Turkish Cypriots want two state solution

An opinion poll in the north says that 62% of Turkish Cypriots support a solution to the Cyprus problem based on two equal independent states. The results of the poll carried out by KADEM Research Centre on behalf of the National Unity Party and published in all the Turkish Cypriot papers yesterday also found that 5% support the integration of the north with Turkey, 7% the continuation of the current situation, 14% want a centrally strong federal state, and 10% a confederation comprised of two states. Moreover, 71% of the people polled believe that the new negotiation procedure will not bring positive results, while 67% said that they would vote against the Annan Plan now. The poll was conducted in July on a sample of 875 persons.

According to the opinion poll, if elections were to take place in the north next week, the National Unity Party would come first with 40.5% , followed by the Republican Turkish Party (CTP) with 30.3% . The Democratic Party (DP) would get 15.1% , the Social Democrat Party (TDP) 6.2% and the Freedom and Reform Party (ORP) 4.2%, while 31.6% were undecided. The overwhelming majority of respondents were in favour of a solution being found because it would benefit the Turkish Cypriots economically.

On the issue of the north joining the EU, 37% said that they were in favour of this happening after Turkey joined first, 26% answered that they want it to join after the Cyprus problem was solved, 26% stated that they want EU accession right now, while 6% said that don’t want the north to join the EU at all.

A couple of the papers questioned the credibility of the poll especially since the same company carried out a poll on behalf of the Greek Cypriot newspaper Simerini and found totally different results. The poll for Simerini found that 42.7% of Turkish Cypriots wanted a two state solution, 30 % supported a federal solution, 15.8% wanted the situation to remain as it is.
Yeni Volkan newspaper calls for Talat to resign. “Talat, who succumbing to Christofias, has accepted the single state, single sovereignty and single citizenship, is violating the will of the Turkish Cypriot people”.

In statements the chairman of the National Unity Party, Tahsin Ertugruloglu, said that the National Unity Party is the party which does not just limit itself to words. He said that if Turkish Cypriots want real change, his party is the party that will help “Turkish Cypriot people” to come out from the current situation.

Meanwhile Ozdil Nami, the representative of the Turkish Cypriot leader Talat, has said that “there is absolutely no convergence of views between the two sides on the issues of security, guarantees and property ”, Turkish Cypriot daily Star Kibris reports. He added that these issues will be finalized during the negotiations. He said that the views of the sides are closest on the issues of the EU and the economy , while on the issue of equality and power sharing "we are in the middle”. He also said that he believed that the Greek Cypriot side has abandoned its position of holding “negotiations for ever” and have started to see that the beginning of 2009 would be a reasonable goal for a solution.

However, Talat's spokesperson Hasan Ercakica Speaking on BRT has said that the positions of the two sides on the issues of power-sharing and administration have become closer. "Our expectation is for intense talks to begin on the 3rd of September. The main issues on the Cyprus Problem are clear’, he said adding that the two leaders will be focusing on areas where divergences exist. Mr Ercakica said that the Turkish Cypriot side had adopted a flexible approach at the talks in order to prevent the process from being disrupted by domestic politics in the south but warned that this will not always be the case.Commenting on claims that the Greek Cypriot leader has reached a deal with the Archbishop Chrisostomos regarding a settlement, he said this "has deeply disturbed us". He said it was impossible to find a political settlement which could satisfy everyone on both sides of the divide. If he has such an intention, he is wrong. ‘If Christofias is hoping to win the support of all political forces in South Cyprus and is expecting the Turkish Cypriot side to help him, it means that we face a great difficult situation.’On the property issue, Mr Ercakica highlighted the importance of using all means, especially compensation, in order to solve the issue and said that the Greek Cypriot public’s approach on this issue was unrealistic.