Turkish, Greek Cypriots Pessimistic Over Settlement On Island In Near Future

LEFKOSA - Large majorities of Turkish and Greek Cypriots are sceptical about prospects for a comprehensive settlement of the Cyprus problem in the foreseeable future, with only small minorities within each of the two communities seem to believe that "the current status quo is the solution," according to a survey by the United Nations.
"While a strong majority of Greek Cypriots would find a unitary state solution to be satisfactory, it is clear that such an outcome is unacceptable to most Turkish Cypriots who would reject it out of hand," said the inter-communal survey conducted in February 2007 by UNFICYP.
According to the survey, most Turkish Cypriots would ideally prefer a two state arrangement, something most Greek Cypriots would not countenance in any circumstances, and it also showed that a large majority in each community believed a federal settlement was the second best option and would be prepared to accept such a constitutional framework, at the very least as "a compromise solution."
The results indicated that specifically 65 percent of Greek Cypriots would consider a federal solution as tolerable or satisfactory, while 35 percent would consider it to be unacceptable whereas among Turkish Cypriots, 70 percent would tolerate or fully accept a federal framework, while 30 percent would reject it out of hand.
The survey also said that a majority of Greek Cypriots believed the UN was biased in favour of Turkish Cypriots while, conversely, Turkish Cypriots believed it was similarly biased in favour of Greek Cypriots.
But at same time, the survey added that majorities in both communities considered that the United Nations had an important role to play in Cyprus and that its presence on the island was essential.
The island-wide poll was conducted with a sample of 1,000 Turkish Cypriots and 1,000 Greek Cypriots, who were interviewed in their respective languages, face-to-face. In addition, a special sample of 100 Turkish Cypriots and 250 Greek Cypriots, all resident within the UN Buffer Zone, was selected for comparison with the general population.