One of the fears of reunification I hear is, they (the Greek speaking Cypriots will move up north and outnumber the T/Cs. They also fear the loss of their sovereignty.
But supposing we left things as they are.... would the settlers not assimilate T/Cs into their Anatolian Turkish culture?
Of course some T/Cs would not object to that.
But let us suppose peace failed. Let us suppose we built a higher wall along the Green Line. Let us suppose the TRNC were recognised tomorrow.
I can confidently say that the first thing that TRNC government would do is try to join the EU.
Once it manages (if it does) to finalise the long accession process and it joins the EU, much sovereignty will be handed over to Brussels in many areas such as agriculture, foreign policy, defense etc..
If the TRNC join the eurozone, the Central Bank in Frankfurt will share sovereignty over monetary issue too.
Most importantly though and key to my argument why separation will never work. The EU will allow freedom of movement / settlement etc etc....so those Greek speaking Cypriots some T/Cs fear will be able to move next door.