Turkish foreign aid to Northern Cyprus: a mother’s blessing or curse?

Ekici T., Özdemir Y.

Journal of Southeast European and Black Sea, vol.21, no.3, pp.437-455, 2021 (SSCI) identifier identifier

  • Publication Type: Article / Article
  • Volume: 21 Issue: 3
  • Publication Date: 2021
  • Doi Number: 10.1080/14683857.2021.1939378
  • Journal Name: Journal of Southeast European and Black Sea
  • Journal Indexes: Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI), Scopus, Academic Search Premier, IBZ Online, International Bibliography of Social Sciences, Historical Abstracts, Humanities Abstracts, Index Islamicus, Political Science Complete, Public Affairs Index, Sociological abstracts, Worldwide Political Science Abstracts
  • Page Numbers: pp.437-455
  • Keywords: Foreign aid, Northern Cyprus, Turkish aid, de-facto states, Samaritan dilemma, ECONOMIC-GROWTH, POLITICS, ALLOCATION, GOVERNANCE, POLICIES
  • Middle East Technical University Affiliated: Yes

Abstract

© 2021 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.This paper talks about the impact of Turkish aid on the macroeconomic development of Northern Cyprus. Since the physical division of the island of Cyprus in 1974, Turkey has been sending considerable financial aid to the de-facto state in its northern part, but the impact of this aid on local economics and politics has been controversial. We show that foreign aid has not been directly relevant for economic growth of Northern Cyprus. We suggest that persistence of aid, despite its negative impacts, can be explained by Turkey’s geopolitical interests on the island.