Turkish Cypriots are unhappy over an apparent rise in Turkey’s interference into the political, economic and religious state of play in breakaway northern Cyprus which is still under Ankara’s control.
This is what an opinion poll conducted by the Centre for Migration, Identity and Rights’ Studies (CMIRS) in the north shows. This was published on Monday in Turkish Cypriot Halkin Sesi paper.
The poll, conducted via face-to-face interviews with 500 adult participants, also showed that Turkish Cypriot are feeling more and more unhappy and pessimistic.
In addition, 90.3% of respondents believe that things are going in the wrong direction in the territories still under occupation since a 1974 invasion by Turkey.
The most important issues that cause anxiety to Turkish Cypriots is the economy followed by the Cyprus problem, incompetent political leadership, inflation, unemployment and corruption.
The survey also showed that 82.76% of respondents agreed with the view that “there has been an increasing interference of Turkey in the internal affairs of the ‘trnc’ in recent years.”
The percentage of those who said they did not agree with this view was only 7.13%.
The percentage of those who believed that there has been increasing interference by Turkey in 2016 stood at 56.36%.
