Greek Cypriots provide power to Turkish Cypriots
Xinhua, January 3, 2016 Adjust font size:
In a gesture of solidarity with Turkish Cypriots, the government owned Electricity Authority provided power to the northern part of Cyprus which was faced with a blackout, a statement by the Transmission System Operator (TSO) said on Saturday.
TSO said in the statement that the Turkish Cypriots made a request for electricity late on New Year's Day (Friday) after a fault put out of operation their power producing facility.
Provision of electricity to the northern part of Cyprus was continuing past Saturday afternoon.
Turkey occupied the northern part of Cyprus in 1974, reacting to a coup by officers of the military junta ruling Greece at the time.
The northern part set up its separate power producing station in 1983.
It was a happy coincidence that the electricity grids of the two parts of Cyprus were made compatible just recently as a confidence building measure decided by Cyprus' President Nicos Anastasiades and Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci.
They have been engaged in negotiations aimed at a solution of the Cyprus problem for the past eight months. They both said they hope to achieve a breakthrough in the coming months. Endit