Minister of Public Works and Transport Erhan Arıklı responded on social media to criticism of the Economic and Financial Cooperation Protocol signed with Turkey, Kibris Postasi reported.
In his statement, Arıklı said, “It is not necessary to take the obvious front and their objections very seriously“.
The full text of Arıklı’s post on social media is as follows:
“The Economic and Financial Cooperation Protocol signed with the Motherland of Turkey was not slow to cause the known and expected reactions on the known front.
“This “Known Front” shows a standard reaction to this agreement, as it does to every agreement signed with Turkey. It will continue to show [the same reaction].
“According to them, the best deal is; The fact that Turkey provides financial aid beyond what we desire, without expecting anything in return and without making any demands, and even giving this money not as aid, but as a price for its military and political presence in Cyprus…
“It is not necessary to take this particular front and their objections too seriously.
“Because they want the continuation of this status quo that has been established for years. Their raison d’être to be fiercely opposed to structural transformations and reforms that will disrupt this status quo…
“However, the continuation of this status quo is not possible. Even if the motherland Turkey finances all the infrastructure works, our budget, which only covers the current expenses, creates more deficit every year…”
