By a Staff Reporter
A MAJORITY of Cypriots – Greek and Turkish – would be willing to support a party that appealed to both communities, a survey has shown.
The survey, published in Politis yesterday, found that 55 per cent of Greek Cypriots and 37.5 per cent of Turkish Cypriots would be prepared to join a bi-communal party whose aim would be to express the trend of rapprochement between the two communities.
Twenty-eight per cent of Greek Cypriots said they would not join such a party, compared to 46 per cent of Turkish Cypriots – most of whom Politis suggested were settlers from the Turkish mainland.
Asked which part of the island enjoyed more democracy, 98 per cent of Greek Cypriots said the south.
The majority of Turkish Cypriots agreed, though 35 per cent said the occupied north was more democratic.
Politis, however, suggested that the 28 per cent of Turkish Cypriots who did not answer the question also agreed there was more democracy in the south, but were unwilling to say so because the interview was over the phone.
The majorities of both Greek (72 per cent) and Turkish (73 per cent) Cypriots said they had no problem with going out to the same places or working in the same jobs as members of the other community.
Thirty years of division have, however, taken their toll.
This is clearly indicated in the number of Greek Cypriots who said they had no Turkish Cypriot friends – 82 per cent – and vice versa – 59 per cent.
Interestingly, 34 per cent of Turkish Cypriots said they would not mind their children marrying Greek Cypriots compared to 24 per cent of their Greek counterparts.
Turkish Cypriots were also ahead when asked whether they would agree to live under Greek Cypriot administration should there be a federal solution of the Cyprus problem.
Thirty-three per cent said they would live in the Greek Cypriot component state, compared to 13 per cent of Greek Cypriots who said they would live under Turkish Cypriot administration.
Seventy-four per cent of Greek Cypriots, however, said they would live in a mixed environment, compared to 56 per cent of Turkish Cypriots.
The survey was carried out between June 2 and 6 on behalf of Politis by Amer Nielsen in the south and Kadem in the north.
The sample was of 700 Greek and 600 Turkish Cypriots randomly selected and interviewed by phone.
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.
