Not many refugees want to return, says Akinci

THREE-quarters of Greek Cypriot refugees – displaced after the 1974 Turkish invasion – do not wish to return to their homes in the north, Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci was quoted as saying on Thursday.

Famagusta Gazette reported that Akinci made the comments to Turkish daily Milliyet, which has just started publication in the north of Cyprus.

According to the report, Akinci said that the property issue, a hot-button issue in the Cyprus talks, will be solved mostly through financial compensation being paid to the legal property owners.

Akinci also said that the issue has been discussed during the ongoing UN talks, adding that November, December and January would be the most critical months for the ongoing negotiations.

Akinci said recently that Turkish Cypriots should have the clear majority of property and population in the northern statelet within a reunified island. The Greek Cypriot side says this is contrary to the EU aquis on freedom of movement. Both leaders discussed the matter during their meeting on Monday, but the issue remains unresolved.

Meanwhile, on Thursday the French government said it does not support permanent derogations from the EU acquis as part of a settlement on Cyprus.

France’s Minister of state for European affairs Harlem Desir made the remarks to Cypriots MPs visiting Paris.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.