With much fanfare last October, Turkey inaugurated Water of Peace, a 50-mile undersea pipeline carrying water from Turkey to the drought-stricken Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC). It was a sign of Ankara's unwavering support for the enclave, which only Turkey recognizes and supports. In January, Al-Monitor reported that Turkey's Justice and Development Party (AKP) government was pressuring the TRNC to give the water distribution and sales rights to a private monopoly and warned that this could lead to a political crisis in the TRNC.
After lengthy bargaining, Prime Ministers Ahmet Davutoglu of Turkey and Omer Kalyoncu of the TRNC signed the bilateral Water Supply Agreement on March 2. Following the signing, the right-wing National Union Party (UBP), which is close to the AKP, decided to pull out of the TRNC ruling coalition because of disagreement over the distribution and revenues provisions, which it supported, and the government resigned on April 5. Turkish Cypriots had pinned much hope on this coalition, which was seen as a broad-based reconciliation government, bringing together the UBP and the left-wing Republican Turkish Party (CTP).
