A report by the Peace Research Institute Oslo, a nonprofit independent research institute, found last year that if the island were reunited, there would be a “peace dividend” of around 20 billion euros, or about $22 billion — an amount roughly equivalent to the existing gross domestic product of the Republic of Cyprus.

“The value of the land in the closed area of Varosha alone, I would say, is conservatively worth around €5 billion — very conservatively,” said Mr. Apostolides, the economist.

Reuniting the island would have other economic benefits.

Because of the embargo there is no direct foreign trade with the Turkish north, said Fiona Mullen of Sapienta Economics, a private economic consultancy based in Nicosia, the capital of Cyprus. “To fly there, you have to go via Turkey,” she said. “Also, while the whole island is technically part of the European Union, in the north, all E.U. rules are suspended, so you don’t have E.U. regulations in place to attract investors.”

At the same time, the Republic of Cyprus is stymied by a counterembargo by Turkey on its ships and planes, denying them access to the giant and lucrative Turkish market, its closest neighbor.

“The conflict also means they can’t properly look for oil and gas around the island,” Ms. Mullen added.

Yet putting Cyprus back together again may also have its costs.

“The big problem,” Mr. Apostolides said, is compensating people who were forced to leave their homes. “Just this could cost €30 billion.”

In 1974, about 165,000 Greek Cypriots fled south, while 45,000 Turkish Cypriots became refugees in the north. Many of their homes are now inhabited by others or have been demolished.