Cyprus-Forum.com

[georgios100]

Are these numbers correct?

The reunification of Cyprus would give Turkey a “peace dividend” of more than 17 billion Euros a year, the Peace Research Institute Oslo said Thursday.

Turkey “stands to make huge financial gains from the transformation of the Turkey-Cyprus-Greece region into one of lasting peace and stability,” with benefits for tourism, transport, financial services and energy, the Cyprus office of the institute said in a report.

The estimated peace dividend, comprising cost savings of 5.1 billion Euros and increased revenue of 12.3 billion Euros, which is equivalent to 3.5 percent of Turkey’s gross domestic product, does not include an estimated 33 billion Euros in gains from direct foreign investment, according to the report.

The reunification of the two Cypriot communities would enable Greece to cut 2.3 billion Euros of military spending a year, increase tourism revenue by 110 million Euros and boost direct foreign investment by 19.8 billion Euros a year, the institute said.

Greek- and Turkish-speaking communities in Cyprus have been divided since Turkey’s 1974 intervention in the northern third of the island following a coup staged by supporters of a union with Greece.

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php? ... 2010-07-22
Thursday, July 22, 2010