34.07% of Turkish Cypriots support federation, poll shows

More than a third of Turkish Cypriots support a federal solution to the Cyprus problem, a centre for migration, identity and rights’ studies (CMIRS) poll showed.

According to Kibris, CMIRS, which is a think tank which works on the issues of migration, identity and human rights, conducted an opinion poll on various issues concerning the Turkish Cypriot community. Asked “what form of solution is the best for you,” the participants in the survey replied:

•  “Federation is the only way, the talks should start immediately”: 34.07%
• “To clean our own house now, while moving towards a federation”: 16.73%
•  “To clean our own house and the recognition of the TRNC”: 24.6%
•  “To become part of Turkey”: 8.27%
•  “To preserve the current situation”: 10.08%
• “To start talks for other alternatives other than federation”: 7.06%

Asked “which would be your first choice be among the following names in case they were candidates in the presidential elections”, the participants replied:

•  Mustafa Akinci: 31.92%
•  Ersin Tatar: 20.61%
•  Tufan Erhurman: 16.36%
•  Kudret Ozersay: 11.11%
•  Serdar Denktash: 5.45%
•  Erhan Arikli: 4.85%
•  Undecided: 9.7%

Asked which party they view more favourably (on a scale of 0 to 10 points), the score of the parties was the following:

• National Unity Party (UBP): 4.24
• Republican Turkish Party (CTP): 3.57
• Democratic Party (DP): 2.40
• People’s Party (HP): 2.37
• Social Democracy Party (TDP): 2.31
• New Cyprus Party (YKP): 1.96
• Communal Liberation Party – New Forces (TKP-YG): 1.88
• United Cyprus Party (BKP): 1.86
• Cyprus Socialist Party (KSP): 1.73
• Revival Party (YDP): 1.67

Asked to rate the success of various “institutions” on a scale of 0 to 3 points, the participants in the survey replied:

• The “president of the republic”: 1.30
• The “prime minister”: 1.22
• The “government”: 1.04
• The “assembly”: 1.00
• The “central bank”: 1.19
• The trade unions: 0.94
• The “opposition” parties: 0.96
• The media: 1.20
• The “judiciary”: 1.44
• The “police”: 1.65

Also, according to the poll, 35.85% of the participants said they “definitely feel secure” in the TRNC, 26.45% that they feel “very secure”, 21.84% that they “do not feel very secure” and 15.83% that they “do not feel secure at all”.

In-Cyprus