The Political and Economic History of North Cyprus: A Discordant Polity

Abstract

According to the author, public employment has evolved into a heavy financial burden on the government as a consequence of the clientelist policies of the post-1974 era. Ekici points out that past governments used the money that had accumulated in the Social Insurance Fund and Provident Fund for clientelist purposes, including giving credit to semi-controlled state enterprises, while the state failed to pay its required contributions to the social security system. In the financial sector, the Central Bank lacks institutional independence due to direct appointments from Turkey, while the Development Bank, which was supposed to foster the growth of the private sector, fell into the hands of clientelistic and rent-seeking politicians.