By Jean Christou
THE COMMITTEE of Ministers of the Council of Europe (CoE) has said it will support a census of the island’s entire population if the parties involved agreed to such an action.
The Committee based its decision on recommendations made in 1992 by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, which also urged the government and the Denktash regime to keep the arrival of aliens under strict control.
The Committee of Ministers’ decision was taken at its 606th meeting which ended in Strasbourg on Wednesday following a discussion on the demographic structures of the Cypriot communities.
The Committee said it was aware of an artificial change in the demographic structure of the island which – with a political objective – could only delay the prospects for an equitable solution of the current deadlock.
The Committee also reiterated its previous position that the situation prevailing on the island appeared increasingly anachronistic in an era characterised by the breaking down of barriers and the search for greater unity in Europe.
The 1992 Assembly resolution gave the population of the free areas as 505, 000 in 1974 and 575,000 at the end of 1990, an increase of 13.7 per cent for the period.
According to Turkish Cypriot figures, the population in the north in 1974 was 115,600, compared to 171,500 in 1990, an increase of 48.35 per cent.
The Assembly concluded the differences in the rate of increase on both side “can only be accounted for by a substantial influx of migrants” to the north.
“At first the Turkish Cypriots regarded this injection of manpower as essential,” the 1992 resolution said. “Today the growing number of migrants, their naturalisation and the important role that some of them play in political life have given rise to wide divergences within the Turkish Cypriot community.”
It adds that the situation constitutes an additional obstacle to a peaceful solution of the Cyprus problem.
The Committee’s statement comes as officials in the north are pushing for more settlers.
The ‘Finance Minister’ of the Denktash regime has asked for 200,000 settlers from the Black Sea area of Turkey to boost the population of the occupied areas.
According to reports in yesterday’s Turkish Cypriot press, Salih Cosar said the settlers would help match the population to that of the 700,000 of the free areas.
Cosar made the comments to Turkey’s Cumhuriyet newspaper during his recent meeting with visiting businessmen from the Trabzon region near the Black Sea.
The comment has drawn an angry response from Turkish Cypriots, whose population has been dwindling dramatically over the past few years.
“Cosar should first see to it that his own citizens live like proper human beings and that the youth of the country do not emigrate,” the Avrupa daily said.
Cosar told Cumhuriyet that Turkey had no population policy for the ‘TRNC’ – a situation which had led to serious difficulties. If this “population problem” were solved, he said, the Cyprus problem would find a solution by itself.
Pointing out that the Greek Cypriot population had risen to 700,000 “through immigration”, Cosar said the ‘TRNC’ population should be raised to twice its size by settling 200,000 Turks from the Black Sea in the occupied areas.
At least 60,000 Turkish Cypriots have emigrated to the UK and other countries since 1974, reducing the number of Turkish Cypriots living on the island to 120,000.
Last April, Turkish Cypriot politician Alpay Durduran said he believed some 50,000 Turkish Cypriot living in the UK would return to Cyprus if a solution was found.
He said the population of the occupied areas remained stable at around 170, 000, but that Turkish Cypriots were gradually being replaced by Turkish settlers.
