The tribulations of Turkish Cypriots

Amidst the ongoing peace negotiations to finally find an equitable and a fair solution to the age-old Cyprus problem, Turkish Cyprus has been facing a governmental crisis in recent months. The National Unity Party (UBP), the smaller partner in the coalition government, withdrew from the coalition led by the Republican Turkish Party (CTP) on April 2. The main reasons behind the collapse of the government were related to economic problems the country is facing, most of which are due to the financial tight spot created as a result of the delay in signing the financial protocol with Turkey. Without the protocol, Turkish Cyprus simply does not have the financial means to compensate for its spending. Alongside other disagreements, divergences over the management of the water provided by Turkey through the Turkish Cyprus Water Supply Project pipeline, which was completed by October 2015 but not yet utilized, was one of the reasons behind the delay.

After the collapse of the government and the resignation of the Prime Minister Ömer Kalyoncu, the UBP quickly agreed with the Democratic Party-National Forces, led by Serdar Denkta?, son of the late Rauf Denkta?, to form a new government. Although President Mustafa Ak?nc? approved the new government led by UBP MP Hüseyin Özgürgün, it only has 23 seats in the 50-seat parliament and will depend on the support of independents.

If the government survives next week's confidence vote in parliament, it will still face the same problems which caused the collapse of the previous one. Thus, it is reasonable to expect that the new government would be more eager to finalize the financial protocol with Turkey, which will then allow the release of funds, allowing the government to overcome its inability to pay the salaries of...