Under the title “If there is no solution, the population of the north will exceed the south in ten years”, columnist Hasan Hasturer in Turkish Cypriot daily Kibris newspaper (22.04.16) comments on a statement made by Foreign Minister Kasoulides in London that the breakaway regime is prepared for granting 25,000 new “citizenships” with “Ankara’s approval” and that this will be tantamount to eliminating the agreements reached in the negotiations aiming at finding a solution to the Cyprus problem.
The columnist argues the following:
“Our Greek Cypriot neighbors always look for things they had not accepted in the Cyprus problem. Between the first and the second operation on 20 July 1974, the Turkish side had proposed a solution on the basis of cantons. The Greek Cypriot side did not accept it. If it had, the situation which would have been created on the island would be very different. In the more recent past, [there was] the Annan Plan. The Turkish Cypriots accepted the Annan Plan. The Greek Cypriots said ‘OHI’ [Translator’s note: it means ‘no’ in Greek]. If they said yes and the Annan Plan was implemented with two yes votes, Cyprus would be very different now than the current Cyprus.
The population issue is the nightmare of the Greek Cypriots. I understand their fears. However, one should not have to be a political future teller in order to say that if there is no solution, there will be a boom in the population of northern Cyprus with new citizenships, not with births. It is definite that the reactions by the Turkish Cypriots against the new citizenships will not be able to prevent them.
Years ago it was said that ‘when the stage of the solution comes, the TRNC population will be 500 thousands’. The officials who came to northern Cyprus from Turkey ask questions in order to acquire information about the population when they travel. Some time ago, an official from Turkey asked about the population of the Keryneia coasts. When he received the reply ‘it is around 60 thousands’, he said that ‘this coastline could bear a population exceeding the one million’. When the economic problems of northern Cyprus are discussed, the paucity of population is said to be the most important negative aspect. There are a lot of people who use more clear expressions and even say that ‘you cannot administrate even the service sectors with this population’.
The foreign diplomats with whom we talk to are also as much closely interested in the citizenship issue in the north as the Greek Cypriots. I can very clearly write here as well what I say to them. ‘If the solution is not materialized in 2017 the latest, the increase of the citizens in the TRNC will start with tens of thousands and continue increasingly. Let no one be surprised if after five years the population is by 100 thousand more than it is today. If there is no solution, the population of the north will exceed the population of south Cyprus in ten or fifteen years. And the world will digest somehow the new population structure’.
The CTP and even the UBP before the CTP put a stop on the issue of the new citizenships. […] However, during all visits held to Turkey, the issue of the citizenship was always raised [even] when very different issues were discussed. When the citizenship issue came onto the agenda, our side avoided it somehow. […] If there is no solution, no one will be able to resist to this, regardless of who is in the government in northern Cyprus. The most flexible citizenship legislation of the world will be materialized in northern Cyprus. Citizenship will be granted without even needing a Council of Ministers’ decision by the book. One day the Greek Cypriot side will also accept the new population structure. And naturally they will not even talk about the 4:1 proportion”.
If no Cyprus solution is reached, the population in the occupied area will exceed the population in the government-controlled area
