TRNC Prime Minister call for review of driving test system in the country

TRNC Prime Minister, Ersin Tatar has called for the review of the country's licence system following the deaths of 29 people on the roads so far this year.

Speaking in Parliament on Monday, Tatar highlighted that “99 per cent of those taking the driving test pass it” and called for an investigation into the high success rate.

The latest deaths involved a police officer and his wife who were killed when their car was hit by an alleged “drink-driver” near the Alayköy junction of the Güzelyurt-Lefkoşa road during the early hours of last Saturday.

This pain is everyone’s pain, it is the pain of our people. . . but we cannot get anywhere by blaming each other, Mr Tatar said in response to opposition Social Democratic Party (TDP) MP Hüseyin Angolemli, who blamed the government for the increasing number of road crashes.

Roads are in darkness and full of potholes and this issue is a crucial problem that the government needs to take seriously, Mr Angolemli said.

Tatar then replied that the government had been upgrading roads as part of efforts to improve safety – which he described as being “one of our top priorities”, adding: 

In addition, we constantly discuss the road safety issue with police who do their best to enforce laws and regulations.

However, 99 per cent of those who take the driving test pass it and we need to investigate that situation, he said.