N Cyprus ‘owes water supply to Turkish tech’

Turkish Cyprus owes its water supply to Turkish technology, Forestry and Waterworks Minister Veysel Eroğlu said on Oct. 18, referring to a landmark project between Turkey and the divided island.

"If it weren’t for Turkish technology, nobody would be able to supply water to Cyprus, said the Turkish minister during a meeting with the Turkish Cypriot Agriculture and Natural Resources Minister Nazım Çavuşoğlu.

Eroğlu said Turkey “is among the top three in terms of water projects.”

He said water supply projects for the agriculture sector that would contribute to the Turkish Cypriot economy by increasing the product range were also complete.

A total of 37.5 million cubic meters of water out of 75 million cubic meters would be used for agriculture sector, Eroğlu said.

The rest would be used in the industrial sector or as potable water.

A power line route will differ from that of the water supply project between Turkey and Turkish Cyprus, he said.

The project supplies 30 million cubic meters of water every year.

In recent years, Turkey began to transfer 75 million cubic meters of fresh water per annum from Turkey to Turkish Cyprus. The project will last for the next 50 years.

The first flow of fresh water from Turkey to Turkish Cyprus was sent in October 2015.

Cyprus was divided into a Turkish Cypriot state in the north and a Greek Cypriot administration in the south after an Enosis-inspired 1974 military coup was followed by violence against the island’s Turks, and Turkey’s intervention as a guarantor power.

The status of the island remains unresolved in spite of a series of discussions that resumed in May 2015.