Northern Cyprus.Eurpean funding.

[Chaddy]

We,ve just got back from the north and had a very enjoyable walk on a very well constructed purpose built walkway next to the sea.It was about two miles long.At the beginning of the walk it said clearly on an official notice that it was built with a grant from European funding of 3,000,000 Turkish Lira.Mmmmm,how come when Northern Cyprus is not in Europe.??

[Kili01]

Very good reply, Hudswell. Hopefully one day sooner or later the island will reunite to the benifit of all.

Dee

[smudger]

It's the wish of us all who hold this island dear Dee.

[jeba]

Very good reply, Hudswell. Hopefully one day sooner or later the island will reunite to the benifit of all.

Dee

Be careful what you wish for. As Germany´s experience with reunification shows there will likely be losers as well. E. g. a lot of jobs may be lost as uncompetetive companies will be exposed to competition where there was none before, the pension pot may have to be shared with people who never contributed etc.

[WHL]

Very good reply, Hudswell. Hopefully one day sooner or later the island will reunite to the benifit of all.

Dee

Be careful what you wish for. As Germany´s experience with reunification shows there will likely be losers as well. E. g. a lot of jobs may be lost as uncompetetive companies will be exposed to competition where there was none before, the pension pot may have to be shared with people who never contributed etc.

Are you serious, how can you compare Germany with Cyprus?

[cyprusmax47]

After the fall of the Berlin wall West Germany's economy went up in a big way. In the first years there was a huge demand of everything the East Germans were dreaming of for the past decades and a big boost for many West German Companies. As soon as it was possible, not only the big players of German business companies bought land and the derelict factories for as much as 1 DM and invested heavily in infrastructural projects as well. (just to name some things...)

At that time I had still companies in Bavaria delivering huge amounts of goods to an sudden new market: East Germany. When the turnover in 1998 was 200.000/year, in 1990/91 this amount was in 1 month. When it was possible to visit the "other side" I had a 6 month break from Cyprus and visited towns in East Germany, meeting nice welcoming people there, which started with my knowledge and some start capital from me their own business.
Their only problem was that they were not used to work more than 4-6 hours a day as in their jobs there was not enough materials to work longer hours, like in the West where 8-10 hours/day was normal. It took them quite a time to get adjusted, but then you couldn't stop them working....

Without reunification Germany would never be in that strong position they are right now business-wise. Redundant figures showing recently 4.9% including all the immigrants which found work.

But then I think one cannot compare the Cyprus and Germany as there are so many countries and also religion is involved which makes it very difficult to find a solution....in Germany it was only the Russians to deal with, ( and a clever Gorbachev ) which took the money they were offered and left the place. Plenty of this money is in Cyprus now though....

Max

[jeba]

Very good reply, Hudswell. Hopefully one day sooner or later the island will reunite to the benifit of all.

Dee

Be careful what you wish for. As Germany´s experience with reunification shows there will likely be losers as well. E. g. a lot of jobs may be lost as uncompetetive companies will be exposed to competition where there was none before, the pension pot may have to be shared with people who never contributed etc.

Are you serious, how can you compare Germany with Cyprus?

Yes, I am. Of course, they are very different countries but some of the problems may well turn out to be very similiar. There were winners and losers in Germany and the same will be true for Cyprus (if reunification happens).

[WHL]

Be careful what you wish for. As Germany´s experience with reunification shows there will likely be losers as well. E. g. a lot of jobs may be lost as uncompetetive companies will be exposed to competition where there was none before, the pension pot may have to be shared with people who never contributed etc.

Are you serious, how can you compare Germany with Cyprus?

Yes, I am. Of course, they are very different countries but some of the problems may well turn out to be very similiar. There were winners and losers in Germany and the same will be true for Cyprus (if reunification happens).

Cyprus is tiny, compared to Germany's economy and population so you can't compare, if and when there is a reunification of Cypriots it will be a win, win situation for everyone, firstly they will not have to spend obscene amounts on military hardware, this will be used for civil projects, secondly if the projected Gas find bares fruit then all Cypriots can look forward to a prosperous future.

[Jimgward]

Northern Cyprus is far from self-sustaining. Subsidised heavily by Turkey. It would be a bit like adding NI to the Republic - the economy would be shot as 60% of jobs in NI are public sector.

I dont personally see Turkey ever agreeing to the TRNC merging back into a combined Cyprus.

[ApusApus]

I dont personally see Turkey ever agreeing to the TRNC merging back into a combined Cyprus.

You could well be right but there is always hope and who knows what the future holds …………… stranger things have happened!


Shane

[WHL]

I dont personally see Turkey ever agreeing to the TRNC merging back into a combined Cyprus.

You could well be right but there is always hope and who knows what the future holds …………… stranger things have happened!


Shane

Hands up anyone, who thought that the Soviet Union would ever disappear, as you say stranger things have happened.

[Kili01]

I don’t think that Turkey will object too much to Cyprus reuniting. They have said publically that they could gradually remove their troops from the island which are expensive to maintain in N.Cyprus.Turkey is a huge country which is still poor and undeveloped in many areas with its own problems. What they and of course the TC’s are concerned about are security issues which would be faced by their people when their troops leave. That’s the main reason that they wish to maintain a ‘safe’ area for themselves. If the whole island were to de militarise and learn to live and work together peacefully as they once did before 1963, then confidence in both communities would improve. Then the gas undersea could be exploited to the benefit of the whole island.
Yes, unfortunately Paphos lacks decent , safe beaches and the tourist sector may suffer. But in my opinion over developing the beautiful coastal areas around Paphos and spoiling the beauty of the Akamas will also put intending tourists off coming here.
Dee

[Lofos-Jan]

In his most recent visit to the island, Erdogan stated his intention to increase troops on the island! Since the failure of the Annan plan, he has not been interested in a settlement. There has been a programme of mosque building and Turkification of the North with continuing issues regarding the settlers. Turkish Cypriots are very unhappy about what is happening and the destruction of their relatively relaxed religious practice and way of life. This was touched on by Simon Reeve in episode 2 of his Mediterranean with Simon Reeve series - available on BBC I-player.

Jeanne