The existence of two governments on the island, says Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash, must be accepted before they can create a bizonal federation, even the very weak one he prefers. While Denktash sees partition as keeping the peace, Clerides worries that it will spark a Greek-Turkish conflict. Still, Clerides was elected in part by campaigning against the U.N.'s federation proposal. He prefers to demilitarize the island and then negotiate. But Denktash argues that Turkish troops protect his community from the more numerous Greek Cypriots.
Time is another foe working against reunification.
Settlers from mainland Turkey have been arriving in numbers that now rival the native Turkish Cypriots. An entire generation of Greek and Turkish Cypriots, meanwhile, has grown up having never even met anyone from the other side. Participants hear the other side's version of the country's breakup, and its travails, not without effect. Many Cypriots recall interethnic friendships before the 1974 war. Clerides once helped Denktash's family escape ethnic fighting.