By Kyriacos Kiliaris
Impoverishment of the Turkish Cypriot community seems to have no end. A survey run by the Turkish Cypriot public servants’ union KTAMS suggests the community is sinking into poverty.
KTAMS has published a survey regarding the hunger and poverty lines based on a four-member family in the north.
They found the ‘hunger line’ to be at 1,794 Turkish Lira (TRY) – about €441 – a month, and the poverty line to be at 8,146 TRY (€2,000) .
The hunger line is a calculation of the amount a four-member family needs to meet its basic sustenance requirements, while the poverty line covers a wider range of things, including clothing, rent, bills and petrol.
KTAMS organising secretary Devrim Barcin told the Cyprus Weekly: “A family of four with only one of the parents working on minimum wage, cannot live without going hungry. A family with only a minimum wage of 1,595 TRY (€390), can meet its food needs for only 27 days, and that is if the family sacrifices all other expenses. If they try to meet all of their daily needs, the money will only last them for 5.8 days”.
According to Barcin, these circumstances affect a huge percentage of the population, as 80% of the people working in the private sector are paid the minimum wage equivalent of €390.
KTAMS union head Ahmet Kaptan also noted that Turkish Cypriots are living through difficult days, with the coalition not only avoiding taking measures towards solving the problems, but claimed they are contributing to magnify the problems.
“The minority coalition are not working in the interest of the people, but are rather looking out for their own interests,” claimed Kaptan.
KTAMS’ survey has been published in a week that saw two cases of people living in extreme poverty coming to the surface, after fires had broken out in the homes of the individuals involved.
In one case, two elderly Turkish Cypriot siblings were found living under very poor conditions in a rat-infested home after a fire broke out in their kitchen. The second case involved a fire that started in a shed, which was home to a family and their three young children.