GREEK Cypriots are willing to live with Turkish Cypriots but only at a distance, a new poll has revealed.
According to the poll, not only are 54 per cent of Greek Cypriots opposed to a bicommunal bizonal federation, but a massive three quarters of those questioned said they would not accept a member of their family marrying a Turkish Cypriot.
Only one in five said they would not mind such a marriage, with 6.3 per cent saying they didn’t know.
Nearly 75 per cent said the Greek Cypriot side must not accept a solution which doesn’t guarantee the return of refugees to their homes, and only one in five is optimistic about the future of Cyprus, compared to two in five three years ago.
The Amer poll, published in Politis newspaper yesterday, was carried out from March 20-26 and involved 809 people islandwide.
Predictably, more than 80 per cent said that in the event of a federal solution, they would not live in a Turkish Cypriot canton. Only 13.6 per cent said they would, and 5.7 said they didn’t know.
Although in general Greek Cypriots do not appear to favour any kind of personal involvement with their Turkish Cypriot counterparts, the majority have no objection to living and working alongside them.
Almost 70 per cent said they would work in the same place as a Turkish Cypriot, 55 per cent were willing to live in a mixed village, and nearly 60 per cent said they would have no objections to their kids attending the same school as Turkish Cypriots. However in each of the three categories between 30 and 40 per cent were against these options.
The majority also favour bicommunal meetings at the Ledra Palace and exchange visits between both sides.
The number of Greek Cypriots opposing a federation — 54 per cent — has risen since last October’s 48 per cent, but the number in favour has also risen to 30 per cent (from 27 per cent last October).
The rise in the number against can be put down to negative comments made primarily by the Bishop of Kyrenia early this year. These were compounded by further comments made by New Horizons party leader Nicos Koutsou in recent weeks that the government should wake up and see that the majority of Cypriots do not want a federation.
But the poll shows that the trend has always been one of opposition to federation in varying degrees, except in 1993 when 42 per cent favoured federation and 40 per cent opposed it.
In the recent poll some 30 per cent agreed with the position expressed by the Bishop of Kyrenia but said he should not have intervened, while 27 per cent believed he had a right to intervene. However almost 25 per cent of those asked disagreed with his position and said he should not have spoken out.
In a statement issued yesterday in response to the poll, New Horizons said the opposition of the silent majority to federation is well-established “and only those who do not want to see will not accept it”.
