Cyprus Problem | Current Talks Different Than Before

Cyprus Problem – Current Talks Different Than Before

According to the Hurriyet Daily News, the current round of Cyprus Talks have one important difference when compared to those in the past. For 40 years the south’s leaders have told the Greek Cypriot public that they would go back to their homes with the expectation that everything would return to pre-1974 conditions. No one said how this could happen, only that this was the only scenario acceptable to the south.

Now Greek Cypriots are being told that if they were to go back to the property left behind in the north then it would be under the jurisdiction and authority of the north’s separate state and the day-to-day administration would have nothing to do with the south’s separate state. At least that’s what the joint declaration says and it appears that there is substantial support for this document on both sides. Not enough in the south for a referendum to gain majority support, I’d guess, but a lot more hopeful than 2004.

But thinking about it, how many Greek Cypriots are left who owned property in the north in 1974 and how many would want the stress of uprooting and returning there if they could? In the south’s current economic climate they just want the opportunity to sell that property without too many bureaucratic barriers. Who would pay for this property? If we are to be believed, Turkey would buy it and mark the title deed to say they have? Where would that leave ex-pat purchasers? Yet another problem I would guess.

 

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