Producing Speculations Over the U.N. Plan
"The Cyprus plan has heightened our hopes for a solution on the island," said Erdogan Sorakin, speaking on behalf of the "This Country is Ours" Platform.
"The plan should be studied with a constructive approach, and efforts should be spent for a solution. As a platform, we support U.N.'s efforts towards a solution on the island. We believe that the U.N. plan is an opportunity we should not miss," he said.
CTP: They are lying to our people
CTP leader Mehmet Ali Talat said, "both sides were well aware of the elements referred to in the plan, but they are causing tension on purpose."
"It is our duty to make sure that those who leave their homes due to territorial adjustments, will be compensated. Nobody will leave their homes or jobs before they are compensated."
Talat, who believes that the U.N. plan should be accepted as a basis for negotiations, said, "neither side is unfamiliar with any of the elements, including the maps, discussed by the U.N. plan."
"It is very important that Cyprus will be a new state in the form of an indissoluble partnership, with two component states, and sovereignty originating from these component states. We should never forget that the Turkish Cypriot side accepted reducing their territory down to 29 percent, adopted 91 percent of the Gali Set of Ideas, and noted that reducing territory down to 28.2 percent could be 'negotiable.'
Only a certain number of Greek Cypriots will migrate each year
Talat emphasized that the number of Greek Cypriots to move to a certain area, will be equal to one percent of the population living in that area. The Greeks in north Cyprus will make up 20 percent of the population only after 20 years. "That means, initially, only two Greek Cypriots will be able to move to an area in the north with a population of 200," said Talat.
"We will either negotiate this plan by December 12, solve the Cyprus problem and join the EU; and thus contribute to Turkey's EU membership process; or south Cyprus will join the EU and we will remain isolated from the whole world," he said.
KTTO head Ali Erel said the plan should be signed right away. "The agreement will strengthen the balances," he said:
With this agreement, Turkey, Greece and England will remain as guarantors, the Turkish-Greek balances on the island and in the Mediterranean Sea will be preserved, and Cyprus' EU membership will be approved.
"We hope that the least possible number of Turkish Cypriots will be affected by territorial adjustments. However, we need to give back the territory, which is in excess when our population is taken into account. It is inevitable for us to return the excessive territory. In return, south Cyprus and the international community will recognize our equal status and our rights."
The U.N. plan states that the Turkish Cypriots, who will have to leave their homes, will be compensated and their rights and interests will be protected. "Speculative news like, 'Turkish Cypriots will become migrants once again, and they will live in tents without jobs,' are untrue," Erel said. (NK/EA/NM)