According to Kıbrıs Postası (17.11.22, kibrispostasi.com), the occupied territories of Cyprus have turned into a haven for the employment of imams from Turkey. According to a review of the Turkish Press by the Office of Press and Information, the report states that mosques in the occupied territories have been overstaffed, with imams coming through the "presidium of religious affairs" from Turkey and that in some mosques there are three imams while in some others there are even four imams. According to the information received by Kıbrıs Postası, 30 more imams came from Turkey recently, while some imams do not have accommodation and houses and live in degrading conditions in the occupied territories. It is also reported that while young people are graduating from the theological schools opened in the occupied territories, no measures are taken to employ them and train the existing staff, and imams continue to be imported from Turkey on a regular basis. There are 213 mosques in the occupied The publication states that there are 213 mosques in the occupied territories, that the total number of personnel of the "Religious Affairs Directorate" amounts to 240 people and that 120 of them are imams. It is also noted that staff are being imported from Turkey instead of incentivizing said staff and opening internal promotion exams to increase staff, which is causing backlash from both imams currently serving and parents who have sent their children to theological school. Noting that when there is a shortage of personnel in the field of imams, the "religious affairs" they ask Turkey to cover the needs, but the people who come do not have the qualifications of trainers, the publication states that since Turkish imams work as imams in Turkey at the same time, when they come to the occupied territories, they receive an additional 1,200 euros (13,000 Turkish liras in addition to their salary in Turkey) and concludes by saying the following: "It is noteworthy that although there are only 3 teachers of religious culture in the occupied territories, no action has been taken in this regard and only well-paid surplus imams are being brought in".
