North finally signs water deal with Turkey

After months of wrangling, the deal between the breakaway Turkish Cypriot state and Turkey for the management of water piped to the north was signed on Wednesday in Ankara.
The deal was signed by Turkish Cypriot ‘Prime Minister’ Omer Kalyoncu and Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu.
The agreement came after months of negotiations and disputes between the north and Ankara over the management of the water.
The issue had become a cause of friction between the two parties that form the ‘coalition government’, in the north resulting in one of the parties, the National Unity Party (UBP), giving an ultimatum to its coalition partner, the Republican Turkish Party (CTP), to sign the agreement or else they would walk out.
At the eleventh hour amendments were proposed which Turkey accepted. The problem was a provision in the initial agreement according to which the company that would manage the water distribution was to also have control over the north’s boreholes thus creating a water monopoly, which was not accepted by the CTP.
Local authorities wanted to manage the water themselves, but Turkey said it should be given to a private company. Last week reports said municipalities who were not going to be part of the system would have access to local wells and the imported water.
But they would not receive a share of the turnover from the sale of the water, nor would there be any investment in their jurisdiction.
According to media reports in the north, opposition parties are still not satisfied with the revised agreement and blame the two ruling parties for lack of transparency as regards the issue.

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