, who specialises in property cases, clarified to the Cyprus Mail, that the agreement between the Turkish Cypriot businessman and the Greek Cypriot owners stipulates that the ownership of the hotels will be transferred to the businessman only if the Immovable Property Commission (IPC), which is the sole authorised body to approve Greek Cypriot property sales in the north, approves the sale within one year.

“If it is not approved by the IPC within a year, the agreement will be null and void,” Hakkı said.

In fact, IPC chairwoman Növber Ferit Vechi confirmed that they received an application on Thursday regarding the sale of the hotels. She clarified that no sale transactions had yet been made through the commission and added that the application was sent back due to missing documents.

Hotels in Varosha

However, the IPC, which is recognised by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) as a domestic remedy to property issues in Cyprus arising from the island’s division, has no jurisdiction over military areas in the north including Varosha, lawyer Murat Metin Hakkı said.

Another way such a property sale could be possible is through a law known as the ‘Acapulco law’ – because it enabled a Turkish Cypriot businessman to buy part of the Acapulco resort in Kyrenia from its original Greek Cypriot owner – that allows the Greek Cypriot owner of a property to reach a sales agreement with the current user and long-term lease holder, according to Hakkı.

However, “this law doesn’t apply to the agreement in question, since the buyer is not a current user and a long-term lease holder of these properties,” he added. “There is no way the commission can approve this agreement since it involves a military area and is not in line with any local law.”

Even though the sales agreement appears to have been certified by a notary in the Republic, “this has nothing to do with the substance of the agreement,” Hakkı said. “This is merely a certification of the signatures on the agreement. And the related apostille is the certification of the certification by the notary. None of these constitute official approval of the content of the agreement… Therefore, this agreement has no legal basis whatsoever and is invalid. It’s nothing but writing on ice.”

This, of course, is only true if the current status of Varosha and the current laws remain unchanged.

Hakkı believes the reason for making a sales agreement, which, under existing laws, is invalid, may be to push for the change in the military status of Varosha and make the necessary legal arrangements to allow property sales by Greek Cypriots to Turkish Cypriots in the fenced-off city.

Researcher Mete Hatay agrees. “This is not even a shenanigan,” he says. “This is a cunning way of forcing the authorities to enable such sales, financially and legally”. The buyer “is presenting this as a national cause and saying ‘look, you wanted to Turkify Varosha! The Greek Cypriots are ready to sell all, so do something.’”

In fact, the Turkish Cypriot businessman quoted in the newspaper on the sale emphasised that he has “earned territory for the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus” and called the move a “great step” for the breakaway republic.

“The position of Turkey and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus on Varosha is very clear,” the businessman said. “I don’t expect to be faced with any problems.”

Feeding the doubts, secretary general of the National Unity Party (UBP), which is the major party of the ruling coalition in the north, Oğuzhan Hasipoğlu in statements to a newspaper on Friday, suggested a “special Varosha law” may be considered.

The fenced-off city of Varosha has remained a forbidden military zone since August 1974 when its Greek Cypriot population fled from the advancing Turkish army. It is among places to be returned to its lawful former Greek Cypriot inhabitants under the control of the future Greek Cypriot constituent state within the framework of a comprehensive federal solution on the island. However, the Turkish government, with the Turkish Cypriot administration, has partly opened around 3.5 per cent of Varosha since 2020 despite UN resolutions prohibiting the move. Turkish and Turkish Cypriot authorities have since been vocal about plans to take forward the “Varosha opening.”

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, commenting on the developments said earlier this week: “We are encouraging Turkish Cypriots and our own citizens to buy if the owners want to sell. It is very important for Turks to take possession of these properties… And we see that the Greek Cypriot people support our policy.”

Lawyer Hakkı confirmed the same Turkish Cypriot businessman is in the process of signing agreements with Greek Cypriot owners regarding the sale of six other hotels in Varosha.

“The majority of the Varosha refugees are tired of the status quo,” Hakkı said. “They are inclined to just sell their properties.”

https://cyprus-mail.com/2023/05/07/varosha-hotel-sales-could-just-be-the-start/