President Ersin Tatar participated in the opening ceremony of an irrigation tunnel which will pipe fresh water to the citrus rich region of Güzelyurt.

The ceremony was also attended by Turkish Vice President Fuat Oktay and high level Turkish and TRNC officials.  The length of the  tunnel  is 5,700 meters and the diameter is 4.2 meters. The excavation work had begun in 2018, and aims to benefit agricultural and citrus producers in the TRNC and boost production.


President Tatar, addressing the ceremony, said: “Today, we are realising a dream with pride.  At the beginning, the thought of being able to bring fresh water from Turkey to Cyprus was seen as a dream. However we are very proud and happy to be witnessing  the realisation of this project. I wish to thank foremost Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and the Republic of Turkey and all workers.

“Starting the project was the difficult point,” the President added. “Three villages had to be emptied during the construction of the Anamur barrage in Turkey, with the residents being rehabilitated. I wish to express my sincere gratitude to these villagers from the TRNC for their great sacrifice and to the people of Anamur,” the President said.


President Tatar stated that with the realisation of the ‘Project of the Century’, fresh water is transported via an 80km undersea pipeline from Turkey to the TRNC providing 75 million m3 of water per annum to the Geçitköy dam. “At one period, the fault in the pipeline was speedily fixed, despite the pandemic and the bad weather, by the Republic of Turkey.  The importance of this water, which began to flow once again from Anatolia to the TRNC, was very much appreciated in our drought hit country during that period,” President Tatar said.


Explaining that with the opening of the irrigation tunnel and transmission pipes that will pump water to the Güzelyurt region and the Mesarya Plain, President Tatar said: “With this water being pumped to these regions, production will increase in the citrus and agricultural sectors, providing great hope to our people through such a development.”

Pointing out the importance of strengthening the sovereign TRNC state, accelerating our economy, making our production structure more efficient and being able to look to the future with hope and confidence together with motherland Turkey, President Tatar said: “I wish the work to be beneficial ... I wish for this work to yield good tidings and success. . .I convey my upmost gratitude and thanks to the people of Anatolia, to the Turkish nation.”


Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan connected live to the opening ceremony also gave a speech. Also participating was Turkish Vice President Fuat Oktay, TRNC Prime Minister H. Ersan Saner, Turkish Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Bekir Pakdemirli and TRNC Minister of Agriculture and Natural Resources Nazım Çavuşoğlu.