Why isn’t nepotism “shameful” in Cyprus, why is it the norm?

First, I want to clarify something before I begin. “Torpil” nepotism, connections, pulling strings often starts as a half joke, but over time it turns into genuine advice. It is one of our island’s painful realities. In the north of the island, the economic crisis produced by the status quo, the embargoes, and the resulting dominance of public sector employment have created a dream: “get the famous public job and save your life.” I call this dream “The Cypriot Dream.”

In this article I won’t compare the state and the private sector, nor debate their roles in the economy, neither is that the topic here, nor my area of expertise. (On these issues, my friend Halef Kurt has deep and thought-provoking pieces; I recommend reading them.)

As someone who openly, but constructively criticises the parts of Cyprus’ culture I don’t like, today’s criticism is about the prevalence of nepotism and, even more importantly, its normalisation. Because once we normalise something wrong, we stop seeing it as a problem that needs fixing. Over time, it becomes a habit worse, a part of culture. Eventually it becomes one of the things people “think of” when they hear “Cypriot.”

To understand the problem, we need to look at its roots. How does a behaviour move from being socially shameful to a point where those who refuse it are seen as “suckers,” and those who can’t access it are labelled “unlucky”? I think the answer lies largely in economic reasons.

As I said, we’re dealing with an isolated system: opportunities are limited, but it still promises a comfortable, slow life. The door isn’t fully closed; it’s slightly open. That pushes people to peer inside through that gap at the very least, to search for a path where they can sustain a professional career.

With almost no openings in the private sector—indeed, an oversupply of labour in many fields—and with the private sector offering less security and fewer benefits than the state, people are pushed to “save themselves” by finding torpil somewhere. And we should be clear: it would be wrong to claim nepotism exists only in public jobs. Plenty of people also get positions in private companies through acquaintances.

Over time, as everyone becomes preoccupied with “getting through the day” and “living at a higher standard,” we even see parents whom we expect to serve as a moral compass, starting to normalise it. This is, in a way, a natural outcome. People normalise nepotism out of desperation.

Does that make nepotism legitimate? Of course not.

But in a system where everything continues unchanged, it is also unrealistic to place all the blame on the public and expect people to simply “behave.” What brings prosperity is not individual moral sermons, but economic and political solutions.

So what does a system run on nepotism do to the economy? In the simplest terms, incompetent people who don’t deserve their positions end up occupying roles that others have earned. The result is an inefficient public and private sector; low efficiency, low productivity, and low quality of life become inevitable.

If you live in a society isolated by embargoes, and you cannot benefit from alternatives offered by international companies, you’re left with two options: either accept this low quality of life, or be forced to emigrate.

I use the phrase “be forced” deliberately. Because this is less a personal choice than the outcome of systemic exposure. In the social sciences, this is called “structural violence.” (If a friend doesn’t write about it before I do, I may write a separate piece on it in the future.)

This whole picture resembles opportunistic companies creating monopolies over certain sectors on the island. Since you have no alternative, you face an unspoken sentence that everyone has adopted: “Take it or leave it.”

Still, society is not completely lost or hopeless. Some try to overcome it through political leadership choices; others through individual escape routes like emigration. But in the long run, the only realistic solution appears to be only and only a political settlement. Otherwise, this system will continue reproducing itself.