Minister of Public Works and Transportation Tolga Atakan met with his Turkish counterpart Mehmet Cahit Turhan in Ankara to discuss the ongoing and future projects to be implemented in the TRNC.
The meeting took place yesterday in Ankara where the ministers first held a short tête-à-tête, followed by a session of detailed evaluation of the current and future projects, with the attendance of the bureaucrats.
Before going into details, Turkish Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure Cahit Turhan told the press that Turkey will continue to support the TRNC for its economic development, welfare and security. Minister Turhan said, “As of 2018, tenders of four road construction and one superstructure and maintenance are being implemented”.
“122 million TL has been spent in these projects which have a total cost of 396 million TL. The aim is to construct 68km of dual carriage way and 14km of two lane roads, realising a 274 million TL investment by 2020.”
Stating that this was his first official meeting as the Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure, Turhan said Turkey will continue its determined stance for a just and sustainable solution to be found in the Cyprus issue. He said, “You are the common owners of this beautiful island”. “As the motherland and guarantor, turning a blind eye to you perishing as a minority in a Greek state will always be out of the question for us, as much as it is unacceptable for you. The target within the framework of the ‘TRNC Highways Master Plan’ is the construction of 255km dual carriage way and 145km of two lane roads, totalling 400km.”
Turhan also added that they will evaluate the issue of ports and the construction of the new airport and added that joint projects on telecommunications were being implemented with an allowance of 35 million TL.
"We stand bedside Turkey”
In his short speech, Minister of Public Works and Transportation Tolga Atakan said that Turkey’s support to the level of welfare reached by the TRNC could not be denied adding, “with these investment supports, the TRNC will be able to continue looking into the future with confidence and stand on its own feet”.
“In this context, we would like to see our cooperation continue.”
Stressing that Turkey was under a serious global attack, Atakan said that Turkey was not alone and the Cypriot people was beside her with all their support.