AIDE MEMOIRE

UNLAWFUL PROPERTY EXPLOITATION IN OCCUPIED CYPRUS

  • In 1974 less than 1/5 of the currently Turkish-occupied territory of the Republic of Cyprus was owned by persons otherthan members of the Greek Cypriot community and the Cypriot state. Specifically, According to data that cannot be disputed, prepared both under British rule and since independence, (the 1964 Land and Registry record), Greek Cypriots owned approximately 78,37% of the privately owned land in the territory now under Turkish occupation, while persons belonging to the Turkish Cypriot community owned approximately 21,31%. In terms of the total area under Turkish military control, 60,27% belonged to Greek Cypriots, 16,39% to Turkish Cypriots, 0,24% to other private individuals and 23,09% to the State. (“State land” includes: communal properties (such as grazing areas), roads, rivers, lakes, forests and other state owned lands).
  • Following the Turkish invasion of 1974, the forced eviction of approximately 170,000 Greek Cypriots from their ancestral homes, and the illegal occupation of 36.4% of the Republic of Cyprus´ territory, the Turkish occupation regime placed the properties of dispossessed owners at the disposal of its own "authorities", the Turkish military and ordinary Turkish Cypriots. After the commencement of Turkey’s organized colonization of occupied Cyprus in late 1974 many such properties were handed over to Turkish mainland settlers. The distribution of properties was also used by the Turkish Cypriot leadership to "buy off" political influence both within their community and within foreign circles.

As verified in the European Court of Human Rights Judgements, despite the abovementioned illegal acts of the occupying power, the Greek Cypriot displaced owners have not lost title to their property under international and national law. Turkey has since 1974 been in continuing violation of the rights of the displaced owners to property and home.

  • The year 2002 witnessed the confluence of two phenomena, which generated an unprecedented, unethical and illegal "sales" and construction boom in the occupied territories. At one level, the Turkish occupation regime allowed the current possessors of occupied properties to "transfer" such properties to third parties at large, hence facilitating the rise of an unprecedented "property market." At another level, the UN Secretary-General submitted his Plan for the Comprehensive Settlement of the Cyprus Problem ("the Annan Plan"). In unacceptably restricting the right to restitution of the lawful property owners, the Plan was interpreted by the occupying regime as de facto encouraging investment in occupied properties, which will be safeguarded even after a solution of the Cyprus Problem. The Annan Plan was not adopted in the referenda of April 2004 and is, therefore, considered null and void.

In its Judgement in the case of Myra Xenides-Arestis v Turkey (application no.46347/99, 22/12/2005, §27), the European Court of Human Rights held that “ the Government (of Turkey) continued to exercise overall military control over Northern Cyprus and the fact that the Greek Cypriots had rejected the Annan Plan did not have the legal consequence of bringing to an end the continuing violation of the displaced persons’ rights.”

Exploitation in figures

  • Referring to the intense land development being observed in the occupied territories since 2002, the Republic of Turkey’s Deputy Prime Minister and State Minister, Mr. Abdullatif Sener, stated[1], inter alia, that:
  • in 2001 foreigners "purchased" 63,000sq. m. ("s.m.") of land,
  • in 2002, 290,000 sq.m.,
  • in 2003, 613,000 sq.m.,
  • in 2004, 116,000 sq.m in the first 6 months of the year

Mr. Sener noted that 1.000.000 sq. m.of land were sold during the last 3 ½ years alone in occupied Kyrenia. Mr. Sener admitted that Greek Cypriot properties are involved in the abovementioned transactions, noting that “the fact that in the past few years foreigners are buying also properties the title deeds of which belong to Greek Cypriots, is noteworthy.”

  • In 2004 alone, more land was sold to foreigners than in the 30 preceding years. That is, while for thirty years (1974-2003) foreigners bought only 2.600 donums (Tr. Note: donum is a land measure equivalent to about 1.000 sq. m.) of land in the occupied area, in 2004 alone they bought 2.827 donums of land[2].

This is primarily reflected in the increase of imports of construction material. The imports of building bricks, for example, increased by 3, 114 %, the imports of cement by 262 %, the imports of iron by 219 % and the imports of stones by 585 %. At the same time, while the average daily production at the stone quarries was five thousand tones, in 2004 this production increased to twelve tones daily.

  • In the year 2000 an area of 607,000 sq. m. was built-up in the “TRNC”, while in the year 2005 an area of 4,400,000 sq. m. was built-up in occupied Cyprus. Taking into consideration the average figures as regards the development in the construction sector, the advancement during the last four years has reached a point that it should normally have been reached in 9 years time, that is, in the year 2015.[3]
  • Buildings constructed in the occupied area in the period 2002- 2004[4]

District / 2002 / 2003 / 2004
Sq. meters / % of the whole / Square meters / % of the total / Square meters / % of the total
Total / Total / Total
Nicosia / 86,985.31 / 23,78 / 61,815.88 / 12,72 / 176,215 / 8,15
Famagusta / 86,688.85 / 23,70 / 75,031.44 / 15,44 / 374,064 / 17,3
Morphou / 1,383.14 / 0,38 / 12,953.82 / 2,67 / 36,918 / 1,7
Trikomo / 11,939,49 / 3,26 / 40,434.74 / 8,32 / 314,046 / 14,53
Kyrenia / 178,764,32 / 48,88 / 295,720.02 / 60,85 / 1,259,512 / 58,26
Total / 365,761.11 / — / 485,955.9 / — / 2,161,769 / —
  • Applications lodged with the occupation regime by foreign nationals to purchase property[5]:

YEAR / APPLICATIONS BY FOREIGNERS FOR THE PURCHASE OF PROPERTY / INCREASE IN APPLICATIONS
FILED / APPROVED APPLICATIONS
2000 / 228 / 114
2001 / 309 / +35.5% / 231
2002 / 591 / +91.3% / 130
2003 / 955 / +61.6% / 425
2004 / 2,827 / +196% / 249
2005 / 1,571 / -52.50% / 667
2006 (first 2 months) / 300 / 267

Involvement of the occupation regime and the occupying power

The occupation regime promotes the exploitation of Greek Cypriot properties, aiming at their alienation from their original owners and the further complication of the resolution of the Cyprus problem. This is done via:

  • The encouragement of foreign citizens to invest in property in the occupied area. According to the statements of so-called “officials” of the occupation regime, the sale of Greek Cypriot properties to foreigners is under “state guarantee.[6]” Furthermore, there have beentax reductions, curtailing of procedures andpleas to foreign governments not to enforce arrest warrants issued against usurpers of property.
  • The securing of funds for the construction and sale of properties:
  • The so-called “Prime Minister” Mr Soyer and Mr Serdar Denktas met with the administrative council of the “Central Cooperative Bank” in order to find ways to prevent the “North Cyprus Properties,” the second largest real estate agency from going into bankruptcy. Mr Soyer said that if “NCP cannot fulfill its commitments towards its clients, the whole constructions sector in the occupied areas of the Republic of Cyprus will receive a big blow[7].”
  • Protection of Gary Robb, wanted by Interpol, in order for him to complete the construction and sale of properties undertaken by his company.[8] A “state official” was previously appointed to the administration of AGA Development to complete construction.[9]
  • The planning and availability of funds for the construction of tourist facilities:
  • The so-called “Minister of Economy and Tourism” announced that 2,000 donums of land in the Morphou area will be given for “tourism development.” 18 new hotels are to be constructed in that area.[10]
  • Hotel bed capacity in the occupied area is to be increased to 30,000 over the next two years, marking a 100% increase. Hotel beds in Karpas will increase from 600 to 6,000.[11] The occupation regime in co-operation with the Turkish Government is to make available funds for the construction of pensions in the Karpass peninsula.
  • In 28 years only 8,000 bed facilities were built in the occupied area, whereas with the project at Vokolida village, 7,500 bed-facilities will be built in two years.[12]
  • The occupation regime gave $160 million to 14 investors for the “development” of a tourist village in Vokolida[13].
  • Turgay Avci, so-called “MP” of the National Unity Party (UBP), has said that only 15 out of the 200 tourist installations which have been built or are under construction in the occupied area have Turkish Cypriot title deed[14].
  • The direct exploitation by the Turkish Foreign Ministry, which is among the investors at occupied Vokolida, constructing a hotel with a bed capacity of 700.[15] According to foreign press, the “Vokolidadevelopment project”is a venture of 9 Turkish investment companies.[16]

Legal and practical implications flowing from the unlawful exploitation of properties in the occupied territories

  1. All who contribute to the unlawful exploitation by supplying goods, services and capital to the actual trespassers are aggravating the on-going violation of the locally[17] and internationally[18] recognized home and property rights of the lawful owners, thus subjecting themselves to the risk of criminal prosecutions (for the violation of Article 281 of the Penal Code of the Republic of Cyprus) and/or civil suits (for trespass).

In light of the Republic of Cyprus´ accession to the European Union on May 1st 2004, arrest warrants and civil judgments[19] issued by Cypriot courts can be judicially enforced in the rest of the Union[20].

2. The unlawful exploitation also engages Turkey’s own international legal responsibility since no construction can take place without the license of its subordinate local administration in the occupied area.

As decided by the European Court of Human Rights in its judgements in the Loizidou v Turkey case (18 December 1996) and the Fourth Interstate Application of Cyprus v Turkey (10 May 2001),Turkey is responsiblefor the situation in the occupied area, by virtue of its exercise of effective control over that territory via the presence of a large number of its troops

3. Perpetuation of the illegal faits accomplis engendered by the Turkish occupation and prejudicing—on a daily basis—of a just and international law-conforming solution of the Cyprus problem, which should respect the twin freedoms of establishment and property ownership / session across the island.

  1. Creation of conditions which encourage the transfer of labourers from Turkey who end up settling down and colonizing the occupied territories, thus expanding the unlawful Turkish settlement already in full swing there. It is estimated that approximately 40,000 Turks have made their way to the Turkish-occupied north in 2004 alone, so as to engage in construction-related employment.
  1. Destruction of the natural environment and of archaeological sites to make room for unbridled development, which, as pointed out by the Turkish Cypriot Chamber of Commerce, is clogging up the infrastructure (water, electricity, roads etc.) in the Turkish-occupied north and is churning out low quality buildings that will have problems in case of an earthquake.
  1. Construction upon graves reportedly containing the remains of Greek Cypriot missing persons murdered during the Turkish invasion of 1974, thus desecrating their memory and complicating efforts to identify and return their remains to their loved ones for proper burial.
  • In light of the above, the Republic of Cyprus expects that Turkey – which aspires to become a member of the Community of Law and Human Rights that is the EU—will immediately introduce, in the occupied areas, a moratorium

(i) on "transfers" of displaced persons' properties, and

(ii) on all construction activities not consented to by the lawful property owners.

17 July 2006

1

[1] Turkish daily MILLIYET (23/8/04)

[2] Turkish Cypriot daily KIBRIS (27.11.05) reports that a great boom has been taking place in the construction sector in the occupied area of the Republic of Cyprus since 2004, quoting the so-called “Minister of Interior,” Ozgan Murat.

[3]Turkish Cypriot daily YENİ DÜZEN newspaper (08.05.06)

[4] According to information of the so-called “Ministry of Interior” published in THE CYPRUS WEEKLY, (17-23 December 2004)

[5]AnkaraAnatolia news agency (04.04.06),Mr Soyer’s statements

[6] Under the title “Britons’ homes in Turkish Cyprus ‘are safe,’” David Rennie of the News Telegraph reports (11/3/06) that, “thousands of British families who bought cheap houses of land in northern Cyprus were told by Mr Soyer, during a visit in London, that their investments were secure, even if European courts ruled that their property was stolen from Greek owners during the 1974 division of the island. He said, “Everything is under our ‘state’ guarantee.”

[7] VOLKAN (02.01.06)

[8] Afrika (9/7/06)

[9] Turkish Cypriot daily VOLKAN (03.01.06)

[10]Turkish Cypriot daily KIBRIS (20.4.06)

[11] Turkish Cypriot daily HALKIN SESI (05/12/05), under the title “Karpas is being prepared to be the heart of tourism”

[12]Turkish Cypriot daily CUMHURIYET, statements of Serdar Denktaş

[13] Turkish Cypriot daily KIBRIS (24/10/05)

[14] Turkish Cypriot daily KIBRIS (15.12.05)

[15]Turkish Cypriot daily YENI DUZEN newspaper (06.06.06)

[16]Helsingin Sanomat (15/7/2006)

[17] Cf. Articles 16 (right to home) and 23 (right to property) of the Constitution of the Republic of Cyprus.

[18] Cf., for instance, Article 8 (right to home) and Article 1-Protocol 1 (right to peaceful enjoyment of possessions) of the European Convention on Human Rights in conjunction with the Judgments of the European Court of Human Rights in Loizidou v. Turkey (1995, 1996, 1998), Cyprus v. Turkey (2001), Demades v. Turkey (2003) and Eugenia Michaelidou Developments Ltd. and Michael Tymvios v. Turkey (2003), which, inter alia, confirm that owners´ title to immovable properties of which they were dispossessed through Turkey’s 1974 invasion and on-going occupation remain as valid as ever and that Turkey bears international responsibility for the continuing violation of the home/property rights of the said persons. In its recent Admissibility Decision in Xenides-Arestis v. Turkey (2005) the Court confirmed Turkey´s “jurisdiction” under Article 1 of the ECHR for human rights violations in occupied Cyprus and once again accepted official certificates of ownership from the Department of Lands and Surveys of the Republic of Cyprus as proof of the Applicant´s ownership of the relevant property.

[19] Under EC Regulation 44/2001 on jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters

[20]See the case of Meletios Apostolides v. David Charles Orams and Linda Elizabeth Orams, where a Cypriot court ordered the British Defendants to demolish a villa and swimming pool they had constructed on Mr. Apostolides´ property, situated in the Turkish-occupied north. The Defendants were also ordered to no longer interfere with Mr. Apostolides´ property and to pay compensation for their interference thus far. The Plaintiff is currently seeking to enforce the court´s judgment against the Defendants´ assets in the UK.