Cyprus-Forum.com

[BirKibrisli]

Now that you lucky people who live in Cyprus have had a couple of years of semi freedom of movement,I would love to hear your opinions on the positive and negative aspects of the opening of the gates.. Do you think it has improved the understanding and trust between the communities? Who do you think benefitted most from it,the people or the politicians?Has it raised hopes for reunification or entrenched the partition?

[Svetlana]

I do not think it has done any harm and might have done some good in terms of some slight engagement between the two communities. The most practical benefits are TC going to work in the South (higher wages) and for the GC companies employing them.

'TRNC' Casinos have benefited greatly from lots of business from the South - or from people flying via the South, but many people disapprove of that!

Lana

[cypezokyli]

for me at least, it had a positve effect. even though i had to fight a lot with my beliefs on whether i should show my passport or not.
it gave me the opportunity to meet a couple of tcs (more is a little bit difficult at the timebeing). and that is without any unops or fullbright meetings. i think i have only gained from those meetings.

second i have a more beautiful picture now of the maintain pentadyktylos (sorry i dont know the turkish word). i grew up watching only one side of the mountain and all i could see were two flags telling me:... (well it doesnt matter anymore). from the other side pentadaktylos is beautiful and kyrenia is the most beautiful city of cyprus. but from what i saw, with the expansion of the real estate sector, i have the feeling that the tc will destroy the environment the same way we did in the south. typical cypriot attitude i would say.

ofcource my mother is always worried when i go


sometimes it is also funny. i went in the north on a public holiday the tc had. and it was the day of the victory of turks against the greeks in 1922. the qeue for the south was endless what more beautiful way to celebrate the national holiday?

not to mention that exactly on the check point i tried the most tasty ekmek of my life.

last, the casino adds amazed me. most were either in greek or english. capitalism is more bi-communal than the rest of us - so called left thinking.

[BirKibrisli]

Yiasou Cypezokyli komshu,

Capitalism has one language and one religion: Profits and Money.
If we were just capitalists we'd have no Cypro,we'd be too happy to live together,separated only by money.

Pentadyktylos? Could you be talking about Beshparmak daglari,the Five Finger mountains?I think Paphos is the most beautiful city of Cyprus,but I am biased.

Correct me if I am wrong but I think it was Denktash the father who decided to open the gates,wasn't it? My thinking is that he was probably hoping that once people intermingle they would see how "different" they are and would never want reunification.It has probably worked so for some,I am just wondering what the overall effect was.Maybe I shouldn't be too hard on the casino and brothel operators in the North.They are providing a public service by bringing the two communities together.

[cypezokyli]

this is one of the theories about the opening of the gates.
the other sais that denktash did it bc the voice of the tcs rose so high that he didnt have another choise.
another one from our side sais that he wanted us to start accepting the idea that we can visit our houses only as tourists.
i guess only he knows the answer...and he wont tell us.

but overall, i wouldnt say that the cypriots tried to use that opportunity to meet with each other. the saddest is that it was and is mostly the older people who want to meet some old friends, while the younger generations dont really care

[BirKibrisli]

Well,Denktash is writing his memoirs,he says,so maybe he will tell us something,but how reliable that something will be is anybody's guess.

It is a worry that the younger generations(with notable exceptions I am glad to say) do not care about reunification.Maybe the likes of Vassos1 have managed to convince them that they shoul protect their "pure" ethnicity at all costs. Or maybe they are too materialistic to care about anything other than the latest techno gadget or the latest disco fashions.
It is a problem world over.Anyway,I better go and get some breakfast,it is nearly midday here,and I've just come back from my daily walk,and i am starving.we will solve the world's problems later,shall we?

[sadik]

this is one of the theories about the opening of the gates.
the other sais that denktash did it bc the voice of the tcs rose so high that he didnt have another choise.
another one from our side sais that he wanted us to start accepting the idea that we can visit our houses only as tourists.
i guess only he knows the answer...and he wont tell us.

Hi cypezokyli,

Denktas had nothing to do with the opening of the gates. The decision was cooked and served by the Turkish Foreign Ministry, in the aftermath of Denktas derailing the plans of a settlement in Copenhagan:
1- as a means of releiving the rising tension among TCs
2- as a means of reducing the damage done by Denktas and his supporters in Turkey.

Now, its again the same team in the Foreign Ministry preparing the changes towards the property regime in the north. They are very pragmatical, but sometimes they backtrack under pressure from the establishment. Their goal is to get Turkey in the EU.

[Main_Source]

Are these changes in property in the north for real? You DO KNOW that almost all the property around the Kyrenia port is owned by GC. Are they really going to give that back?

[sadik]

Are these changes in property in the north for real? You DO KNOW that almost all the property around the Kyrenia port is owned by GC. Are they really going to give that back?

The intention, clearly, is to start returning property and I'm sure that they will start returning some property. But how fast that will be done, I don't know. I have not seen the full text of the proposed law, but according to press, properties that have *not* been developed would be returned. Those that have been developed would only be returned after a solution.

They are setting up a commission of 7 people, 2 of which will be foreigners that will make the decisions. If we assume that 50000 claims will be done to this comission, and the commission will work 8 hours every day of the year, and they decide in 1 hour for each case (which is a gross underestimation) then we have:

Total time to decide on all cases = 50000 * 1 / 8 / 365 = 17 years...