The market and the struggle for survival unite Cyprus

The very high inflation in Turkey and the massive devaluation of the Turkish lira have catalytic repercussions for the whole of Cyprus. For the first time, more people – including more Greek Cypriots – crossed from the Republic-of-Cyprus-controlled area into north Cyprus than vice versa. The laws of the market know no “borders”. The whole of Cyprus is becoming a single market and, certainly, a capitalist market. Let’s see who are the winners and who are the losers.

For the first time, the Greek Cypriots crossing the barricades have outnumbered the Turkish Cypriots, by a very large margin. The data, which was published by the north Cyprus administration, can be interpreted in a number of ways concerning the situation on the island at the moment.

The reversal recorded in the last months in the frequency of crossings by Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots from the roadblocks is clear, based on the “official” data made public by the Turkish Cypriot side.

According to the data which is made available by the north Cyprus Ministry of Tourism, in the period from January to the end of July this year, a total of 3,504,088 crossings were recorded from the areas controlled by the Republic of Cyprus and 1,571,000 of them concerned Greek Cypriots.

In the same period, the number of Turkish Cypriot crossings to the areas controlled by the Republic of Cyprus was 993,794.

An unprecedented increase

It is clear that there is an impressive increase in Greek Cypriot crossings, despite the fact that several hundred Turkish Cypriots work permanently in the areas controlled by the Republic.

The number of Turkish Cypriot crossings was consistently higher in the period from 2006 to 2018 but in 2018, the year in which the ongoing crisis of the Turkish lira began, these numbers had approached each other, reaching close to one million on both sides, with the Turkish Cypriots, remaining slightly more stable.

At that time – in 2018 – it was the first time in history that Greek Cypriot crossings exceeded 800,000 in one year.

The continuous devaluations of the Turkish lira combined with the increase in prices in the areas controlled by the Republic of Cyprus have made the Turkish Cypriot market attractive to Greek Cypriots, who visit it to buy fuel, but also food and clothing, as well as for making use of the catering/hospitality facilities which, despite the ever-increasing inflation in north Cyprus, remain significantly cheaper.

What about the Turkish Cypriots

According to Cypriot press reports, this trend has now also touched house rentals, with rents in north Cyprus being usually a third of rents in the area under the control of the Republic of Cyprus.

As a result, many Greek Cypriots and foreigners, students and non-students, move to the other side of the dividing line. Something that is also recorded for the first time in the annals.

It is noteworthy that despite employment of several hundred among Turkish Cypriots living in the areas controlled by the Republic – which entails their daily crossing of roadblocks – the number of Turkish Cypriot crossings has not increased. On the contrary, compared to other years, it is also slightly reduced.

One should bear in mind that the above figures concern only the first six months of the current year. In 2018 there were approximately one million crossings from each community for the whole year.

There were 1,571,000 Greek Cypriot crossings into north Cyprus and the 993,794 Turkish Cypriot crossings into the RoC controlled area only in the first half of 2022. If this pace continues until the end of 2022, there will be 3 million Greek Cypriot crossings and 2 million Turkish Cypriot crossings.

This is mainly attributed to the economic crisis in Turkey and the even higher inflation in north Cyprus, which makes the RoC-controlled area too expensive to people living in the North, and affordable only to a wealthy section of the TC population.

The minimum wage in north Cyprus, as redefined since 1^st July, is 9,885 TL (541 euros), which means a little more than half of the minimum wage in the areas controlled by the Republic. In fact, this refers to regular workers and does not apply to that part of the population that is forced to accept other types of arrangements or face the misery of unemployment.

The situation is even worse with pensions, which remain fixed at levels of previous years. To understand what that means, one has to bear in mind that in January 2021, 10 Turkish Liras were the equivalent of one euro, and in recent days one euro means more than 18 Turkish Liras.

British and Greeks the largest groups

The available data are also of particular interest regarding the crossings of non-Cypriots, i.e., nationals of third countries, who are neither Greek Cypriots nor Turkish Cypriots. In the period from January to July 2022, the crossings of “other nationalities” from the areas controlled by the Republic into north Cyprus were 941,878 people.

In terms of their national distribution, the most crossings of foreigners from the Republic-controlled areas to north Cyprus involved nationals of Britain (147,393) and Greece (132,019), followed by nationals of: Romania: 83,274, Germany: 46,178, Israel : 37,061, Poland: 33,417, Russia: 29,723, Slovakia: 25,923, Italy: 22,068, France: 21,462, Ukraine: 17,867, USA: 11,973, Hungary: 10,721, Czech Republic: 9,826, Lebanon: 9,548, Sweden: 10,205, Spain: 9.205, Sweden: 9,101, Netherlands: 8,488, Austria: 6,372, Latvia: 6,312, Denmark: 5,642, Belgium: 5,394, China: 5,262, Norway: 5,214, Ireland: 5,088, Jordan: 5,084 Iran: 3,933 India: 3,911, Moldova: 3,547 , Switzerland: 3,302, Canada: 3,237, Australia: 3,103 Finland: 2,943 Slovenia: 1,795 Albania: 1,209 Syria: 937 and Bosnia and Herzegovina: 749. Other: 92,075

The figures do not record the corresponding number of foreigners who crossed into the RoC-controlled area from north Cyprus, which is understandable, since foreigners rarely come through this route, while the entry of non-EU nationals through the barricades is also restricted based on directives concerning public security in the Republic of Cyprus, if such persons have entered from Ercan (Tymbou) airport and other entry points which the Republic of Cyprus, as the only internationally recognized state entity on the island, has declared closed since 1974.

It is noted that based on the European Regulation which governs transit through the Green Line (EC 866/2004) and supersedes any national legislation, the operation of such ports and airports is considered illegal, but not their actual use by the citizens of the European Union.