Posted: Wed Jun 15, 2005 11:13 pm-mikkie2- wrote: Just goes to show that the people are far less stubborn than the politicians.
Probably the single most important truth about the Cyprus Problem
-mikkie2- wrote:A question - what will you be doing with the results of this study? Wiil you be making presentations to various interested bodies? Perhaps something similar to the Wilton Park Conference?
I've already presented the findings to a group of Greek and Turkish politicians meeting in Ankara last week, and they were received them with much interest. More presentations are being planned, but nothing as extensive as the Wilton Park conference, at least not yet.
-mikkie2- wrote:A quick conclusion I make from your study is that the settlers are the biggest stumbling block to a solution. If the settlers will form a big % of the voters in the north at a future referendum then perhaps things may not be so rosy. Although your study did look at how the settler issue could be handled, the fact that they will most probably be given a right to vote in a future referendum then clearly they will have a big influnce in the final result.
Settlers will have an influence, but thankfully not that much - they only form about 25% of the voters in the north. As you see, in the referendum TCs voted 71% "Yes" while Settlers only 50% "Yes" - and the final result was 65% "Yes". So their influence is significant, but limited. Settlers become a strong political influence when they are the swing voters - as indeed they have been in the north over the last 3-4 years. In both recent parliamentary elections, the vote of the settlers decided the final result. If it wasn't for the settlers, Serdar would be keeping his father company now, and Talat would be in coalition with Akinci.
