The majority of Greek Cypriots would prefer a settlement that would lead to unitary state rather than a federation but also feel that their lives would change for the better once a solution is found, a survey revealed on Wednesday.
The survey, which was carried out between December 19 and 20 by Insights Market Research-University of Nicosia on behalf of daily Simerini, assessed the responses of 500 people.
The majority of respondents said that reaching a deadlock in the talks would worsen the Greek Cypriot position, while 25 per cent said they feared this would lead to the recognition of the breakaway regime in the north by the international community. Around one fifth believed things would remain as they are and another fifth thought a deadlock would increase the risk of military intervention from Turkey.
More than half of those asked said that their desired solution would be a unitary state, while 19 per cent said they would prefer a bizonal bicommunal federation, followed by those who said they preferred the status quo.
Nine out of ten said the removal of guarantees with intervention rights was a red line for the Greek Cypriots, followed by the issue of settlers, who should leave, 87 per cent said. Some 84 per cent want the withdrawals of Turkish troops.
These issues were also the ones most respondents were the least inclined to negotiate on.
Even though more than half said that the non-return of Morphou under Greek Cypriot administration would be a red line for them, 45 per cent said they would be inclined to negotiate on the issue. The response was similar on the issue of the rotating presidency.
The majority of those asked, said that they would cast a positive vote as regards the settlement as long as all refugees were allowed to return to their homes. Almost two in ten said they would vote yes if between 90,000 and 110,000 refugees were to return, while 17 per cent said they would vote yes regardless of how many refugees would be allowed to return.
Almost half of respondents feel that their life would change for the better in the case of a settlement, while 33 per cent said that the solution of the Cyprus problem would change their lives for the worse. More than two in ten believe it would not affect their lives at all.
In another survey, this time in the north, carried out on behalf of the Turkish Cypriot newspaper Diyalog, the majority of respondents – 89.4 per cent – believe that Turkish troops should remain on the island, while around the same percentage – 88.8 – think that guarantee system should remain as is.
More than six out of 10 respondents said they were negative to the possibility of 45,000 Greek Cypriots settling in the north and having the right to reside and establish businesses, while 83.5 per cent said they didn’t think it was fair for some 65,000 Turkish Cypriots to leave their homes and businesses post-solution.
As regards their vote in a referendum, the majority of the respondents – 41.3 per cent – said they would vote ‘No’, to a settlement solution, while 36.5 per cent said they would decide when they read the text. Around one in five people said they have already decided to vote ‘yes’.
The same poll showed that former negotiator Kudret Ozersay’s People’s Party would be in the lead if elections were held now. Next in preferences was ‘prime-minister’ Huseyin Ozgurgun’s National Unity Party, the Republican Turkish Party, and the Democratic Party.
The majority of the people also said that they found that Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci was successful in his duties, but that he was weak in defending their community’s rights in the negotiations.
