A recent survey reveals that 59% of Turkish Cypriots desire a settlement of the Cyprus issue, despite growing pessimism about the prospects for an agreement.
The poll, conducted in September by the Centre for Migration, Identity, and Rights Studies (CMIRS) in the occupied north, found that 40.9% of respondents do not wish for an agreement.
Mine Yuce, director of CMIRS, noted that the Cyprus issue has become the second most important topic for Turkish Cypriots. She attributed the decline in optimism to factors including the prolonged interruption of talks since the Crans-Montana conference, interventions from Ankara, and leadership changes in the Turkish Cypriot community.
The survey, which sampled 500 individuals, showed that 40.12% definitely want an agreement, while 18.94% very much desire one. Conversely, 14.26% do not want an agreement very much, and 26.68% definitely oppose it.
Regarding optimism for an agreement, 49.80% of respondents said they were not optimistic at all, while only 23.06% expressed high optimism.
If a plan emerged from negotiations and was put to a referendum, 30.16% said they would definitely vote yes, 24.29% would probably vote yes, 31.17% would definitely vote no, and 8.30% would probably vote no.
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