Cyprus Reunification – Why it is Important to the International Community

This week, Senator Barack Obama beat John McCain in the presidential elections for the USA, to become the first black president of the country. Citizens of nations across the world are heralding the news as a triumph, calling the ascension of a citizen of African-American descent to the White House a ‘world changing’ event.

Ramifications of the appointment will tremor throughout the world. Already, the British press is discussing the potential reconciliation of the ‘special relationship’ with America, with Gordon Brown being one of Obama’s long standing and most vocal supporters; the Republicans, in the run up to the result, even accused Brown of breaking international political tradition and implicitly backing Senator Obama with his continual words of encouragement.

Sarkozy and Merkel, president of France and Chancellor of Germany respectively, have also offered their support, and opinion polls prior to the election showed landslide majorities for Senator Obama in Europe’s most powerful nations.

The world, then, looks set for a change, and the importance of it cannot be denied. But as one continent sees vast change, as the states of America unite to vote in their first black president, the small island of Cyprus, nestled between Greece and Turkey in the Mediterranean sea, is patiently waiting for a solution to its own problem.

Cyprus Reunification and the Cyprus Problem

Since 1974, when Turkey invaded North Cyprus to protect the island under the treaty of guarantee – Greek Cypriots had mounted a coup just months earlier – Cyprus has been partitioned. Several attempts, generally from outside the island, in the international diplomatic community, have failed to reunify the island.

This is largely due to the long standing presidencies of Rauf Denktash in North Cyprus and Tassos Papadopoulos in the Republic of Cyprus.Both were staunch isolationists, and refused for some years to even enter into negotiations.

In 2004, though, the brilliant work of former Secretary General of the United Nations, Kofi Annan, led to the acceptance of the Annan Plan Referendum in 2004. Each side of the island was allowed to vote on reunification of the island, and if both North Cyprus and the Republic of Cyprus voted in favour of Cyprus Reunification, then the two presidents agreed to take to reunification.

Unfortunately the persuasive powers of Tassos Papadopoulos meant the the Greek Cypriots voted ‘no’ to the referendum, though North Cyprus voted ‘yes’.

The New Presidencies

One part of the reason that North Cyprus voted ‘yes’ was the effort of their then-prime minister Mehmet Ali Talat, who defied Rauf Denktash in his attempts to curb positive voting.

He then took over from Denktash as president in 2005, and has since pushed heavily on the island and in Ankara, for a reunification settlement. From there, he was joined by Dimitris Christofias at the start of this year, who replaced Papadopoulos and also pledged to solve the Cyprus reunification issue.

So as Barack Obama takes office in January, and begins to try to right the wrongs of American foreign policy and the Bush administration, perhaps we will also see the return of the island of Cyprus to a unified island, thanks to the efforts of Dimitris Christofias and Mehmet Ali Talat.

Martin Gavin is an expert on world politics and the Cyprus Reunification issue. He writes for http://www.whiterocksbafra.com

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Buying Investment Property in North Cyprus

As far as buying investment and overseas investment goes, North Cyprus is one of the most celebrated places in the world. Since 2000 prices have been soaring from £2000 per donum to £30,000 per donum in 8 years (in UK terms, that’s £6000 per acre to £90,000 per acre in 8 years). And prices are expected to continue appreciating; with reunification of the island, many experts are arguing that prices could accelerate because of the respective strengths of the two parts of the island, with the already established tourist industry of the Republic of Cyprus merging with the continuing boom in Cyprus properties in North Cyprus. The History of Cyprus Reunification

Before the election of Dimitris Christofias to the post of presidency in the Republic of Cyprus, the reunification issue was almost redundant; that is to say that, whilst the rest of the world hoped for some solution, the respective presidents of the two sections of the island were strongly opposed to any discussion of the issue.

Tassos Papadopolous and Rauf Denktash, who both held their posts for a number of terms – including, in the case of Denktash, the début presidency for the TRNC, which he held until as late as 2005 – continually refuted any international attempts for a reconciliation of the two parties.

In fact, when it came to the Annan Plan Referendum of 2004, when citizens of North Cyprus and the Republic of Cyprus were given the chance to vote either for or against a settlement on reunification, both leaders strongly urged their citizens to vote against the move.

Despite that, North Cyprus citizens voted in favour of Cyprus reunification, though Republic of Cyprus citizens rejected the referendum. Because it was agreed prior to the vote that both sides would have to agree, the reunification plan was scrapped.

During the talks though, it became clear that in North Cyprus there was a number of politicians who were willing to challenge Rauf Denktash, and one of the most prevalent was Mehmet Ali Talat, who was at the time prime minister, and took over from Denktash as president in 2005.

He publicly urged citizens of North Cyprus to vote in favour of Cyprus reunification, so that when he took presidency the international community rejoiced. Cyprus Reunification and the Rise of Property in Cyprus

It was in 2004, during the Annan Plan Referendum, that property in Cyprus saw its first price acceleration. True, if prices on Cyprus properties had been rising steadily for some four years up to that point, but the price rise seen around the reunification talks was notable indeed, and they sparked the rise in price now, where rekindled reunification talks between pro-unionists Mehmet Ali Talat and Dimitris Christofias are having a similar effect. Property in Cyprus is Emerging as One of the Best Property Markets in the World

The two reunification pushes of the last 10 years have established North Cyprus property as some of the best real estate in the world. Prices are still far lower than those in the south, but could rise, according to some experts, by almost 200% in two years.

North Cyprus, then, is the very definition of real estate investing.

Martin Gavin is the resident expert on Cyprus properties and the North Cyprus property boom at http://www.whiterocksbafra.com

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