Nicosia autism centre opens under Social Services Department

The Mehmet and Nazife Taşker Autism Centre has opened in Nicosia and will operate under the Social Services Department of the Ministry of Labour and Social Security, according to the North Cyprus Prime Ministry.

Prime Minister Ünal Üstel attended the opening ceremony on Monday. The Prime Ministry described the facility as the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus’ first autism centre, a distinction attributed to the government source.

The Prime Ministry also said the centre was established with financial support from businessperson Özge Taşker Falyalı.

Speaking at the ceremony, Üstel said government work on education for people with special needs had begun in Ziyamet and continued with the opening of the Nicosia centre, according to the statement.

He also said the government had introduced incentive programmes to support the employment of people with disabilities and had carried out public-sector disability recruitment after many years. Üstel called on private-sector employers to support disability employment and said legal arrangements would be used to encourage it.

In wider remarks on public facilities, Üstel said 36 schools had been completed and four more were planned. He said schools had undergone earthquake-resilience testing, with rebuilding work carried out on buildings found not to be sufficiently resilient.