The effects of this 8year division have been devastating. When Turkey took over the northern part of Cyprus. hundreds of thousands of Greek Cypriots fled south. leaving behind their homes. businesses. and other property. Today more than 200.000 Greek Cypriot citizens remain refugees in their own land: Turkish Cypriot authorities refuse to allow them to return to their homes or even to travel in the territory under Turkish control. This mass displacement of the population has caused skyrocketing unemployment and placed enormous financial burdens on the Cypriot Government. Exacerbating the situation is the fact that the land now occupied by Turkish Cypriots and Turkish troops constitutes 40 percent of the island and represents 70 percent of its economic wealth.
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refugees