The occupied north’s Minimum Wage Determination Commission has set the first minimum wage of 2025 at 43,469 TL (€1,194.53) gross (37,818 TL net – €1,039.24) per month, representing a 7.5 percent increase that has sparked criticism from labour representatives, according to a report by Bağımsız Gazete.
Commission Chairman Tahir Serhat announced that the new rate, approved by majority vote but opposed by worker representatives, equates to 250.78 TL (€6.89) per hour, 2,006.26 TL (€55.13) per day, and 10,031.30 TL (€275.66) per week.
Ahmet Serdaroğlu, chairman of the Free Trade Unions Federation (Hür-İş), condemned the decision, saying the figure falls below living costs.
“While they received an 11.12 percent increase, they condemned minimum wage earners to hunger,” he said, calling for responses from Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar and “Prime Minister” Ünal Üstel.
According to a report by Kıbrıs Postası, Serdaroğlu said, “I don’t know what will happen from now on, I leave the matter to the public’s discretion”, and emphasised the importance of unionisation.
Serdaroğlu criticised the rushed two-hour deliberation process as unprecedented and challenged officials over how workers could survive on the new rate.
The Republic of Cyprus’s national minimum wage is set to €1000 gross (€195 lower than the occupied north’s) which translates to €885 net (€154 lower than the occupied north’s).
Read more:
