Cyprus-Forum.com

[Sotos]

FIVE Britons suspected of illegally owning Greek Cypriot properties in the north were detained for several hours at the Ayios Dhometios checkpoint on Sunday, in what police yesterday insisted was “a coincidence”.

The Turkish Cypriot authorities held back on advising foreigners living in Greek Cypriot properties in the north not to travel to the government-controlled areas.

“I don’t want to scare British people by advising them not to travel [to the south],” the north’s ‘foreign ministry’ spokesman Kudret Akay told the Cyprus Mail yesterday.

Akay’s comments came after it emerged that five north Cyprus-based British nationals, two couples and one single man, were detained in three separate incidents by Cypriot police at the Ayios Dhometios crossing in Nicosia, as they made their way to Larnaca airport on Sunday afternoon.

Police spokesman Demetris Demetriou yesterday confirmed to the Mail that the five had been detained on suspicion of having purchased Greek Cypriot properties from which their owners were forced out in 1974.

“We didn’t arrest them, but we did bring them to the police station when we found they had papers concerning properties in the north,” Demetriou said. Asked whether he knew whether the properties referred to in the documents were Greek Cypriot-owned he said: “Yes, we think they are”. He added that the five Britons were later released, but that the documents found remained in the possession of the police “for further investigation to see whether they have broken the law”.

It was not clear yesterday whether the detention of the five signalled the start of a campaign to clamp down on foreigners buying Greek Cypriot properties in the north.
Demetriou adamantly denied that such a policy was being put into action, describing as “coincidence” the fact that the five had all been detained on the same day.

However, the Turkish Cypriot taxi driver ferrying one of the detained couples to the airport believes otherwise. Yesterday, he told the Cyprus Mail that customs officials at the checkpoint had targeted the laptop case belonging to the couple and began looking for documents in it.

“The looked through the side pocket of the laptop and found some brochures and, I think, a contract for a house sale. They also found a site map,” said the taxi driver, who wished to remain nameless.

“I believe they [the Greek Cypriot government] are trying to find out who has bought what from whom over here,” he added.

The driver described how the “apprehensive” British couple was taken for questioning to the police station in Nicosia, where they were asked which person or company they had purchased property from.

“As far as I know,” the driver said, “they gave the information the police were looking for.”

He also described how another Briton, a man travelling on his own who was also found to be carrying documents referring to property in the north, had angrily demanded his documents back from the police.

“He was only given photocopies,” the driver said. He added that one of the couples had missed their flight from Larnaca because of the incident.

A prominent Greek Cypriot property lawyer yesterday told the Cyprus Mail that he believed it possible for the Cypriot authorities to prosecute foreigners buying Greek Cypriot properties in the north.

“Buyers have an obligation to carry out a minimum search on the ownership details of the property. They are not just victims,” he said, adding: “Just the fact they have crossed the checkpoint shows they know the situation in Cyprus.”

Thats a start. But just some hours of detention is not enough.

[lysi]

Good, its about time the cypriot police started to arrest those british scumbags who are dealing and buying property built on stolen greek cypriot land, the brits even have the cheek to fly to larnaca then go to the occupied north to purchase homes.

[Rude Gal]

With attitudes & actions like these, no wonder the Brits are streaming across from South to buy in the North.

GCs, you keepin with this attitude (everyone's a thief, butcher, barbarian who acts counter to your interests, but it's OK for your people to also abuse) & you'll be flying solo!

[Piratis]

With attitudes & actions like these

Like what? Like applying the law and protecting the Cyprus citizens from the illegal actions of some criminals?

Those people should be arrested, and if found guilty of illegally using GC property in the occupied areas pay the price of their illegal action.

Wouldn't you seek legal actions against me if I was stealing something from you Rude Girl? Why do you think Greek Cypriots should shut up and accept what nobody in the world would??

GCs, you keepin with this attitude (everyone's a thief, butcher, barbarian who acts counter to your interests, but it's OK for your people to also abuse) & you'll be flying solo!

Maybe everyone that you know is thief, butcher etc. Maybe you should ask yourself why this is the case. Is it maybe because you insist on the illegal occupation of Cyprus and only such immoral people would cooperate with you and support you?

You refuse to us our human rights and you insist on illegalities. This doesn't mean we will just shut up without demanding our rights and enforcing the laws.

[MR-from-NG]

This doesn't mean we will just shut up without demanding our rights and enforcing the laws.

Enforcing what law? If the law was on your side you would have detained those people indefinitely. Instead you have given the expat community on both sides of the border more reason to criticise the Greek administration for the way they are handling the whole Cyprus issue.

The Greek police and customs should hang their heads in shame.

[Piratis]

200.000 refugees are kept out of their homes because you prefer to sell their properties to foreigners. Then you talk about shame??

What would be a shame from our part would be not to stand up to the rights of the 1000s of people that are grossly violated by your insistance on illegality.

Those that commit crimes in Cyprus will be prosecuted in Cyprus. If you committed a crime in the UK you would not be prosecuted? The same in Cyprus. The only difference is that some criminals hide behind the Turkish occupation tanks to avoid prosecution. But then they should forget about crossing the line, because when they do they will be arrested.

[MR-from-NG]

DESPITE the vast majority of Greek Cypriots theoretically remaining in favour of a united Cyprus, 48 per cent of them are against the idea of living side by side with Turkish Cypriots.

According to a survey conducted by the Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation (CyBC), 48 per cent of those asked said they would choose to live separately from Turkish Cypriots, to 45 per cent opting for co-existence. More worrying still, the vast majority of Greek Cypriots under the age of 35 are against the idea of living with their Turkish Cypriot neighbours – a result which casts considerable doubt over how willing Greek Cypriots are to rejoin Turkish Cypriots on a united island.

The study revealed that 63 per cent of Greek Cypriots within the age group of 18 to 24 are against the idea of living with Turkish Cypriots, while for the age group 25 to 34, 59 per cent are against the idea.

The same cannot be said for Greek Cypriots over 55. Greek Cypriots, aged between 55 and 64, were 59 per cent in favour of being living with the Turkish Cypriots while those aged 65 and up were 61 per cent in favour.

The overall percentage of people wanting to be reunited with Turkish Cypriots has dropped dramatically since 2003 – the year the checkpoints opened allowing the communities to mingle for the first time in almost three decades.

Political Analyst Louis Igoumenides yesterday told the Cyprus Mail he believed the main reason for the change in attitude was the Tassos Papadopoulos government.

“If these figures are indeed correct then it is something which is very worrying indeed,” said Igoumenides. “It is also something which clearly shows that the government of Tassos Papadopoulos has failed to promote a vision of reunification for young Greek Cypriots. Instead they have created a hostile climate for Greek Cypriot youths.”

Igoumenides, who is also in the education industry, added that most schools on the island do not help the situation, inciting hostility towards Turkish Cypriots.

“It is unfortunately very apparent that schools on the island do promote nationalism to pupils from a very young age prompting young people nowadays to resent anyone that is not Greek or Christian.”

Despite the number of Greek Cypriots unwilling to live side by side with Turkish Cypriots, 41 per cent say they are fond of Turkish Cypriots while 26 per cent say they are not so fond. Most Greek Cypriots (61 per cent) also state that they have a higher opinion of Turkish Cypriots now than they used to in the past.




Copyright © Cyprus Mail 2006

Piratis,

Looking at the above article it seems most Greeks are not keen on the idea of retuning to the north. They apparently do not want to live next to Turks. (Reunification my arse) So the problem may not be so serious after all.

[TonyC]

With attitudes & actions like these, no wonder the Brits are streaming across from South to buy in the North.

The following article seems to suggest the opposite (mrfomng isn't the only one who can quote the Cyprus Mail...).


PROPERTY sales in the north have hit an all time low, estate agents said yesterday, despite claims on Monday by Turkish Cypriot ‘prime minister’ Ferdi Sabit Soyer that the property boom continued unabated.

“I haven’t sold a single property in a year,” Kyrenia-based estate agent Altan Ozcihangirli told the Cyprus Mail yesterday, adding that others in the industry were experiencing a similar slump in sales.

Ozcihangirli said he believed the bottom had fallen out of the property market as a direct result of several court cases pending against those who had invested in properties abandoned by Greek Cypriots in the wake of the Turkish invasion in 1974.

But on Monday Soyer sought to allay fears in the north by publishing figures that showed a sharp increase in the number of foreigners applying for building permission, saying that the figures reflected a continued increase in sales.

“Those who say the property market is dead are wrong,” Soyer proclaimed, and blamed any problems in the industry on the fact that there were “too many trying to get a piece of the pie”.

He favourably compared current figures with those of past years, saying that while 667 foreigners had bought property in 2005, 267 had bought in just the first two months of 2006.

But as estate agents were quick to point out, the figures Soyer quoted did not refer to the number of applications made by foreigners, but to actual approvals by the north’s ‘council of ministers’.

As one estate agent said, “If you look at the number of applications, you can see that by far the highest numbers were seen in 2004 when almost 3,000 applied. As far as I know, so far this year we only have around 300 new applications.”

Ozcihangirli also rubbished Soyer’s interpretation of the figures, saying that what appeared to be an increase was simply a reflection of the slowness with which the authorities processed applications from foreigners to build.

“I have a customer who bought a property two or three years ago. He only recently received his permission,” he said.

A prominent member of Kyrenia’s large expatriate community also dismissed Soyer’s claims as “nonsense”.

“We all know that construction has stopped. These figures are being manipulated. It’s all gloss,” he told the Mail, adding: “The foreigners here are always complaining about how long it takes to get permission to build. The high recent figures are a reflection of what happened in the past, not of what is happening now.”

Another Kyrenia estate agent Osman Ozter spoke to the Mail of a “serious reduction” in sales, saying that many potential customers were awaiting the outcome of a trial which will take place in the UK this summer over the ownership of a Greek Cypriot property in Lapithos. The belief among buyers, Ozter said, is that if the Greek Cypriot owner wins back his rights to the property, foreign investment in Greek Cypriot properties will cease altogether. If, however, the British woman living in the property wins the rights to stay, another boom in property sales will be on the cards. Ozter optimistically expects another boom.

But another estate agent, who asked not to be named, said many of his counterparts had already resigned themselves to the fact that the boom based on the sale of Greek Cypriot properties was over and had switched to selling predominantly Turkish Cypriot properties.

“With all the negative information out there these days about investing in north Cyprus people feel safer investing in Turkish Cypriot properties,” the agent said.

He did add, however, that the “cheaper end” of the property market, which involves buying up large areas of mainly Greek Cypriot land for the construction of cheap villas, was still active. Greek Cypriot land sells for around 20 per cent less than its Turkish Cypriot equivalent.

Copyright © Cyprus Mail 2006

[Piratis]

Looking at the above article it seems most Greeks are not keen on the idea of retuning to the north. They apparently do not want to live next to Turks. (Reunification my arse) So the problem may not be so serious after all.

What you say is a completely different issue. Yes, many GCs after suffering by the Turkish army do not trust TCs very much anymore. If Turkey and TCs showed some more respect to our human rights things would have been a lot different.

This is not an excuse for the illegalities and crimes. Maybe Germans and Germans Turks do not like each other that much, still nobody has the right to perform ethnic cleansing and violate the rights of another. All Cypriots have the right to their properties and the right to settle anywhere in Cyprus that they wish. If a TC or GC is racist/scared etc and he doesn't want to live next to a TC or GC, thats his problem. You can not force people out of their homes simply because you don't want to live next to them, nor GCs can do this to you.

As I always say what comes first is respect. All Cypriots are obligated to respect the rights of the rest of Cypriots no matter of their race, language etc. Beyond that trust, love, friendship etc are things that will come gradually.

[tcklim]

Actually the generation that did actually physically and mentally suffer from the Turkish army are the ones that are most forgiving and willing to embrace their TC compatriots. Statistically, it is the younger generation that didnt experience those events that display the most hostility.

Question is why? Schooling? Hate-fuelled teachers? Both?