Cyprus-Forum.com

[zan]

Well Zan I hope you can get your land back too and I hope my father gets his property back but I'm afraid to say that permanent irreversible damage has been done to the property issue by your "government" and Turkey in changing the demography of the island. Yes I know some T/C land has been developed in the south but not on the same scale and don't forget there was a genuine shortage of land after 1974 - quite the reverse of the situation in the north where there was even enough space for 100,000 settlers.

It is not just the building on land that has caused the damage Jerry. Incompetence on both sides and a great deal of hate and mistrust has done most of the damage.

[Jerry]

You are right Zan about both sides being responsible for the damage, it has been debated here time and time again. In my opinion both sides should declare that they are equally to blame and move on but this is where the greatest problem is. What your "government" and Turkey have done in the north is almost impossible to undo, they have created a situation that is both irreversible and impossible for G/Cs to accept. To a large extent the Annan Plan rubber stamped the change in demography and the G/Cs have been condemed for not accepting the fait accompli. The G/Cs will never accept you being allowed to benefit from what Turkey did in 1974 just as you will never accept being a minority community in a united Cyprus and this is why the Cyprus problem cannot be solved in the present climate. Personally I see only two ways out - Fair and permanent partition 20%/80% (in which case Turkey will absorb the north and never join the EU) or complete de-militarisation of the island and handing over the security of Cyprus to the EU followed by staged "union"

[zan]

You are right Zan about both sides being responsible for the damage, it has been debated here time and time again. In my opinion both sides should declare that they are equally to blame and move on but this is where the greatest problem is. What your "government" and Turkey have done in the north is almost impossible to undo, they have created a situation that is both irreversible and impossible for G/Cs to accept. To a large extent the Annan Plan rubber stamped the change in demography and the G/Cs have been condemed for not accepting the fait accompli. The G/Cs will never accept you being allowed to benefit from what Turkey did in 1974 just as you will never accept being a minority community in a united Cyprus and this is why the Cyprus problem cannot be solved in the present climate. Personally I see only two ways out - Fair and permanent partition 20%/80% (in which case Turkey will absorb the north and never join the EU) or complete de-militarisation of the island and handing over the security of Cyprus to the EU followed by staged "union"

Again Jerry the damage was done by both sides and after the collapse of the AP there was really no where for my government to go. We sat about waiting for a fair deal for over 30 years and nothing happened. We cannot sit about and wait for ever. I realise there were political decisions in all of that but the people were getting restless as well. I have been saying that a permanent division is what is needed for a long while now simply because I cannot think of another workable way out of this mess. Percentages will have to be worked out because somewhere in there is a reasonable equation.