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[stuballstu]

Ombudswoman fury at treatment of Turkish Cypriot property enquiries
By Elias Hazou

OMBUDSWOMAN Iliana Nicolaou has lashed the government for giving the runaround to Turkish Cypriots inquiring about the status and value of their land in the free areas.

Nicolaou’s office was alerted to several cases where Turkish Cypriots owning land in the south areas before 1974 wrote to the Guardian of Turkish Cypriot Properties only to receive vague answers and generalities.

One Turkish Cypriot couple owning considerable property contacted the Guardian in May 2004. The couple wanted to know the legal status of their real estate, whether the property had been appropriated, the reason for the appropriation and the estimated amount of a possible compensation.

But with no response forthcoming for six months, the couple instructed their lawyer to write to the Interior Ministry, which acts as the Guardian.

The first signs of life from the ministry came in January 2005, when Giorgos Theodorou, deputy director of the Guardian, cited the provisions of the salient law, informing the Turkish Cypriots that compensation was only possible after a comprehensive settlement to the political problem on the island.

In his letter, Theodorou said the couple’s property was “used” for the construction of a government compound housing refugees. His choice of words was interesting because use of Turkish Cypriot land in the south does not entail compensation, but appropriation does.
In a separate case, part of the land belonging to a Turkish Cypriot woman was appropriated to build the Evretou dam. Theodorou informed the woman that the compensation due “is being deposited” (as opposed to “has been deposited”) into a special fund.

When the exasperated Turkish Cypriot couple wrote a second time to the Interior Ministry for more detailed information, again they received no word, prompting them to report the matter to the Ombudswoman.

Yet Nicolaou herself came up against the same brick wall when she asked the Interior Ministry to explain the delays and the inadequate information. She was simply told that “the matter is being investigated”.

By November, Nicolaou had had enough and asked to meet with Theodorou, who once again was less than enlightening, assuring her that the case was being handled according to the law.
From her first-hand experience with the case, Nicolaou then drafted a damning report, saying she saw no reason why the Turkish Cypriots could not have been given the information they wanted. The Interior Ministry should have all the data on file, she added.

Nicolaou went on to take a dig at the authorities, remarking that “the Guardian should on his own initiative seek to inform interested parties, so as to convince them that their property is being properly and adequately managed.”

That was an oblique way of saying that the Guardian should divulge all information if it had nothing to hide.

“Further, it would totally arbitrary to assume that because the Turkish Cypriots were deprived management of their properties they are also not entitled to information on their properties.

“Whereas the Guardian substitutes the Turkish Cypriot owners vis-?-vis their rights and obligations for the duration of the anomalous situation [division of the island], it nonetheless lacks the essential ingredient of ownership, which remains with the… registered owners.
“Despite the fact that the Guardian has possession of the properties, this does not mean that the Turkish Cypriots’ ownership is mitigated in any way… on the contrary, their ownership rights are not formal but very real, and consequently the interested parties have every right to be informed about the status of the properties.”

On February 24, Nicolaou gave the Interior Ministry a 15-day deadline by which it should answer all the queries of the Turkish Cypriot couple in question. It expires this coming Monday.

Commentators suggest nothing Machiavellian should be read into the Interior Ministry’s reluctance. Instead, they propose a far simpler explanation, namely, that the government has in fact lost track of what happened to many Turkish Cypriot properties in the wake of the 1974 events.

What is suspicious, according to the same observers, is the Guardian’s response that the compensation for appropriated property is “being deposited” in a special fund. This, according to some, is a telltale sign that perhaps the special fund is not as well-run as initially thought.



Copyright © Cyprus Mail 2005

This was an article in todays Cyprus Mail.

[lysi]

pimpernipple, your post is offensive, my family lost there homes and land because of your turkish buddies invasion of cyprus, you are just as bad as the scum who now occupy the north of cyprus.

[bakala]

Piratis is just what the Turkish Cypriots need and i hope there are many more like him out there
he shoots himself in the foot and ruins what little credibility to poor GC people have

Piratis the events of 1960 to 1974 did happen the Turkish intervention saved the Turkish cypriots from oblivion, the rest of the world recognises it,

Without the events of 1960 1974 turkey would not have had to intervene.
it wasent an invasion it was a rescue

The little holocost that was planned for the turkish cypriots in 1973 / 1974 was only a gas chamber short of being a big holocost the rest of the world recognises that too

The lands in the north belong now to the people who live there and you gave up the right to govern any part of Cyprus when you decided to change the democratic government to a despotic one that eradicated anyone who opposed it

ever hear these words ?
under a despotic government its is the right and it is the duty of the people to discard that goverment and make a new one.

these words are known to evry american schoolchild for they appear in the American declaration of independance
and thats exactly what the the people of north cyprus have done
the Turkish army only kept them alive long enough to achive it
this is also being recognised all over the world

Keep up the hysterical rhetoric paratis its nice of you to help the TRNC Cause

Jimbo

[Piratis]

bakala, The Nazis had invaded Czechoslovakia with the same exact excuse: to supposedly protect the German minority there.

In fact during the events of 63-74 only some 100s of TCs were killed and an equal amount of GCs. However you seem to remember one part of the story. If you call "Holocaust" the some 100s of TCs that were killed, then why not the some 100s of GCs? What do you call the 6000 people that were murdered and the 200.000 that were ethnically cleansed with the Turkish invasion? What do you call the 20.000 people that were massacred when the Turks first set their food in Cyprus?

The 10s of thousands of Greek Cypriots that were butchered by the Turks do not matter, but the some 100s of TCs that were killed constitute a "holocaust"?

Come on balaka, we all know you are just looking for an excuse to commit your crimes and benefit from the suffering of refugees. If you were living in the 40s you would have jewelry made from the teeth of Jews.

The pseudo state in the north is no different that the administrations that the Nazis were installing in the territories they occupied. The legal population of that territory, the majority, is ethnically cleansed, and now scums like you are moving in to take advantage of the suffering of others.

Be sure that you will get the correct punishment for your illegal action.

[stuballstu]

Piratis

I have read some of your posts and in the main they are sensible, whilst feeling agrieved you convey that there is at least hope of the Cyprus problem being solved amicably for all sides.

However i wonder how you can call everyone who buys a home or resides in the Northern part of the Island "Scum"

Does this mean that for every plane that lands in Larnaca airport every passenger is scum because part of that land belonged to a TC prior to 1974?

I agree that the land issue is a very touchy subject however insults do not help. If you look at my previous postings do you think that every refugee who wanted to, could, return to their former lands the Cyprus problem would suddenly be sorted? Of course it would not it is nigh on impossible for that to happen. It doesnt mean what happened to refugees is right or wrong. I have also posted that the best chance of some refugees returning was the now buried Annan plan and the longer it takes for the politicians to get round the table the less people may return to their former homes on both sides.

[Piratis]

However i wonder how you can call everyone who buys a home or resides in the Northern part of the Island "Scum"

I never said this stuballstu. I was very specific. The scums are the foreigners that "buy" Greek Cypriot land in the occupied areas.

I didn't use this word for Turkish Cypriots, foreigners that buy property that truly belongs to TCs and not even for the uneducated settlers that were transported to the north en mass by Turkey.

However educated people like balaka have no excuse for the crime they commit. They buy GC land for one single reason: it is cheaper because it is stolen. Then they are trying to find excuses, not for us - because they know we will never accept such lame excuses, but for their own concience (the little that they have).

Does this mean that for every plane that lands in Larnaca airport every passenger is scum because part of that land belonged to a TC prior to 1974?

The 18% of TCs took the 37% of land with the invasion. The 82% of GCs was forced to live in the 60% of land. Did you want them to live in the 50%?? If Turkey didn't insist on the illegal occupation the Larnaca airport would not be build anyways.
If any part of the airport is build on land which the goverment legally expropriated, then this TC will be compensated when the solution is found and all people are allowed to return to their own homes.

If you look at my previous postings do you think that every refugee who wanted to, could, return to their former lands the Cyprus problem would suddenly be sorted?

The property issue is one of the main issues, along with the Turkish troops that occupy part of RoC and the Turkish settlers. All issues need to be solved for the Cyprus problem to be solved.
The Annan plan was legalizing the illegal actions of Turkey by officially partitioning the island. It solved the problem of Turkey (EU accession) and the problems of TCs (isolation, recognition) but for GCs it created much more problems than the few it solved. This is why it was rejected by GCs, and this is why it is buried. Next plan should solve our problems as well, and yes the illegal occupation of our land and properties is the main problem for us. Without solving this problem there can be no solution.

[bakala]

Piratis
I apologise for not mentioning the Greek Cypriots that were included in the mini holocost
you are right, the Greek Cypriots soldiers and militia were responsible for killing many Greek cypriots too for opposing enosis, there were many instances where decent Greek Cypriots were shot by Greek militia and Greek Soldiers. just because they sheltered their Turkish Cypriot Neighbours.
It is no good denying the fact it is a matter of historical record

The ordinary decent Greek Cypriot is as good as any man, pity there were not more of them around from 1960 to 1974
Oh by the way if the Turkish landings were illegal
Exactly how do you explain the 20.000 regular Greek troops smuggled into cyprus and set loose on a defenceless Cypriot population, long before the first turkish soldier landed.
Greek soldiers landed and started the mini holocost so that was ok, acording to you:
but the turks landing to save the Turksish Cypriots from obliivion is illegal ?
your very words condem you as unfit to take part in any civilised government

The losses you refer to when the turkish forces landed were no Doubt the brave greek soldiers driving the evil Turkish Cypriot civilains before them ( Blows Bugle waves Flag ) then suddenly realising they faced regular Turkish troops with weapons instead of the evil ( unarmed ) Turkish cypriot civilians
the dashing attack of the oh so brave greek soldiers turned into the mother of all retreats: while you were advancing and winning the United nations protested time after time for them to stop. but they refused to answer the phone. Once the Oh so Brave Greek Forces faced regular Turkish Troops and ran for thier lives : the greek phones to the UN were red hot to stop the evil turks who are stopping us from killing the evil Turkish Cypriots,

and yes mate i do plan on buying land in the North and building a villa there, i plan to live out my life with an honest and hospitable people. and i will use whatever wealth and influence i have in making sure the real truth is known
The years prior to 1974 happend and you maybe able to teach your twisted form of history to say it didnt But
you cant kid all the people all the time mate
The Jig is Up and you lost your marbles when you decided to take the whole island and lost
learn to live with it

[Piratis]

bakala, I never defendant the illegal coup in Cyprus. However such coups happened in many other countries, including several in Turkey and they can not be used as an excuse for a full scale invasion and occupation of Cyprus by a foreign country.

No TC was killed by the coupists before the Turkish invasion had started, and this is a historical fact as well. Turkey didn't invade to protect TCs, but to take part of Cyprus for herself. The fact that they insist on occupying part of Cyprus 32 years after those events proves this point.

The Turkish invaders massacred 6000 people, most of which were unarmed civilians, since the Turks were bombing our cities and villages.

So go give your lame excuses elsewhere.
The Turkish occupation is illegal: fact
The "TRNC" is legality invalid: fact
By "buying" GC property in the occupied part of Cyprus you are committing a criminal offense: fact

and yes mate i do plan on buying land in the North and building a villa there, i plan to live out my life with an honest and hospitable people.

Do it, and I assure you that your last years will be the worst years of your life. In fact there is a new association that is collecting the names and information of people like you to proceed with legal proceedings against you. Maybe this list will somehow find its way online so every Cypriot can fight with whatever means he can the criminals of your kind one by one.

[rawk]

Piratis

Look at this, take a breath, look at again, its a long time ago, I know, but it was reported then as it happened, no one then knew about the debate today, this was for real..... Piratis...

The following excerpts from the world press attest to the cold blooded massacres by the Greek Cypriots in anti-Turkish hysteria:

"We went tonight into the sealed-off Turkish quarter of Nicosia in which 200 to 300 people had been slaughtered in the last five days. We are the first Western reporters there and we have seen sights too frightful to be described in print and horrors so extreme that people seemed stunned beyond tears and reduced to a hysterical and mirthless giggle that is more terrible than tears."

(DAILY EXPRESS of 28 December 1963 - Report by Rene Maccoll and Daniel McGeaohie)

"….. A few days ago, 1,000 people lived here, in their solid, stone built homes which hug the coast road to Kyrenia, 13 miles from Nicosia. Then in a night of terror 350 villagers - men, women and children - vanished. They were all Turks".

(DAILY HERALD (London) of 31 December 1963)

The deep-rooted and intense racial enmity felt by the Greek Cypriots against the Turkish Cypriots - an enmity which is fed by the Orthodox Church and the nationalists led by gymnasia - has been transformed into a political objective, as was revealed by the late Archbishop Makarios, in a sermon at Panayia village, on 4 September 1962, when he said:

“Unless this small Turkish community forming a part of the Turkish race, which has been the terrible enemy of Hellenism, is expelled, the duty of the heroes of EOKA can never be considered as terminated”

Ten years later in an interview with Karin Kaemmereit, of the German weekly, “BUNTE ILLUSTRIERTE”, Makarios said:

“The union of Cyprus with Greece requires the extermination of the Turkish Cypriot community”.

Between 1963 – 1974, the Turkish Cypriots lost 103 villages and lived in small enclaves corresponding to only 3% of the territory of Cyprus, which they had been forced into by the armed assaults of the Greek Cypriots. For eleven years they had to live under “open-air prison” conditions.

"... thousands of Turkish Cypriots fled from their homes, taking with them only what they could drive or carry and sought refuge in what they considered to be safer Turkish Cypriot villages and areas."

(Report of the UN Secretary-General S/8286 of 8 December 1967)

"In Cyprus the terror continues. Right now we are witnessing the exodus of Turks from villages. Thousands of people are abandoning their homes, lands, herds: Greek terrorism is relentless. This time the rhetoric of the Hellenes and the busts of Plato do not suffice to cover-up their barbaric and ferocious behaviour".

(IL GIORNO of 14 January 1964 - Report by Giorgio Bocca)

The Greek engineered coup d’etat of 15 July 1974 constituted the culmination of Greek Cypriot efforts to unite the island with Greece and represented the final phase of a genocidal campaign of ethnic cleansing perpetrated by the Greek Cypriots. The Turkish Cypriots were relieved from this agony only by the ensuing Turkish intervention, carried out in accordance with Turkey’s rights and obligations vested in the Treaty of Guarantee signed in 1960. However, until the Turkish troops were able to consolidate their positions and provide security for the Turkish Cypriots, the Greek Cypriots in anti-Turkish frenzy massacred Turkish Cypriots.

Mass graves were later discovered at Ayvasil (Ayios Vasilios), Murataga (Maratha), Sandallar (Sandallaris) and Atlilar (Aloa).

The then US Under-Secretary of State, Mr. George W. Ball, in his memoirs ‘The Past Has Another Pattern’ had this to say, from his personal experiences, concerning events in Cyprus during that period:

“Makarios’ central interest was to block off Turkish intervention so that he and his Greek Cypriots could go on happily butchering Turkish Cypriots.”

“… the Greek Cypriots… do not want a peace keeping force; they just want to be left alone to kill Turkish Cypriots.”

Turkey’s timely and lawful intervention, which prevented the illegal annexation of Cyprus by Greece, put an end to the bloodshed and prevented the total extermination of the Turkish Cypriot people.

That's what they said then, what's the story now? Do you know these places they speak of, have you visited them, are there bones there in the ground?

rawk

[Agios Amvrosios]

You lame posts talk about 300 or so people . The same or more number s of Greek Cypriots were killed during sporadic intercommunal fighting but put this in perspective over 6000 mainly civilians were killed.

In any case the sporadic alleged deaths of a couple of hundred or so people does not provide a legal entitlement to commit an ongoing ethnic cleansing and then mass killing of many thousands.

The alleged abuse of the individual rights of one person does in no way entitle ethnic cleansing of and killing of thousands of other unrelated individuals.

I want to stick to the topic so I'll send more details of my family's own experiences in a private message.