By Matt Gammie
The next round of direct diplomatic negotiations between Mehmet Ali Talat, the Turkish Cypriot leader, and his Greek Cypriot counterpart, Demetris Christofias, begins today. The first meeting, which occurred on the third of this month, was met with optimism by commentators and journalists, and the leaders themselves seemed in high spirits immediately following the meeting. It is becoming more and more apparent that the current push toward reunification offers the best chance yet of mending the divide that has split the island's two communities since 1974.
Under the five year incumbent Tassos Papadopoulos attitudes toward reunification of the island were far less sunny. Papadopoulos was fervently against reunification attempts, and his public rejection of the Annan plan back in 2004 was doubtless one of the key reasons why the Greek Cypriot side of the island voted against it.
The Turkish side of the island was also petitioned by its leadership of the time, led by the thirty year incumbent President Rauf Denktas, to reject the plan. However, the Turkish side accepted the plan in roughly the same proportion as it was rejected in the south. The EU honoured the Turkish vote by attempting to instigate direct trade between the North and the rest of the EU, a trade route which has been suspended since the ECJ ruling of 1994. The green line mechanism, which allows the north to export goods to the south, was as close as the EU could honour their commitment to the Turkish side.
This concession, even if it is not, thanks to Cyprus's EU membership, exactly what was promised, helped open up the once solid border between the North and South. Importantly for people looking to buy property in North Cyprus, the tourist trade is also now off the ground in North Cyprus. Even though it is still not possible to fly directly into the North without going via Turkey, it is possible to fly to the south and simply cross the border and, with rental costs far lower and the atmosphere far more tranquil in the north side, people are now doing so in droves.
With Turkey looking for EU membership it is likely that the step toward reunification will continue unbroken. Cyprus, which is already an EU member and which has already scuppered widely supported resolutions that would have ended the economic isolation of the North, has let Ankara know that they will reserve their right of veto for the next round of membership talks. This means that Turkish involvement in the current round of negotiations will be highly scrutinised, and will need to be pro-active and positive if they stand any chance of being successful in their membership attempts.
Also, unlike Papadopoulos, Christofias has been very public about his desire to reunify the island. In fact, reunification was a key topic on which he ran for leadership, and his personal and professional relationship with Talat – they met five times this year before direct negotiations even began – shows that he is as good as his word.
Reunification is most definite now a question of when, not if. What this means is that the North, where prices are at the moment low due to its international isolation (especially on trade) and lack of direct international flights, represents what is probably the most rousing property investment opportunity in Europe right now. Property prices in North Cyprus are currently between half and a third the price of those in the south, despite the fact that the North enjoys the pick of the island's natural beauty and shares in the same fantastic Mediterranean climate as the south.
For more information on North Cyprus and reunification see http://www.whiterocksbafra.com
Matt Gammie is a writer for Whiterocksbafra
Source:www.isnare.com |
