Potatoes thrown at TRNC Prime minister's office to protest high cost of living

Potatoes were thrown at the TRNC’s ‘prime minister’ Unal Ustel’s office on Friday evening as trade unions protested north Cyprus’s high cost of living and a bill put forward by the ‘government’ which would give itself new powers over collective labour agreements.

The potatoes were the unions’ projectile of choice in reaction to the north’s ‘government’s’ decision to begin importing potatoes from Turkey as the price of locally grown potatoes soared to 140TL per kilogram, with images emerging during the week of people queuing up for potatoes.

The bill they were protesting states that any collective labour agreement signed involving public sector employees must receive a “positive written opinion” from the ‘finance ministry’ before it enters force, thus effectively giving the central ‘government’ the final say over any deal reached between unions and public sector employers.

In October, teachers had thrown a chair at Ustel’s office in a protest of their own. The symbolism of the chair is a common theme in contemporary Turkish Cypriot politics, with many opposed to the current ruling coalition arguing that those in power are only interested in holding on to their “seat” in ‘government’.