Minister of Health, Dr. Fahrettin Koca, attended the "Varosha Summit" held in TRNC.
Following his visit to a hospital in Nicosia, Koca gave the good news of a hospital with a 500-bed capacity.
The meeting was attended by Fuat Oktay, Vice President of Turkey, Fahrettin Koca, Minister of Health, Abdulhamit Gül, Minister of Justice, Ersin Tatar, Prime Minister of TRNC, Kudret Özersay, Minister of Foreign Affairs of TRNC, Serdar Çam, Deputy Minister of Culture and Tourism of Turkey, Ali Murat Başçeri, Turkey's Ambassador to Nicosia, Metin Feyzioğlu, President of Turkish Union of Bar Associations along with senior officials, academics and NGO representatives from both countries.
"Varosha belongs to TRNC"
Fuat Oktay, Vice President, delivered a speech at the 'Legal, Political and Economic Aspects of the Varosha Initiative' meeting and said:
"Varosha is TRNC's land and is now a military zone as per the decision taken by Turkish Cypriot authorities. The competent and experienced TRNC Government will carry out the inventory count on the region.
I would like to particularly underline that it is preposterous that this area has been abandoned and uninhabited for so long. This place is belongs to TRNC. It is legitimate and natural for the Turkish Cypriots to take steps for the sake of their own welfare and economy."
Hospital with a 500-bed capacity to be built in TRNC
Following the meeting, Fahrettin Koca, Minister of Health, paid a visit to Dr. Burhan Nalbantoğlu State Hospital in Nicosia together with Fuat Oktay, Vice President of Turkey, Ersin Tatar, Prime Minister of TRNC, Ali Pilli, Minister of Health of TRNC and Ali Murat Başçeri, Turkey's Ambassador to Nicosia.
Koca delivered a statement for press members after the visit.
Pointing out that they were aware of the need for a hospital in TRNC, which was raised by the Prime Minister Tatar and MoH Pilli, Koca said that they had been holding talks on the matter.
Koca added that they were continuing to cooperate to meet the healthcare-related needs of Turkish Cypriots.
Koca continued:
"We visited patients in cardiology and cardiovascular surgery departments. Any type of cardiovascular surgery and kidney transplant could be performed here. It is obvious that physical conditions of this 42-year old hospital need to be improved. Before leaving for this visit, we discussed about building a new hospital in TRNC based on the instructions of the President. We were previously planning to build a hospital with 400-bed capacity. The President told me to make plans to build a hospital with 500 beds, not 400. I wanted to give the good news for this development and reiterate that we will keep working together."
Koca said that the hospital was planned to be built close to the ring road on a land of 250.000 square meters.
Koca also added that the hospital would serve as a competent healthcare base covering all disciplines with highly experienced human resources and a strong technical infrastructure.
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