Cafer Gürcafer, President of the Cyprus Turkish Building Contractors Association (CTBCA), evaluated the performance of the government during the pandemic process. He made noteworthy statements about the vaccine.
Attending as a guest of İsmet Özgüren in Cyprus Net News, Gürcafer commented on the effects of the pandemic on the country’s economy and answered questions about the Cyprus issue and the Maraş initiative.
“We could not exploit our advantages; we did not manage the economy correctly”
CTBCA President Gürcafer commented that since such a pandemic had not been experienced previously, many mistakes were made in our country as well as around the world.
Stating that making mistakes is not an abnormal situation during such a novel process, Gürcafer noted that the advantages of the country may have still been evaluated correctly, but this was not done.
Gürcafer said that “This is not a period or a challenge where anyone had any experience of. It is normal to make mistakes. For example, Britain declared ‘herd immunity’, which was a mistake and its economy fell apart. They did not do this knowingly. The WHO approached it one way, the USA another. We were not a UK or Southern Cyprus, but we should have made better use of the possibilities and our opportunities during this period of conflict with the virus. Being an island is an advantage over other countries, when we said ‘we are in a lockdown’, people could not swim to come to the country. We are also a small society, much easier to manage. Consequently, we were very fortunate during this period. Nevertheless, we cannot say that we managed the economy and our resources properly.’’
“The society was not treated fairly”
CTBCA President Gürcafer said that the use of resources has not been fair.
Gürcafer, reminding that the people survived this process by exhausting their own savings said, “We should have foreseen that these savings would be exhausted before we wasted our public resources. We were slightly generous, we hoped that life would return to normal in 2 months, and our desires replaced any real forecasts. We wasted. We did not distribute it as equitably as possible. Not managing the economy correctly beyond this point will cause disaster.’’
“We should be able to get a share from the emerging economic pie”
Expressing that the economies of many countries collapsed due to the pandemic, Cafer Gürcafer stated that these countries are trying recover from the wounds to their economies through vaccination as soon as possible, and that all countries are rising to get a share of the emerging economic pie.
Saying that the TRNC should also claim its share of this emerging economic pie Gürcafer went on to state, “In order to rise up economically, these countries will undergo vaccination and open their doors to those who have been vaccinated. People who have been traumatized by the pandemic will venture out and go on vacations, or the elderly will settle in a country they see as safe. Therefore, we should aim to get our share from this pie.’’
“The demand of Economic Organizations Platform is the vaccine”
CTBCA President Cafer Gürcafer stated that as the Economic Organizations Platform they met with the Prime Minister with a demand for a vaccine, they tried to reach the Republic of Turkey Vice President Fuat Oktay and also said that they requested an appointment with the Ambassador of the European Union (EU).
Gürcafer spoke as follows ‘’Our demand is the vaccine but we also need to explain this correctly to the authorities in Turkey. Turkey will get 50m vials of vaccine from China and aims to provide the TRNC with an amount utilizing a system based on ratio and proportion. In other words, if Turkey receives 3 million vials a month for a population of 80 million, to us with a population of 500k, we are looking at getting an amount between 10-20k per month. With this approach, we can neither escape the pandemic nor open our doors, and will continue to be an economic burden to Turkey. We need to open up so that we can rise economically. We need to mobilize the tourism, higher education, build-and-sell and construction sectors. For this we need to be provided with a several hundred thousand vials of the vaccine at once.’’
Saying that with good planning, in a circumstance where 50 percent of the society is vaccinated, the external promotion aspect should also be done correctly. Gürcafer went on to state, “If we can implement this program, we will rescue the 2021 season and there will be a period of expansion like we had during the Annan Plan period. I believe this can be achieved.’’
“I have concerns about the Government’s position for the process hereon”
Suggesting that the business world is upset with the Turkish Cypriot politics, Cafer Gürcafer stated that at present the desired togetherness for the benefit of the country is not being achieved.
Gürcafer spoke as, “Getting to this point, we had expected a much different approach to politics. We expected them to do what was necessary for the country, putting all their differences aside even if it hurts them or is contrary to their principles. The Government, the main opposition, the opposition… Everyone is right from their own perspective but there is a reality. If we miss this next train, we will squander the 2021 season. Firms in tourism and construction will collapse, banks will go bust, there will be serious famine around the place”
Gürcafer, stating that the priority ought not be an election, position or office, expressing; “During this period, a cabinet should have been formed comprising as many experts as possible. I would have liked all political parties to get involved on a voluntary basis. The Country’s priorities should have been kept at the forefront. I am not speaking for myself, I am saying this on behalf of the business world. This country is ours, we need to put our hands together and go to work. I cannot say that politics has delivered completely on what was necessary and I am concerned about the about the process hereon.’’
“The political establishment must get more productive”
Asserting that productivity of the political establishment must be increased Gürcafer said, “The system should be dealt with as a whole and ought to be changed. It is the political establishment that governs the country. Provided the political establishment comprises a wealth of human resources, it could play a more positive role in governing the country. We need to find the formula for this to work, we need to ensure people become interested in politics, we have to dissociate being a Deputy in the Assembly and being a Minister. The deputy should be in the Assembly to legislate; the minister should be a technocrat. If a Deputy becomes a Minister, he or she should lose their membership status at the Assembly. Once we achieve this, productivity in both the executive and the legislature will increase significantly.”
Expressing that he is advocating the evolution of the current system, Cafer Gürcafer said, ‘’I am not necessarily insisting on a ‘presidential system’ or saying let there be a ‘dictatorship’. Separation of powers and independence of the judiciary are very important.’’
Stating that the opposition and the government do not necessarily have to be in conflict, Gürcafer pointed out that if the benefit of the country is at stake, a compromise is needed.
“We will be ruined if we lose 2012”
CTBCA President Cafer Gürcafer also evaluated the effects of the pandemic on the construction industry. Gürcafer stated that tourism and higher education have come to a halt, but the wheels in construction are grinding on slowly.
Gürcafer said, “We learned from the steep slump in 2007-2008, our member companies are now much more institutionalized and disciplined. There were loans allocated and projects which had started. They continued with the projects which had already began with those allocated loans. As a result, a product of around 25 thousand houses has emerged. This kept all sub-sectors active up until now and we need to monetize these residences. What is more, we need to mobilize tourism as the tourist will come, see, like and buy. Higher education is also a part of tourism in a way and we should not treat it differently in this regard’’.
Saying that vaccination is the key at this point, Gürcafer stated, “If we cannot vaccinate 50 percent of the society at the least within 3 months, if we do not declare in advance that by the end of March will open our doors to vaccinated people without quarantining them, it will mean that we have lost 2021 and this is a disaster.’’
“The contamination did not spread from the hotels”
CTBCA President Cafer Gürcafer said that he did not want to debate how the contamination got into the country, but the weakness of the State’s control at the checkpoints was possibly a contributing factor.
“The State has set some rules but did not control how these rules it has set were implemented,” said Gürcafer. He went on to state that as with many institutions in the country, the monitoring and control at the entry points on land was not very accurate and the contamination spread primarily from these points.
Gürcafer said, “The seaports and the airports were kept under control as much as possible. However, we could not control the gates on land very accurately. The contamination was mainly from there. Looking at the data from the PCR tests, short term (3 day) stays from Turkey did not cause any notable spread from the hotels. On the other hand, smuggling is still carried out today from the south to the north with some ease.’’
“At this stage the thing we would want from Mr. Oktay is the vaccine”
Stipulating that what is desired for now is the Covid-19 vaccine, he went on to say that the subjects to be discussed with Turkey could be discussed after the normalization of our lives.
Gürcafer said: “Once life returns to normal, then of course there are issues we need to discuss. For example, Maraş, or like the withdrawal of military units from within a city. There was a war in 1974, soldiers arrived and were deployed in Kyrenia, but now almost after half a century since we have become a State, normal life should return instead of remaining in a state of war. This demand of ours ought not be misconstrued. Warnings such as “no standing allowed; no photography is permitted” are not compatible with tourism within a city like Kyrenia which is a pearl of tourism. The military are not comfortable with this either. Then there is İskele… İskele is destined to become our principal pearl regarding tourism. A military project is under consideration for that area. We have requested that this project be postponed till further notice. Apart from these, we should not discuss our internal matters with Mr. Oktay.’’
“I want Maraş to be returned to its former owners and be opened”
Responding to a question from Özgürgen, CTBCA President Gürcafer made an assessment about the Maraş issue and stated that keeping Maraş closed prevented the development of Mağusa, caused emigration and trauma, and said that he wanted Maraş to be opened and be returned it to its former owners.
Gürcafer said, “As a person living in Mağusa, I want Maraş to be opened and be returned it to its former owners. I would like the economics to be managed in a way that my country and society earn as much as possible.’’ He went on to say that, “May it be beneficial for peace, for the people of Mağusa and for Turkish Cypriots and for the world at large”
“With Maraş a great political message was issued”
Evaluating the visit of the closed Maraş by the Turkish contingent, Gürcafer completed his discussion with the following words: “With that visit a perception emerged as if TOKI came and was rebuilding Maraş, and confusion ensued. Whereas, fixing the route of the President of the Republic was to send a message of earnestness to the other party. This hit the spot in my view. When we declared ‘we will open Maraş’ in the past they used to say ‘you could not even clean it’. A great message was issued there. This was a political message, and in my view it was the right message. I was a child when I began to grapple with the Cyprus issue. We cannot tolerate any further deferment of the Cyprus problem. At this point I hope something will come out of 5 + 1.”
