Last chance for Turkish Cypriots to complete an important survey on solving the Cyprus Problem

This August is the last month for Cypriots living abroad to complete an online survey that will help shape future policies on resolving the decades-old Cyprus Problem. Earlier this year, two academics launched a pioneering study into the views of the Turkish and Greek Cypriot diasporas. Associate Professor Işık Kuşçu-Bonnenfant and Professor Neophytos Loizides’s detailed survey, available in English, Greek and Turkish, assesses the diaspora’s attitudes on a range of settlement issues. These include their preferred political solution, whether one state or two, as well as the best form of governance in a federal solution, and how to deal with territorial issues and property rights.

TURKISH CYPRIOT DIASPORA: CLICK HERE TO START THE SURVEY

In an interview with T-VINE in June, Prof. Loizides of the University of Kent and Assoc. Prof. Kuşçu-Bonnenfant, from the Middle East Technical University, stated they were commissioned by the British Academy via a Newton Fellowship to research into “how diaspora Cypriots feel about key aspects of the peace process, and how their feelings and preferences compare to Greek and Turkish Cypriots in the island.” Given the significant contributions of diasporas to their homelands, the academics and other key institutions felt it was important to ask Cypriots living abroad about their opinions on a future Cyprus settlement : “The homeland makes up an important component of diasporic identity, and in turn the prosperity and stability of their homeland matters to the diaspora.” The results will also be shared with the media and policymakers, and with the wider public via zoom and other online broadcasts. In previous surveys, the academics met and presented their research findings to the negotiators in the two communities and the United Nations. The survey is open to any Cypriot living abroad and takes about 20 minutes to complete. Click here to access the online survey for Turkish Cypriots and use the top tab to choose to answer the questions in either English or Turkish.