In an interview on Thursday Alexander Downer said that in case the Cyprus talks fail billions will have to be paid by the Greek Cypriots and Turkey. He said that he hopes that an agreement will be reached by the end of the year and that the differences between the involved parties are ‘not  irreconcilable’. 80% of the land in North is owned by Greek Cypriots and 15% of the south is owned by Turkish Cypriots. In case of failure the 170000 displaced Greek Cypriots and 40000 Turkish Cypriots will claim compensation from the lost properties and this will account into billions of euro under a reasonable assessment of their value.