CTP Güzelyurt District Chairperson Çağlar Gulamkadir spoke about the workers’ demands and mentioned that there were several claims, including that the workers had been cheated and were not even paid the minimum wage. The workers said that they had paid intermediaries €8,000 each to come to North Cyprus and that Cypruvex had brought them there with promises of work.
They also complained about poor living conditions. The workers said they were willing to go back to their countries if they were refunded the €8,000 they each paid, but they were worried about how they would return home if they only received two or three months’ wages, as they were already in debt.
In a separate article, Yeniduzen reported that the Independence Road Güzelyurt Organisation visited Cypruvex workers on-site to observe their conditions and issued a press statement. According to the statement by Independence Road, Regional Manager Celal Özkızan pointed out that the workers are being forced to live under slavery-like conditions and urged the authorities to take immediate action. Özkızan highlighted that the workers are under constant threat and unable to voice their concerns, calling on the Ministry of Labour to intervene.
The statement condemned the Chamber of Commerce, the government, and “mafia-like agencies operating under the guise of consultancy” for their role in this situation, describing them as “companies involved in human trafficking and exploitation”. The statement concluded by saying, “We have been witnessing the human tragedy faced by Cypruvex workers, who have been forced to endure slave-like conditions for some time now”.
This appears to be a longstanding issue, in December 2019, Yeniduzen published an article about the squalid living conditions endured by seasonal workers.
