Jerry wrote:Sotos you are living in a dream world if you think that things will go back to how they were pre 1974. There will be a Turkish entity in the north regardless of what we want and what is fair and just. We need to make the best of a bad job and exchange acceptance of a northern entity for significant return of territory. You are wrong about government and land, if the federation breaks down territory will be the most important issue, however it is not in Turkey's interest to see two separate independent states on the island since it could invite a mainland Greek presence in the south. .
You know very well they invaded to "protect their southern" flank and our mainland Greek friends gave them the excuse they had been waiting for. Unfortunately for Cyprus Turkish paranoia of encirclement by bankrupt Greece has, with the passage of time, been supplemented with Erdogan's neo-ottoman dreams. Despite what you say, reading posts here and in other places their does not appear to be any great love between mainland Turks and Turkish Cypriots, the islamification and colonisation of the occupied territory is not popular with the more secular TCs, we have a choice, do we remain at odds with the minority so that they stay dependent on Turkey or do we "embrace" them as fellow Cypriots and encourage a divorce from the mainland.
If we accept a bad solution this year then we will be dreaming of going back to pre 2015 and it will be impossible. You said that "it is not in Turkey's interest to see two separate independent states", which means that what we have now with one real state controlled by us and one pseudo state controlled by them is even worst for them, right? Then what is best for them? One state which they control the whole of it! Turkey doesn't care so much if the "north state" will be 28% or 30%, what they care is how much control they can have over the whole Cyprus after a "solution". And one thing that the Turks will not object to is that partition will be prohibited... so there will not be any break up of the federation even if we realize that we screwed up. We would be forever stuck as being a mere community in a country protectorate of Turkey! TCs and mainland Turks are the same as far as we are concerned. They might have some differences between them, but they are partners in the crime against us. Their main difference is how they will share between them what was stolen from us!