The head of the energy workers' union in the TRNC was arrested and immediately released

In Northern Cyprus, the head of the Turkish Cypriot Electricity Authority Workers' Union (EL-SEN), Ahmet Tugcu, was arrested last night. The union leader has already been released.

According to local media reports, Ahmet Tugcu was arrested for obstructing the work of the Turkish energy company Aksa, whose employees reportedly wanted to repair equipment at the state-owned Teknecik Elektrik power plant.

It is claimed that the country's government instructed Turkish energy workers to fix a fault causing electricity outages in the TRNC. However, members of EL-SEN attempted to prevent them, as the union's leadership has long opposed Aksa's involvement in the country's energy supply and the expansion of the Turkish company's presence in Northern Cyprus.

Arriving at the plant, Aksa workers found the entrance blocked by EL-SEN members. As a result, the situation was intervened by TRNC Prime Minister Ünal Üstel and the police. After a verbal altercation with the Prime Minister, the union leader was detained. Following this, work on repairing the generators at the plant began.

The head of the Electricity Authority Workers' Union was released after three hours. No charges were filed against him.

The situation has already been commented on by the TRNC government head. According to the Prime Minister, the authorities' intervention "was necessary to resolve electricity supply interruptions," which have been ongoing in the country for several days.

- Never in history has there been so much black smoke coming from steam turbines. Never in history have five generators stopped and failed simultaneously, — said the Prime Minister, calling the union's actions "sabotage" and "subversion."

The police have joined the investigation into the incident.

It should be noted that recently, there have been increased power outages in Northern Cyprus. Earlier, the Turkish Cypriot Electricity Authority (KIB-TEK) apologized to the residents of the TRNC for the inconvenience caused.

Additionally, in recent weeks, the black smoke emitted by the Teknecik Elektrik power plant has become significantly thicker, raising serious concerns about the health of local residents.

According to energy workers, the situation is related to a fault in the equipment. To address the malfunction, the government has ordered 150 parts.