Prime Minister Özgürgün: Economy “significantly improved, despite political uncertainty”

Prime Minister Hüseyin Özgürgün has said that that the economy has improved ‘significantly’, despite political uncertainty.

Prime Minister Hüseyin Özgürgün, Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Mehmet Şimşek and Economy and Energy Minister Sunat Atun gave a speech at the opening of the conference entitled “Conference on Economic Developments and Expectations in the World, Turkey and the TRNC”, which was organised by the Final International University (FIU) with the cooperation of the TRNC Central Bank and the Cyprus Turkish Economic Association.

In his speech, Prime Minister Özgürgün stated that the Cyprus issue has had a great impact on the configuration of the TRNC’s economy, and added that economic embargos and isolations have negatively affected the economy. Özgürgün said that the service sector is at the forefront of the Cyprus economy, but that the incomplete Cyprus negotiations, which have been ongoing since 1968, and the uncertainty surrounding the talks, has negatively affected the economy.

Stating that the negotiation process has been wounded due to the Enosis decision of the Greek Cypriot Parliament, Özgürgün said that the Turkish Cypriot side organises its economy in accordance with the negotiation process. Özgürgün also noted that as the uncertainty in the Cyprus problem continues, economic development would be limited in the TRNC.

Prime Minister Özgürgün emphasized that the TRNC economy has developed significantly over the years, despite the political conjuncture, and emphasized that considerable progress has been made in the education, health, tourism and agricultural sectors.

In his speech, Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Mehmet Şimşek stated that although the embargos, political situation, and the statue of the TRNC constitute a problem, positive developments have been made in developing the TRNC economy. Şimşek emphasized that Turkey has always supported the TRNC in every field, and that this support will continue. Şimşek also mentioned the importance of reforms, saying, “If you make reforms, other countries come for investment as well.”

Şimşek also noted that a solution in Cyprus would be supported by Turkey.

In his speech, Economy and Energy Minister Sunat Atun stated that the TRNC was affected both directly and indirectly from the global economic crisis in 2008. Minister Atun said that the USA’s strict monetary policies have impacted developing countries. He stressed that the TRNC’s economic slowdown in 2013-2015 was caused by  economic protocol not being signed, however reforms have been accelerated  since 2015, which have brought the economy to good standards.