In the fight against coronavirus, the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) found that its decades-long isolation turned out to be an unexpected plus.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you look at the general view in the world, we see a relatively good picture here,\u201d Ahmet Sozen, a professor of international relations at Northern Cyprus\u2019 Eastern Mediterranean University, told.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne reason for this is that \u2013 we always interpret it as negative \u2013 but it is a society under isolation,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut it also means that isolation is not always a bad thing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cyprus has been divided since 1974 when a Greek Cypriot coup was followed by violence against the island’s Turks and Ankara’s intervention as a guarantor power.<\/p>\n
It has seen an on-and-off peace process in recent years, including a failed 2017 initiative in Switzerland under the auspices of guarantor countries Turkey, Greece, and the U.K.<\/p>\n
The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus \u2013 currently recognized only by Turkey \u2013 confirmed its first case on March 10, while a total of four people, including two German citizens, have died due to the coronavirus.<\/p>\n
Some 6,500 coronavirus tests have been done in Northern Cyprus to date, with 108 cases, including 78 local residents and the rest foreign nationals.<\/p>\n
There is no one in intensive care, and 84 people have recovered from the virus, according to the country\u2019s Health Ministry.<\/p>\n
As of March 23, a partial curfew in Northern Cyprus entered into force.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were isolated with a relatively early decision,\u201d Sozen said. \u201cWe somehow see the benefit of being an island.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to Sozen, if the right decisions had not been taken on the island, there might be many more coronavirus cases today.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe examples of Italy and Spain are very instructive,\u201d he said referring to the countries in Europe hardest hit by the epidemic.<\/p>\n
Statistics for the island normally mention only the numbers in Southern Cyprus, where according to the data compiled by the U.S.\u2019 Johns Hopkins University, 790 coronavirus cases were reported, with a death toll of 13.<\/p>\n
This statistical neglect makes the situation in Northern Cyprus harder to follow than most other countries.<\/p>\n
According to Sozen, this is the result of being an \u201cunrecognized state,\u201d comparing it to two breakaway regions in southern Georgia\u2019s breakaway regions, South Ossetia and Abkhazia, where \u201cyou cannot find any statistical information \u2026 unless you speak to serious local people.\u201d<\/p>\n
However, he added, \u201cThe TRNC is one of the most democratic ones among [the world\u2019s] unrecognized entities.\u201d<\/p>\n
The border between Southern and Northern Cyprus has been closed for weeks now, since the pandemic first made headlines, the first time that had happened since the gates were opened in 2004.<\/p>\n
That is why the virus cannot spread any further from Southern Cyprus to the North, as \u201cwe are totally isolated,\u201d Sozen added.<\/p>\n
What worries him more is the future awaiting the country in the post-coronavirus world. \u201cIt is scary,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
For example, the government has cut government workers\u2019 salaries for three months, he said. These cuts vary from 20% to as high as 60% he added.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo one is receiving a salary over 8,500 TL or under minimum wage at the moment in Northern Cyprus,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The economy of Northern Cyprus is based on two important sectors, namely tourism and education.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow, in a period when economies are shrinking all over the world, it would be completely naive to expect tourists this year,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
At a time when students around the world have suspended in-person classes, \u201chow many students would come to is a question\u201d as well, Sozen said.<\/p>\n
According to Sozen, serious problems and perhaps bankruptcies are expected in the country after the outbreak is under control.<\/p>\n
On the stalled peace process between the two sides of the island, Sozen said that it is very difficult to make a \u201chealthy prediction\u201d from today.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is not even clear when the border will be open,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Apart from a number of pro-peace groups, a solution on Cyprus is nobody\u2019s agenda today, he added.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll the things we used to regard as problems are not talked about today,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
Highlighting that states have emerged again as important actors, Sozen said: \u201cStates can close their borders despite all globalization whenever they want and can isolate themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nation-states grew stronger due to coronavirus, he added. But he said some states are unable to provide services that their citizens need, citing Spain and Italy, where doctors were in the position of deciding who would live or die due to a shortage of ventilators.<\/p>\n
Pointing to the importance of solidarity, Sozen said: \u201cWe can see a trend of solidarity, but there is no model of solidarity that can create a new world order.\u201d<\/p>\n
Apart from reiterating its full support for the TRNC, Turkey has also sent medical supplies to dozens of countries hard hit by the coronavirus epidemic including, the U.K., Spain, Italy, Romania, Somalia, Lebanon and Palestine.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can only solve global problems through global scale collaborations and solidarity,\u201d Sozen added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Seen as negative for years, lack of recognition of Northern Cyprus helped country stay shielded from wide spread of virus. In the fight against coronavirus, the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) found that its decades-long isolation turned out to be an unexpected plus. \u201cWhen you look at the general view in the world, we […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":7688,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":null,"jnews_primary_category":{"id":""},"jnews_override_counter":{"override_view_counter":"0","view_counter_number":"0","override_share_counter":"0","share_counter_number":"0","override_like_counter":"0","like_counter_number":"0","override_dislike_counter":"0","dislike_counter_number":"0"},"jnews_post_split":{"enable_post_split":"0","post_split":[{"template":"1","tag":"h2","numbering":"asc","mode":"normal"}]},"footnotes":""},"categories":[130,137,7,7873,7867,7872,7868],"tags":[7874,7936],"class_list":["post-7687","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health","category-sectoral","category-tourism","category-travel","category-turkey","category-vacation","category-world","tag-coronavirus","tag-italy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turizmtatilseyahat.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7687","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turizmtatilseyahat.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turizmtatilseyahat.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turizmtatilseyahat.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turizmtatilseyahat.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7687"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.turizmtatilseyahat.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7687\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7689,"href":"https:\/\/www.turizmtatilseyahat.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7687\/revisions\/7689"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turizmtatilseyahat.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7688"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turizmtatilseyahat.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7687"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turizmtatilseyahat.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7687"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turizmtatilseyahat.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7687"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}