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Legal Action Against Unlawful Exploitation
of Stolen Properties in Turkish Occupied Area
Unlawful Exploitation of the Property of Displaced Persons
The northern area of the Republic Cyprus, under military occupation (with more
than 40.000 heavily armed troops) by Turkey since 1974, has been experiencing an unprecedented
construction and property “sale” boom.
The vast majority of the
properties affected by the boom are owned by Greek Cypriots who were forcibly
expelled from their homes as a result of the military invasion by
Turkey.
About 170.000 Greek Cypriots, a third of the total Greek Cypriot population of the
island, were forced out of their homes and properties. This displaced people and their descendants
are still prevented by the Turkish Armed Forces from returning and repossessing their homes and
properties. A resent disturbing development is that the occupied area has become a haven for
corrupt and unscrupulous businessmen out to make a quick profit from the illegal “sale” and
development of the Greek Cypriot
property.
According to the 1964 Land and Registry record , approximately 82% of the
privately owned land in the territory now under Turkish occupation was owned by persons belonging
to the Greek Cypriot community, while persons belonging to the Turkish Cypriot community owned
approximately 16,7%. That position still obtained in 1974.
The building and “sales” boom which, according to the Turkish Cypriot
of Commerce, is churning out low-quality buildings that will have problems in case of the
earthquake, exploded after the submission of a controversial United Nations plan to solve the
Cyprus problem. The proposed Plan, first submitted in 2002, only partially accepted a legal right
for displaced persons to get property restitution. The Plan’s provisions, which by a large
entrenched the geographical and institutional separation of Greek and Turkish Cypriots, favored the
transfer of property titles to current occupiers of these properties. A large proportion of the
properties from which Greek Cypriot owners were expelled, was unlawfully distributed to and is
currently being used by the tens of thousands of the Turkey, to change the demographic structure of
Cyprus. The settlers, currently estimated at around 160.000, outnumber the Turkish Cypriots by
about two to one, and make up nearly two thirds of the civilian population in the occupied area.
Had the UN Plan been implemented, it would have allowed for the settlers to continue staying on
such properties, thus legitimizing Turkey’s policy of ethnic cleansing in Cyprus.
Ahmer Uzun, the so-called “finance minister” of Turkey’s occupation regime in
northern Cyprus, has reported stated that the UN Plan provided an incentive to build on Greek
Cypriot property located there, because persons investing in such property could have had
priority over the legitimate Greek Cypriot title-holder in its ownership (See the Turkish Cypriot
newspaper
Kibrisli of 20 August 2004). Such provisions where indeed an incentive, and facilitated
the rush to build on the usurped propertied and to “sell” them mainly to British and other European
citizens seeking a home in the sunny Mediterranean. Perversely, Mr. Uzun appeared satisfied over
the fact that construction activities can make the return of the Greek Cypriot refugees to northern
Cyprus more difficult in case of a solution to the Cyprus problem.
On the 23 August 2004, Turkey’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister responsible
for Cypriot affairs, Abdullatif Sener, was reported by the Turkish newspaper
Milliyet as having stated that the amount of properties that foreigners “bought” in the
occupied areas of Cyprus had increased tenfold over the preceding two years!
Nonetheless, anyone engaged in or contributing to the “sale”, “purchase” or
development of Greek Cypriot owned property in the occupied part of the Republic of Cyprus does do
illegally and at his own financial and legal risk. As first discovered by a British couple in 2004,
trespassers on such property and their accomplices become a target for civil law suits in the
Republic’s courts. Meanwhile, the first international and European Arrest Warrants have been issued
against persons developing refugee properties without the consent of the owners. The civil
judgments and arrest warrants issued by Cypriot courts can be enforced against persons and
properties throughout the European Union, of which Cyprus is a member.
The rights to restitution of the properties and homes of Greek Cypriot displaced
persons have been recognized by the
European Court of Human Rights. The Court has found Turkey guilty of depriving
Greek Cypriot refugees of the use of the properties. The government of Turkey is obliged to
compensate the refugees and to allow them to return to their properties. Ankara has not done this,
thus violating the fundamental human rights principles with which an EU Candidate Country must
comply in order to start accession negotiations. Worse still Ankara’s occupation regime in northern
Cyprus is constantly adopting measures aimed at accelerating the on-going property plunder!
The right of refugees to restitution the world over was reaffirmed in August 2004.
The
UN Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights unanimously
approved
“Principles on Housing and Property Restitution for Refugees and Displaced Persons”<
/strong> and declared that these principles “emphasized the importance of restitution as a form
of restorative justice…They reflect the view that a human rights approach to return and restitution
will yield equitable and sustainable results in achieving the restoration of housing and property
rights for refugees and displaced persons and in creating long-term stability.”
Indicative facts, figures and statement evidencing illegal Property
Development
1. Imports of construction materials into occupied territories:
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IRON
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CEMENT
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YEAR
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TONES
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VALUE (US$)
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TONES
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VALUE (US$)
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2001
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17,856
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3 672,000
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50,914
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2 654,000
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2002
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23,848
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5 528,000
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50,950
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2 570,000
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(+33,6%)
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(+0,07%)
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2003
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38,222
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11 392,000
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85,268
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4 366,000
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(+60,3%)
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(+67,4%)
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(Kibris, 2 August 2004)
NOTE:
According to the so-called “minister of interior” of the occupation regime, Mr Ozkan
Murat, in 2004 imports of IRON increased by 119%, of CEMENT by 26% and of BRICKS by 3112%
!
(Kibrisli,
15 June 2005)
2. Applications lodged with the occupation by foreign nationals for the
“ purchase” of immovable properties in the occupied territories:
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YEAR
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APPLICATIONS
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2000
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228
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2001
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309 (+35,5%)
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2002
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591 (+91,3%)
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2003
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955 (+61,6%)
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2004
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2,827 (+196%)
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N.B.: The so-called “minister of interior” of the occupation regime, Mr
Ozkan Murat, had predicted than by the end of 2004 the number of applications for said year would
match the total number of applications for ALL previous years taken together (2,500-2,600); he was
proved
right.
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(Yeni Duzen, 9 September 2004)
(Yeni Duzen, 3 October 2004)
(Cyprus Today, 2 April 2005)
3. Turkish Cypriot politician, Mr Izzet Izcan, stated that in the
period April-September 2004 the value of property “sales” in the occupied territories reached $2
billion. (Phileleftheros, 4 September 2004)
INTERNATIONAL ADVISORIES
In addition to the government of Cyprus, the governments of several other
countries have issued special advisories with regard to property transactions in occupied Cyprus.
These warnings alert prospective customers to potential serious legal and financial consequences
resulting from involvement in property development, sales, rent or other transactions of properties
that belong to displaced Greek Cypriots.
Among the countries that have issued such warnings so far are: the
United States of America, the United Kingdom, the Russian Federation, France, Spain, Hungary and
Canada.
Legal and Practical Implications of Unlawful Exploitation of Property
1. Aggravation
of continuing violations of the home and property rights of lawful owners. This
engages both criminal and civil responsibility of all persons assisting in the illegal development
by contributing goods, services and capital to the process e.g. land developers, real estate
agents, advertisers, buyers and
others.
2 Constant
prejudicing of a comprehensive solution of the Cyprus problem since the more refugee
lands are built upon, the more difficult the return of the lawful owners to those lands
becomes.
3.Creation
of conditions which encourage the transfer of laborers from Turkey who end up
setting down and colonizing the occupied territories with Turkey’s blessing and violation of
international law. As many as 40.000 such Turkish laborers are said to have made their way to the
occupied territories in 2004
alone.
4. Destruction
of the natural environment and of archaeological sites to make room for
unbridled
development.
5. Construction u
pon mass graves, reportedly containing the remains of Greek Cypriot missing
persons murdered during the invasion by Turkey in 1974, desecrating their money and complicating
efforts to identify and transfer their remains to their loved ones for proper burial.
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