‘Grave consequences’ of buying in
northern Cyprus

The case in point was that of Greek Cypriot Myra Xenides-Arestis who is suing the Turkish Government over her claimed part ownership of land containing a shop, a flat and three houses. One of the houses was her family home but she, along with many other Greek Cypriots living in the northern part of the island, had been forced to flee when Turkish troops invaded the island in 1974.

Although the illegal ‘Parliament of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus’ had in 2003 set up a commission to compensate owners of property confiscated by the Turkish authorities, Xenides-Arestis says her human rights have been breached by being deprived of use of the property.

In a preliminary decision the ECHR ruled earlier this month that the claim could be heard despite objections from the Turkish Government that it had no jurisdiction to do so. And although it said it had not pre-judged the case, it said ‘the remedy established in the “Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus” could not be regarded as an “effective” or “adequate” means for redressing the applicant’s complaints’.

According to the Cyprus Government this means the court had in effect confirmed (for a third time) that the titles of Greek Cypriot owners to properties in northern Cyprus had not been affected by the Turkish occupation nor by establishment of a compensation commission. Any title deeds issued to prospective purchasers by northern Cyprus authorities therefore had no validity.

The Government puts the number of Greek Cypriots affected at over 200,000 and estimates that between them they hold valid titles to approximately 82 per cent of the privately owned land in the occupied areas.

‘Any purchase of property in that part of Cyprus is in jeopardy since it is legally owned by Greek Cypriot refugees who were forced to flee in 1974 in order to save their lives from the invading Turkish forces. Any investment of immovable property in the occupied area is insecure and any investor runs the risk of being brought before justice by the legal owners of that property’, it warned.

‘Entering into a contract for the purchase of such property in the area under Turkish military occupation that belongs to Greek Cypriots, constitutes an illegal act which will expose the purchaser to grave legal and financial consequences’.

It is not only the ECHR decision that would-be purchasers should heed. Now Cyprus is a member of the EU its domestic courts have far flung authority.

Purchasers of property in the northern part of the island run the risk of being sued by Greek Cypriot owners in the Cyprus courts with the decision enforced in another EU country.

The Government cited the case of Meletios Apostolides, a Greek Cypriot who had sued a British couple, David and Linda Orams, for building a holiday home on land he was forced to abandon during the 1974 Turkish invasion. The Nicosia District Court last year ruled that the Orams should demolish the house, return the property to the rightful owner (Apostolides), and in the meantime pay damages of £7655 plus £294 a month, starting from December 2004.

‘As a result of a European Union Regulation by which national court decisions in any one member state can be executed in the other member states, it is now possible, in case of non compliance with the Cyprus Court decision, for the Orams to be subject to arrest and their property assets in the UK to be subject to confiscation’, said a Cyprus Government spokesperson.

‘Those considering buying property in the occupied part of Cyprus, should bear in mind that the accession of the Republic of Cyprus to the EU offers the possibility to lawful owners of property in the occupied territory, who continue to be prevented from enjoying their property rights, to seek redress and safeguard those rights through the European legal system. Moreover, those who choose to ignore the law run the risk to be arrested by the police authorities of the Republic of Cyprus and their property in their permanent residence confiscated’.