Occupied Cyprus: Üstel’s “Target 2033” plan with TRY 75 billion from Ankara, a cable and a pipeline to Turkey “despite the obstacles”

Ünal Üstel, the head of the occupation regime’s so-called government, presented a programme called “Target 2033” (Hedef 2033) in the occupied part of Nicosia on Monday, October 12, to be carried out jointly with Turkey. The year 2033 was not chosen at random: it is the 50th anniversary of the proclamation of the breakaway entity in 1983, an act the UN Security Council declared legally invalid in Resolution 541.

According to Turkey’s Daily Sabah, Üstel said he had signed protocols with Ankara worth about TRY 75 billion ($1.52 billion) covering energy, health, transport, technology, housing, education, agriculture and social support.

A cable and a pipeline to Turkey

The most sensitive part concerns energy. Üstel said the electricity interconnection with Turkey and the natural gas pipeline are meant to be completed within the same period, with the support of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. “Despite all the obstacles set by many international organisations and the Greek Cypriot side, we will certainly complete the electricity interconnection project with Turkey via a cable,” he said.

The pipeline issue has already reached Brussels, since Nicosia calls the related memorandum between Ankara and the occupied north illegal, while Turkey linked it to the Oruç Reis survey vessel and to carrying “Cypriot gas” to Europe (see Oruç Reis off Kyrenia).

On power generation, 300 MW from natural gas units and a 40 MW reserve unit will be added to the 430 MW of the electricity authority (KIB-TEK), an investment of about $200 million over five years. A photovoltaic plant of up to 100 MW and a 25 MW storage unit are also planned, aiming to cut energy costs “by at least 50%”.

An airline, ports and fibre optics

Üstel announced the return of Cyprus Turkish Airlines (KTHY) in 2028 after 16 years, a new health protocol with Turkey so that insured people can be treated at contracted Turkish hospitals from March 1, 2027, and 15,000 social housing units. Infrastructure includes the road from the illegal Tymbou airport to Trikomo, the modernisation of the ports of Kyrenia and Famagusta within two years, a new marina at Trikomo and the creation of a “Department of Maritime Affairs”. With Turkey’s Türk Telekom, a fibre-optic network for 150,000 households and businesses is planned within a year.

The protocol signed with Turkish Vice President Cevdet Yılmaz had been referred to the occupied north’s “constitutional court”, so a supplementary protocol was prepared and sent again to the “parliament” for ratification. “Cyprus Tech” was also announced, with tax exemptions for investment in software, artificial intelligence and cybersecurity.

The programme comes a few days after Üstel called scenarios of an Israeli strike on the occupied areas “dangerous”, and shows that Ankara is investing in tying the north to Turkey over the long term, as the resumption of talks is being discussed in Nicosia.