Benefits outweigh costs

Former Cyprus President George Vasiliou says in an article in the press that he believes the current negotiations on the Cyprus problem are ‘condemned to succeed’ and that with Christofias and Talat at the helm "we can hope".

He says while on the G/C side there are people who hope that we can go back to the conditions prevailing when Cyprus became independent or as close as possible, and on the T/C side the theory of partition, ‘taxim’, is still alive and if this is not possible, then a ‘near-taxim’ solution under the cover of ‘federation’, however, there is a clear understanding on both sides that there can be no unilateral victory by either of the two and that we must both strive for a win-win solution. This implies that there is need for compromises from both sides. Compromises that, when reached, may be attacked by many on both sides but which in a few years will have been forgotten as we will all be working and enjoying the benefits of the reunited Federal Republic of Cyprus."The benefits of reunification will be substantially greater than the cost of the compromises that we may have to accept", he said and went on to outline the benefits of a solution.

On property he envisages that to a large extent the present territorial division between the two communities will remain in force but expects that about one-fifth of the land currently under Turkish Cypriot control will be returned to Greek Cypriots, including Famagusta, Morphou, a great number of villages and various other areas. The main problem arises overproperty that in one constituent states owned by someone living in the other.

"In some cases the legal owners will be able to return but in most cases, they will not either for practical reasons or because the owners may prefer compensation " . He said substantial sums of money will be made available from the UN and EU which will give a boost to the construction industry and provide the required liquidity for all kinds of projects that Greek or Turkish Cypriots may want to initiate.

"We will therefore be starting our new life as a united island with a substantial ‘dowry’", he added.

The fact that the Federal Republic of Cyprus will be a full member of the EU from the first moment of the solution in the same way as the united Germany was, will enable the two communities to trust each other. "Suspicion of the others’ motives is probably the greatest challenge of a reunited federal Cyprus. In the EU however, legislation is for everybody and all countries. Thus we are ’condemned’ to trust each other and accordingly co-operation between the two communities should develop smoothly".He also highlighted that after some transitional periods, we will all enjoy the full benefits of the freedom of movement of goods, people, services and capital, while the development of commerce and industry will naturally create new and strong relations between Greek and Turkish Cypriots, helping them to get to know each other better, co-operate and jointly take advantage of the many opportunities arising from membership of the European Union."Even if at the beginning bitter feelings from the long years of partition may still prevail, gradually these will fade until they finally disappear", he said. "Cypriots, instead of thinking of the sufferings and conflicts of the past will work together to create a better future for themselves and the country as a whole".

Meanwhile an article in Politis says that Christofias' proposals on the property issue includes a proposal for increasing the building quotient on T/C property in the south and a system for allowing current occupiers of property to rent it from the legal owners for a period of 15 - 20 years. The paper quotes diplomatic sources as saying that the proposal is based on the principle that both the legal owners as well as the current occupants have rights to property throughout the island and says it is modelled along the lines of a successful model implemented in Beirut by the murdered Lebanese President Hariri.