Turkish Cypriots ‘have lost $112,000 each’ in the last 30 years

EVERY Turkish Cypriot has lost $112,000 within the past 30 years, according to a study by Professor Omer Gokcekus of Seton Hall University in the US.

Gokcekus, a Turkish Cypriot by origin, identifies international isolation and embargoes as the root causes of the loss suffered by the Turkish Cypriots, He estimates the total loss accumulates to no less than $25 billion.

The study has been compiled into a book by the Chamber of Commerce in the north.

It includes chapters on the cost of the isolation and the losses in tourism revenues, as well as a statistical analysis of the situation in the north.

The President of the Chamber of Commerce, Dr Hasan Inci, said that the study showed the kind of positive impact a settlement in Cyprus would have on the economic development of the Turkish Cypriot community.

“These figures are important in seeing which opportunities lie ahead for the Turkish Cypriot economy.

“This is why we must look to the future to see what we will gain” he proposed.

A similar thought was echoed by the Head of the Cyprus Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KEVE) Manthos Mavrommatis last month.

“Both economies on the island are experiencing a slowdown. The only real prospect of high growth rates can only come out from a political solution,” he said at the time.
Mavrommatis had made the comments at the publication of a report by an all-island team of economists which focused on the economic benefits of a solution.

According to the report, a solution to the Cyprus problem would boost business to the island by a minimum of €1.8 billion a year, with each Cypriot family standing to gain an extra €5,500 per year.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.