Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhurman on Tuesday elected to refer to the north’s judiciary a controversial law passed by the north’s ‘parliament’ last month which will see Turkish telecommunications company Turk Telekom bring fibreoptic internet to the north.

He referred the law to the judiciary as it is believed that given the fact that the ruling coalition the contract with Turk Telekom without first holding a tender, it may run contrary to the ‘TRNC’s’ constitution.

The law was passed by the Turkish Cypriot legislature last month, but had proven controversial, given that it had initially been estimated that the deal would cost the Turkish Cypriot taxpayer €26m, but that this figure rose to €110m in the deal’s final version.

Additionally, the deal gives Turk Telekom exclusive rights for the provision of home broadband internet in the north until 2051, as well as exempting the company from tax on its profits, with the Turkish Cypriot treasury instead set to receive payments amounting to the equivalent of five per cent of Turk Telekom’s profits in Cyprus.

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Those exclusive rights come with internet provision in the north already tightly regulated. The use of satellite-based internet providers, such as Elon Musk’s Starlink, is already a crime punishable by up to six months in prison.

Controversy has also come from the fact that Turk Telekom had stated that it intends to lay its fibreoptic cables in existing tunnels, thus limiting the expansion of internet-based infrastructure in the north.

As well as this, the €110m provided for in the contract does not cover the cost of switchboards and cooling systems, among other pieces of secondary infrastructure which are required to facilitate the operation of fibreoptic cables.

On the day the bill passed, protesters, led by telecommunications workers’ union Tel-Sen, had gathered outside the north’s ‘parliament’ building to show their distaste at the deal, while opposition to it was also heard inside the legislature.

Opposition party CTP leader Sila Usar Incirli, for example, pointed out that “a single investor” will “make this infrastructure”, “do business”, and “provide telecommunication services”.

“Dear fellow members, what is the name of this? This is called a monopoly,” she said.

Dogus Derya, also of the CTP, offered fierce criticism for the ruling coalition for its signing of the deal, telling its members to “man up a little bit” and to “show a little bit of character” instead of taking instructions from Turkey.

However, the deal was defended by ‘prime minister’ Unal Ustel, who described it as “strategic” and said he had received legal opinions confirming his belief that it does not run contrary to the ‘TRNC’s’ constitution/

He later went on to say that he would “sign and approve any law brought to me by the Republic of Turkey from such a strategic position”.

Turk Telekom is 60-per-cent owned by Turkey’s sovereign wealth fund and 25-per-cent owned by Turkey’s finance ministry, with the remaining 15 per cent floated on the stock exchange.