Corruption is widespread in North Cyprus: TRNC member of parliament

There is 90 percent corruption and bribery in the TRNC, said Turkish Cypriot member of parliament.

This was made known in an interview with Yeniduzen in October.

According to Lefkosia CTP deputy Ürün Solyalı, “the President does not have any command of the problem, nor does he have a grasp of its solution. In this sense, we see that he does nothing, although there are many things he could do. As a leader of society, we see a presidency that has no dialogue with Europe”, said Solyalı.

The Nicosia MP said that there were numerous problems in the country. He enumerated the solutions under the headings of economic and democratic impoverishment, sense of justice and lack of planning. 

Solyalı pointed out that, increasingly, the people are losing their trust in politicians and said, “People should first see themselves as stakeholders in politics, then get involved in it with the philosophy of co-management, criticise, sometimes praise, and not stay out of politics.

“I think the President does not understand the responsibilities of community leadership. He is not aware that he is sitting in a seat where Turkish Cypriots, who have opened up to the world in this country, can have a voice in many areas and I think there are many benefits they will bring here”, Solyalı said.

Economy

“Many of the problems are actually interconnected. My first heading is the problem of economic and democratic impoverishment that has been going on for a long time for the Turkish Cypriots. An economic model based on the Turkish Lira, which is irrational and unscientific in Turkey and stubbornly takes things to a different point, is preferred. Turkish Cypriots are also experiencing economic impoverishment because they use Turkish Lira”, said Solyalı.

Planning

“Lack of planning also pushes us to economic losses, loss of future and to live in an unsafe environment. It also creates an environment that we cannot prevent because we cannot plan for it. Newspapers are full of court news, and every day the variety of crime comes to the fore with a changing situation. Planning is very important. Almost all of the public services that Turkish Cypriots have to maintain are transferred to foreign capital. There is no planning or foresight in this transition. Turkish Cypriots do not manage the water, electricity will come via cable; Turkish Cypriots will not manage the cable. We are living in a period where 49% of energy production is transferred to the company called AKSA.

“Turkish Cypriots do not manage Ercan Airport. An agreement can be signed by a private company, which reaches a public-private partnership in Turkey, with protocols for drug shipment from Turkey to here. We see that the obligation of Turkish Cypriots to manage them was actually transferred to foreign private capital without planning. This disconnects us from the future”, he said.

Currency

“Turkish Cypriots must make serious decisions. First of all, we say that the economy should be built on the right foundations and have a structure that can be standardised. The primary point of this, in our opinion, is the discussion of a stable currency. In our opinion, this currency is a currency that starts with the Euro-indexed accounting system and then we have to create an environment in which all necessary negotiations will be held and perhaps a step will be taken in terms of using the Euro. First, we need to save people from the inflationary environment and the doubts of tomorrow. Our first step is to immediately establish the transition to a stable currency with all parties. This has another leg. We don’t know why we use Turkish Lira. We do not have any agreement with Türkiye on this issue”.

State Planning

“We called the third problem lack of planning. This country is a data poor country. Regarding planning, first the correct data system must work correctly. We have an E-Government law before us and we are working on it in the parliament. After its construction, it is necessary to achieve digitalization immediately, access the data and plan accordingly. Where will this country go in 5 years? If you cannot target which needs and how they will be structured, you cannot plan the rest anyway. Unfortunately, this lack of planning causes migration and financial losses. It actually causes a lot of idle inventory in this country. It creates chaos and brings crime. At least 20-30 people come before the courts who are registered as students but then do not attend school and have lost their visas in this country. Citizens pay for the flights. Today, there are 70 percent of foreign nationals in prison. These all stem from lack of planning and lack of control. We have to plan this step by step within a political framework that is truly data-based, and puts the problems in front of it in the short and medium term, and knows where it wants to go“, Solyalı said. 

For full interview click here Yeniduzen