Further written evidence submitted by
the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, President's Office
LETTER TO
THE CLERK
OF THE
COMMITTEE FROM
M. ERGUN
OLGUN, UNDER-SECRETARY
Sorry for replying late due to my absence from
office. I am on leave of absence until 24 January 2005.
I am enclosing a breakdown of the 2004 referendum
results by district. Because we do not discriminate between our
citizens (those eligible to vote or be elected), we do not keep
separate statistics based on where voters were born.
A survey was conducted, however, by a friend
of mine (an academician) on the voting patterns of 28 villages
and 12 quarters where over 90% of the residents acquired TRNC
citizenship over the last 30 years. He found that only 45% of
these voters supported the Annan Plan, in spite of the fact that
the Turkish government strongly supported the UN Plan and encouraged
TRNC citizens to support it also. This finding is corroborated
by the referendum results I have enclosed because the Iskele district,
which is mostly populated by citizens who have acquired citizenship
over the last 30 years, had the lowest percentage of Yes votes.
Having said the above let me also point out
that Turkish workers and residents have significantly contributed
to the economy of North Cyprus over the last 30 years. While the
construction sector is totally dependant on Turkish construction
workers, the agricultural and tourism sectors depend largely on
human resources from Turkey. The Turkish Cypriot economy would
collapse completely without the Turkish workforce, the presence
of which has now become an integral part of its economic infrastructure.
Per capita income in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus has
significantly increased over the last two years and is now calculated
to have reached 7,500 US Dollars. TRNC citizenship laws allow
those who have fulfilled legal requirements (which includes five
years of permanent residency and a clean police record) to apply
for and acquire TRNC citizenship.
In a study released in late 2003, the British
Helsinki Human Rights Group criticized the Parliamentary Assembly
of the Council of Europe for stating in a report that it published
on 24 June 2003 that settlers in Northern Cyprus are coming from
Anatolia "one of the least developed regions of Turkey"
whose "customs and traditions differ significantly from those
present in Cyprus". The British Helsinki Human Rights Group
study pointed out that the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council
of Europe Report "expresses the kind of racist sentiments
supposedly deplored by the Council of Europe".
Nicos A. Pittas, a Greek Cypriot political analyst
writing for the Cyprus Mail had the following comments in his
article of 29 August 2004 regarding what Greek Cypriots call "settlers":
"He (Mr Papadopoulos) also wails that the
Annan Plan allows some settlers, a lot of settlers, maybe even
all the settlers to stay. So What? If Cyprus needs something almost
as much as water, it is cheap labour . . . We already import tens
of thousands of foreign workers from all over the world to do
our . . . work, so what is so awful if some of them are Turks?
In any case given that we are now in the EU and someday probably
so will Turkey with resulting mobility rights throughout the EU
including Cyprus, what is so catastrophic with permitting 50,000
Turks, most of whom have lived on Cyprus for most of their lives,
to stay?
I hope and expect that the FAC will recommend
the lifting of all restrictions on direct trade and travel to
North Cyprus (including the opening of Ercan airport to international
traffic) and the political empowerment of the Turkish Cypriot
side to match its political equality.
With best wishes for the New Year.
M. Ergun Olgun
Under-Secretary
12 January 2005
2004 REFERENDUM RESULTS IN THE TURKISH REPUBLIC
OF NORTHERN CYPRUS
| Districts | "Yes" %
of vote
| "No" %
of vote | Number of
"yes" votes
| Number of
"No" notes
|
| Lefkosa | 70.74 | 29.26
| 26,907 | 11,129 |
| Magusa | 63.23 | 36.77
| 19,877 | 11,561 |
| Girne | 63.00 | 37.00
| 13,744 | 8,072 |
| Guzelyurt | 64.55 | 35.45
| 10,660 | 5,854 |
| Iskele | 55.14 | 44.86
| 6,514 | 5,300 |
| TRNC Total | 64.96 | 35.04
| 77,702 | 41,916 |
| | |
| |
|
