Date Added: 22 June 2023

The Minister of Public Works and Transportation, Erhan Arıklı, delivered a speech at an online meeting attended by the ministers responsible for information technology and telecommunications of the Organization of Turkic States.

“Our goal is to make the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) a country of information technology,” Minister Arıklı stressed in his speech.

Addressing the meeting of the Turkic Council’s ministers responsible for information technology and telecommunications, the Minister of Public Works and Transportation Erhan Arıklı, informed the participants on the TRNC’s information technology and telecommunications infrastructure, ongoing efforts to switch to 4.5G and fiber-optic infrastructure projects.

Stressing that the TRNC was always ready to integrate with the world and engage in collaborations for this purpose, he invited his counterparts attending the meeting to cooperate with the TRNC on information technology and cyber security matters.

Reminding that a law had been enacted to enable universities to establish Techno parks, where technology production can take place, aiming to enhance the global competitiveness of the TRNC in this field, Arıklı also added that the e-Government project had been implemented to provide better services to the citizens by the government.

Stressing that remote work and education had become more prevalent, especially after the Covid-19 pandemic, he said even after overcoming the pandemic people were inclined to follow their work from home.

“We need a strong infrastructure and fast, uninterrupted internet for this. In line with this, we have completed our work. We have granted licenses to GSM operators operating in our country to bring 4.5G and subsequently 5G technologies. As the government, we have also prepared the tender specifications to replace our copper communication infrastructure with fibre-optic, ensuring that this technology reaches every home, workplace, and household,” Arıklı added.