Teachers’ Union Demands Government Action on Economy

North Cyprus News - Teachers Union DemoThe Turkish Cypriot Secondary Education Teachers’ Union (KTOEOS) held a demonstration in front of the Assembly building this morning. KTOEOS pointed out that salaries paid in TL were devalued against foreign currencies, and demanded that all wages be paid in Euros including those on the minimum wage.

KTOEOS, which also listed proposals for an exit from the economic crisis, has demanded that negotiations be resumed to achieve a unified federal Cyprus and steps taken to provide a lasting solution.

North Cyprus News - Selma Eylem KTOEOSPresident of KTEOS Selma Eylem said the following: “As workers in our country, we are experiencing difficult days. With the depreciation of the TL against rising foreign exchange rates, our salaries have significantly reduced our purchasing power, in addition to the price increases and cost of living. Price increases should be promptly reversed and the cost of living should be assessed every two months to increase the purchasing power of the employees.

Employees on the minimum wage have been sentenced to hunger. The minimum wage and other salaries must be paid in euros.

She went on to say inter alia, that social inequality must be addressed. Meanwhile, corruption should be tackled, referring to casinos, the doling out of permissions to build universities and bribery. She went onto allege that bribe money had been paid into the bank account of the former prime minister and that all these issues have been ignored.

Eylem asked the government what it was doing to protect the people and get out of the current economic crisis.

The Turkish Cypriots should be self-governed, she said. The central bank, civil defence, all public institutions should be managed by the Turkish Cypriots, she said. The union leader called for tax reform and for measures to be taken to stem the tide of tax evasion.

Eylem also said that the Cyprus negotiations to re-unite the island under a federal umbrella should begin the soonest, so that they could become part of the EU and adopt the euro as their currency.

Yeni Duzen

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