Last week the Turkish Ambassador Halil Akca said that ‘Mersin harbour is not closed, the problem is that TRNC goods are not up to standard and too expensive’.
He was commenting on the very low level of exports from the TRNC to Turkey.
Surprisingly most industrialists and TRNC business organisations agree with him. Gunay Cerkez, head of the TRNC Chamber of Commerce agreed with the statement though he did say that Turkey had too many regulations.
He said that the high price of TRNC goods is because the cost of electricity, water, labour and raw materials are all higher than Turkey.
Mr Cerkez pointed out that Turkey was part of the European Customs Union and had to abide by its rules and that this raised problems for TRNC exporters.
