Fresh water has not been pumped through a new pipeline to households in the occupied part of Cyprus, amid a continuing dispute between Turkey and Turkish Cypriots over who will run the water affairs of the newly-built pipeline, Turkish Cypriot sources told daily Hürriyet.

Turkish officials have, however, said both parties agreed on a build-operate-transfer model for the system, adding that fresh water can be piped to Nicosia anytime. 

“Both sides have agreed to run the system on a build-operate-transfer model and the General Directorate of State Hydraulic Works [DSİ] will be the authority in the transition period,” said the Forestry and Water Affairs Ministry in a written statement on Dec. 28. 

“The water has been piped to the occupied part of Cyprus now. The water is not pumped to the sea, but to the soil to feed ground water, which hit record low levels…

The project designed to supply water for drinking and irrigation from southern Turkey to the occupied part of Cyprus via a pipeline under the Mediterranean Sea. The pipeline came online recently after a 1.6-billion Turkish Liras investment, but the water has not been flowing to households due to an authorization crisis, which has also negatively affected the financial protocol between Turkey and Turkish Cypriots, according to Turkish Cypriot sources. 

The water crisis erupted over who would collect the bills. The Turkish Cypriots wanted a company established by its municipalities to collect the water bills. The Turkish side has, however, opposed this idea and bsaid the water is givenfree of charge, adding that the water distribution costs should be undertaken by the Turkish Cypriot side. 

The water crisis has also created problems in talks on the renewal of the existing financial protocol between Turkey and Turkish Cypriots, as the water issues need to be added to the new protocol under normal conditions. The Turkish Cypriot side also didn’t realize a number of reforms, which it promised in the latest financial protocol, according to Turkey. 

Turkey has urged the need for reforms to allocate over 1 billion liras of aid to Turkish Cypriots . As the new financial protocol was not instituted, the Turkish Cypriot side has faced problems paying an additional bonus salary to public servants and retirees.