Transitional justice and acceptance of cohabitation in Cyprus

This article draws on the case of Cyprus to initiate a discussion on the acceptance of renewed cohabitation in post-conflict societies. Besides focusing on the two main communities on the island, the article also examines for the first time the views of the IDPs as well as the settler/migrant community. We identify variations in support for acceptance of renewed cohabitation across different population groups, looking at age, gender, income, refugee status, contact and past victimization within each group. In Study 1, we consider Greek Cypriot attitudes to the Turkish settler/migrant community and juxtapose those with attitudes to indigenous Turkish Cypriots. In Study 2, we compare Turkish Cypriots and settlers aiming to evaluate their attitudes towards Greek Cypriots. Contrary to the dominant narratives, individual victimization, except a tendency related to the IDP status, does not account for variations in acceptance of cohabitation; our findings suggest that those who support peace amnesties are more likely to demonstrate tolerance towards outgroup members while highlighting quality of intergroup contact as a key causal mechanism in mitigating inter-group intolerance.