Of a pre-1974 population of 200,000, 500 Greek Cypriots remain in Turkish-occupied Northern Cyprus. Their loss of property, now occupied by Turkish settlers, has never been compensated. Since the invasion, a buffer zone dividing the island into Greek and Turkish halves has been patrolled by UN peacekeepers.
The Turks declared a Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) in 1983, which is not recognized by any state except Turkey. The Security Council, in resolution 550 (1984), "reiterated its call upon all states not to recognize the purported state of Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus set up by secessionist acts and calls upon them not to facilitate or in any way assist aforesaid secessionist entity."
In 1994 the European Court of Justice declared that the only legitimate government in Cyprus is the Government of the Republic of Cyprus.
Turkey's presence in Cyprus has been identified, by all international organizations, to be illegal, with resolutions demanding her withdrawal from the island. Turkey's importation of settlers in Cyprus has also been criticized and condemned.
The Cypriots have an established, legitimate and recognized state, member of the UN and the EU. This state had and has internal problems, which could be solved only by the Cypriots.
The people of Cyprus need to develop a mutual understanding that both communities should share their island state in a secure, law abiding environment, which protects and respects the individual human rights of every citizen and at the same time, it protects all groups from being discriminated, whether they are identified by gender, religion, language, color or ethnic background.
Like Syria has no right to be in Lebanon, Turkey and the Turkish army, have right to be present in Cyprus. As long as Turkey remains and plays a major role in Cyprus, their presence here, remains the major obstacle to the solution of the Cyprus problem.(IMO)
I am not asking you whether you agree with Turkey's withdrawal from Cyprus or not.
What I want to know is:
If Turkey unilaterally withdraws from the island, would this action facilitate a compromise and an agreement between the two communities (speed up the "solution"), or things would become more difficult, than they already are?
