Cyprus Economy 1987

Population. – In 1987 the population of Cyprus was 680,000 residents, Corresponding to a density of just over 70 residents per km ². The capital Nicosia, according to 1987 estimates, had 164,500 residents. There is a lack of recent information on the distribution of the population among the various administrative units of Cyprus; the latest available data consist of census surveys; but these are completely overcome, as they predate the Turkish occupation, during which there were significant demographic changes such as the passage of 200,000 Greeks in the southern region of the island.

Economic conditions. – The division of the country between the two Greek and Turkish communities has had a significant impact on the island’s economy, giving rise to differentiated development processes. The northern Turkish Cypriot region is the one that has suffered most from the disintegration of the unitary state, recording significant drops in production, and only the financial intervention of the Turkish government has – albeit in part – mitigated the consequences of the crisis. On the contrary, the economy of the southern Greek Cypriot area, after the initial difficulties due to the moment of reorganization, experienced an intense phase of development, which continues, even if in a less conspicuous way, even today. For Cyprus economics and business, please check businesscarriers.com.

Agriculture is no longer the backbone of the economy of Cyprus and this is especially true for the Greek area. The main products are traditionally cereals, citrus fruits, wine; recently an attempt has been made to encourage a process of rationalization of agricultural production, with the construction of irrigation systems and the introduction of new crops (eg tropical fruit). The production sector that recorded the greatest increase is manufacturing and, in particular (again for the southern area), construction. This expansion of construction activities has its reasons both in the emigration of the Greek population from the northern regions after the 1974 crisis, and in the arrival of Christian-Lebanese capital fleeing Beirut. Two other important voices of South Cypriot economy are represented by trade and tourism. Major trade takes place with the UK and the rest of Europe, but Arab countries also remain one important partner for both exports (20.4% of the total) and imports (56.9%).

The economic situation of the Turkish section of Cyprus is different, where – despite the government’s efforts – it was not possible to revive the economy: in 1982, GDP growth was only 0.9% against a forecast of 6. , 5%. The agricultural sector mainly produces potatoes and citrus fruits, which are mainly exported to Turkey and the United Kingdom. Industrial activity is practically non-existent. The situation of tourism is positive, reaching the figure of 950,000 annual visitors.

History. – The proclamation of the Turkish federal state of Cyprus (February 13, 1975), on the northern territory of the island (militarily occupied by Turkey from July-August 1974 and on which the entire Turkish Cypriot community, with over 180,000 people to the 40,000 Turkish settlers who immigrated from Anatolia, with the clear intention of modifying the demographic composition of the population), seemed to frustrate any mediation by the United Nations for a negotiated solution to the constitutional crisis that opposed its two main communities: the Greek and the Turkish. Moreover, the crisis of Cyprus, given the geostrategic position of the island and its proximity to the area of ​​Middle Eastern conflicts, worried the international community.

In separate elections in 1976 the former Minister of Foreign Affairs and leader of the Democratic Party S. Kyprianù, close to President Makàrios, was elected president of the National Assembly – in place of the right-wing exponent and head of the Democratic Grouping G. Klerìdes; and president of the Turkish federal state of Cyprus, R. Denktaçs, founder of the National Unity Party (right) and head of the Turkish Cypriot community. Intercommunity talks were then resumed under the aegis of the UN which kept Cyprus a peacekeeping force.

In February 1977, a first high-level agreement was signed between the President of the Republic of Cyprus, Archbishop Makàrios, and R. Denktaçs. After Makàrios’ sudden death (3 July 1977), a second agreement (May 1979) was reached between his successor Kyprianù and the Turkish Cypriot leader. The agreements included direct negotiations between the two communities for the creation of a bi-municipal federal republic, with two separate administrative zones. The dialogue between the parties continued, despite the difficulties, until the end of 1981; various concessions were made, the most important of which was undoubtedly the offer of the Turkish Cypriots to reduce the territory controlled by them from about 36 to 32% and to allow 40 of the 200,000 Greek Cypriot refugees to return to their areas of origin.

The future institutional set-up of the republic, however, remained the main controversial issue: the Turkish Cypriots claimed equal status in the central government and extensive autonomy, even in matters of foreign policy, for each of the two administrative areas. Their greatest concern concerned the physical safety and civil rights of the Turkish minority, repeatedly violated in the past by the supporters of Cyprus’s union with Greece. For their part, the Greek Cypriots, while accepting the principle of the federal and bi-zonal state and the alternation to the presidency of the republic, opposed any disproportionate representation in the central bodies, since, according to their assessments, the Turkish Cypriot community it did not exceed 20% of the population.

The complexity of the problems and the increasingly tense relations between Greece and Turkey, especially following the military coup in Turkey (12 September 1980) and the advent of the socialist government of A. Papandreu in Greece (18 October 1981) led to a stiffening of the respective positions. In the Turkish Cypriot area, the Turkish Republic of Northern Northern Italy was proclaimed by a unilateral act (15 November 1983), recognized only by Turkey. This act was immediately condemned, as it violated the international treaties on the independence and sovereignty of Cyprus, both by the UN Security Council and by the British Commonwealth, of which Cyprus was a member, and by the European Economic Community and by the European Council. The Constitution of the Secessionist State (May 1984) rejected the principle of the federal state and advocated a confederation between two distinct state entities. New talks between Kyprianù (re-elected president of the Republic in February 1983) and Denktaçs (also reconfirmed as president of the Turkish Republic of Cyprus, in 1984, for a five-year term, re-elected in 1990), which lasted from mid-1984 to the end of 1985, they had no outcome.

In the presidential elections, at the end of Kyprianù’s mandate, the independent G. Vassilìu, supported by the powerful Communist Party AKEL, was elected (February 22, 1988) with 51.6% of the votes of the 365,000 Greek Cypriot voters. the right-wing candidate Klerìdes in the second round, thanks to the confluence of the votes of the Democratic Party and the Socialist Party EDEK. Immediately after his election, Vassilìu, considered less intransigent than his predecessor, began new talks with R. Denktaçs, under the auspices of the Secretary General of the United Nations. But in August 1989 the dialogue was once again blocked by the claim of the right of self-determination of the Turkish Cypriots and, therefore, to the creation of two separate states, advanced by Denktaçs. In May 1990 the National Unity Party, in power in the Turkish Cypriot area, he strengthened his positions by winning 35 out of 50 seats in the Legislative Assembly. In May 1991, the political elections in the Greek Cypriot area saw the confirmation of the Conservatives as the largest party (35.8%), followed by the Communist Party AKEL (30.6%) in sharp recovery after the defeat in 1985.