Winter time in North Cyprus - Akinci calls for time issue to be revisited

Turkish Cypriot president Mustafa Akinci has called for the decision to follow Turkey and not switch to winter time to be revisited.

Akinci made the remarks on Tuesday during a meeting with ‘parliamentary speaker’ Sibel Siber.

There is no rule saying we have to do what Turkey does,” he said.

We need to do what is right and most suitable for our country. There is nothing to misunderstand about this.

Akinci said the matter should be discussed by parties in ‘parliament’ because it was dividing the Turkish Cypriot community.

This would be the second year the Turkish Cypriots opt to continue with the summer time instead of switching at the end of the month, despite the problems it created in 2016.

Several Turkish Cypriots groups took to the streets repeatedly in December last year to protest the deaths of two teenage girls and a bus driver killed in a crash on Pentadaktylos mountain while travelling to school in the dark.

The administration’s decision not to switch back from daylight saving time meant that at 7am, when the pupils were travelling to school, the sun had not yet risen. At the time, Akinci had asked the administration to reconsider its decision but to no avail.