TRNC population about 800,000 with only 53,000 registered students

The population of TRNC has been estimated as 800,000 according to the Minister of Finance, Serdar Denktash.

According to the report by Turkish Cypriot daily, Afrika, on Thursday, Denktash, said a population census is needed but that there are no plans for one at the moment. 

I think that 800,000 people live here, Denktash said in reply to a question during a press conference on Wednesday, February 27.

Meanwhile, the TRNC Minister of Interior, Aysegul Baybars, responded that the exact number of people living in the TRNC is not known. 

To tell the truth, I am ashamed when I talk about this issue, she told Genc TV on Wedneaday.

Persons who enter the country should be registered. Otherwise, Mr Denktash will come and say 800,000 live here and then someone else will come and say something else, she said.

Baybars also talked about the importance of drafting a policy on the issue of population, however, she argued that this cannot happen within a year as “there were many unregistered persons when we came to power”.

A registration system should be created in order to be able to talk about the population. At the moment there are 53,000 registered students. There are 7,000-8,000 employees with a work permit, as well as persons accompanying their spouse. We started building the registration mechanism, she added.

Speaking ion socioeconomic data, Denktash announced the results of a survey on the “Quality of life and assets” carried out by the “ministry of finance”.

The research found that:

• 27% of the households in the TRNC are considered as middle or upper income, 2.5% are high income, 67% are low income, and 15% are considered to be living in poverty
• 59% of the “citizens” work in the private sector and 25% are public-municipal employees
• The average monthly income of 66.7% of “citizens” is 3,847 TL (634.5 EUR)
• 25% of citizens have great difficulty in making ends meet by the end of the month
• Most of the citizens own a house and 84% said they do not pay rent or other installments

The research also surveyed people’s political positions and found that:

• 45% said they believe that they should become EU citizens
• 57% said that they do not believe a federal solution is possible
• 40% of the respondents said they do not trust the “parliament” and the “government”
• 27% do not trust the “legal system”
• 17% do not trust the “police”
• 29% do not trust the “local administration”
• 32% do not trust the unions
• The army is the most trusted institution, with a 38% approval rate

Based on these results, Denktash argued that people in north Cyprus “are happier than those who live in south Cyprus and Turkey, however the Turkish Cypriots feel uncertain about their future.”

Edited from In-Cyprus