President Ersin Tatar and Parliamentary Speaker Zorlu Töre attended a conference on Tuesday at the Cyprus International University, titled “Lessons We Learned from COVID-19, Expectations on Future Pandemics.

Addressing participants, Tatar said that the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus’s (TRNC) economy had experienced the negative effects of the pandemic at a minimum level, due to rational and timely measures.

According to information by the Presidency, the Conference which was presented by Prof. Dr. İhsan Gürsel was moderated by the Head of the Presidential Health and Science Committee Prof. Dr. Mustafa Camgöz.

Delivering the opening speech at the conference, President Tatar reminded that a state of emergency had been declared in the TRNC at the beginning of the pandemic.

He said a partial shutdown rather than a full shutdown was implemented to prevent the economy from coming to a halt and to keep it running.

“Our economy was able to experience the negative impact of the pandemic at a minimum level, due to these rational and timely measures” he said.

Drawing attention to the importance of a world renowned microbiologist like Prof. Dr. İhsan Gürsel organizing such a conference in TRNC, Tatar said, “We can put our country’s name on the map thanks to his scientific studies”.

Also delivering a few words at the conference, Parliamentary Speaker Zorlu Töre congratulated the University for organizing such a conference, highlighting the importance of the event.

“Pandemics such as Covid-19 had been experienced throughout history and we will continue to see others in the future. Therefore it is important that we do not neglect health. As the government, we have done what was necessary in this process and we will continue to do so in the future.”