Minister of Economy and Energy Sunat Atun, has said that the TRNC will be able to sell electricity after it is connectted via undersea cable to the mainland.
He assured national electricity authority KIB-TEK workers that they will not lose out. Atun condemned KIB-TEK and certain MPs for trying to make political capital out of the new Turkish electricity supply.
Prices for electricity would go up next week, he said. However, electricity from Turkey would be both cheap and environmentally friendly, he claimed.
According to Turkish Cypriot daily ‘Kibris’ Atun said that the new electricity cable would increase energy diversity in the TRNC. He also argued that if it was wanted, they were ready to share the mainland’s electricity and water with the Greek Cypriots. “We are offering a friendly hand to them. Providing that they want to hold this hand of peace. We are ready for any kind of cooperation”, Atun asserted.
Noting that together with Turkey, they had prepared their water and energy policies for development for the next 50 years, he recalled that the water transferred from Turkey has been distributed all across the TRNC and added that it will cover their needs for the next 50 years. “It is not only for the TRNC, if necessary, we are ready to sell water to the Greek Cypriot side. This is our vision. In an extension of this agreement, we have signed the energy cooperation agreement and for the electricity interconnection with Turkey. Not only we will be able to take electricity from Turkey, but also we will try to make use of the region’s energy resources in the future”, Atun further argued.
Turkey, in recent years, Atun said, is moving towards becoming an energy hub in the region.
Star Kibris, Kibris