Cyprus-Forum.com

[kalahari]

Our friend Piratis has made this claim, with regard to all TC communities in the South. I would be interested to your thoughts and to see any substantiating evidence.

Those properties (Turkish Cypriot communities, houses etc) are still there waiting for TCs and they were not given to foreigners or to GCs (only for temporary use).

[Viewpoint]

Ask him about the refugee houses build in Limasol on TC land.

[malaka]

Our friend Piratis has made this claim, with regard to all TC communities in the South. I would be interested to your thoughts and to see any substantiating evidence.

Those properties (Turkish Cypriot communities, houses etc) are still there waiting for TCs and they were not given to foreigners or to GCs (only for temporary use).

My uncle lives in such a house
He was not given a made up deed.
He can not sell it.
He can not renovate it.
He can not do anything with it because it does not belong to him.
He would not even cosider doing anything with it.
Unlike some peolple in the North.

This is the thing kalahari why are the Turks selling off knocking down doing what ever they want with houses that do not belong to them.

Surelly as an outsider you can see what is going on here.

[Viewpoint]

Our property in the south was knocked down, it was only 5 years old in 1974 and build of brick. Why?

[cypezokyli]

the reality is that tc properties were not taken care of.
some pieces of tc land has been used by the goverment for the good of the general public. the same thing has been done in the north. supposingly the RoC keeps some money in the box , for compensating those people (the knowledge we have from the press is that the money are not enough)

some of the tc properties have been purposely demolished (thats a disgace), some have been not taken care of (i am not sure if there was such moral obligation) , in some gc refuggees live in them ( due to the new situation creatred after the war) .
tcs can claim their properties (under certain conditions) , and one case has done so and won (others are currently in process). a tc won a case in the court , and his house was returned back to him even though a gc refuggee was living in it. the goverment was held responsible of finding a new residence for the gc refuggee.

[theresa]

Isn't that why all the confusion over "exchanged" land is still going on? A lot of TC's that went to the North gave up the properties in the South in exchange for (permanent) properties in the North - the GC's however NEVER agreed to do this did they? I know someone who really believes (or wants to believe) that the person who owned their property originally(Greek Cyp) is happily living in, and "owns" the TC's house who sold them the former Greek Cyp property!! Not true of course, but the word "exchange" is VERY confusing - an exchange cannot be called so when only one party has agreed!!!
Tess

[Kifeas]

Isn't that why all the confusion over "exchanged" land is still going on? A lot of TC's that went to the North gave up the properties in the South in exchange for (permanent) properties in the North - the GC's however NEVER agreed to do this did they? I know someone who really believes (or wants to believe) that the person who owned their property originally(Greek Cyp) is happily living in, and "owns" the TC's house who sold them the former Greek Cyp property!! Not true of course, but the word "exchange" is VERY confusing - an exchange cannot be called so when only one party has agreed!!!
Tess

No, there was absolutely no property exchange agreement between G/Cs and T/Cs. The so-called exchange theory that they promote in the north refers to an arbitrary and illegal assumption by the Denktash regime, which passed a "law" in which it assumed (the regime) the ownership of all G/C properties in the north, and then it unilaterally and arbitrarily call on the T/Cs that moved from the South to exchange their properties in the south with the G/C properties the regime usurped in the north. They used the so-called point system as an exchange facilitating mean in order to distribute G/C owed land. No G/C individual owner or the RoC government have ever given their consent to something like this to occur, and no international court recognizes this unilaterally assumed procedure to be legal and /or valid.

The worst of all is that the so-called exchange was done arbitrarily in terms of "exchanging" properties of equal value. People who did not have property in the south at all, where given points on the basis of services rented to the partition and /or TMT “cause” as well, and many settlers and other prominent Turkish and British nationals got such points. People who Had a lot of property in the south, were given much less points because they were deemed to be against the regime, and people who had very little property in the south were given way more points than the corresponding values in the south. In a nutshell, the whole "exchange" thing was done on a purely unilateral, illegal, and arbitrary basis, and it is not recognized internationally to constitute any legal precedent. Furthermore, absolutely no G/C has received any compensation what so ever, either in the form of monetary payment or in the form of and exchanged property.

There is absolutely no legal difference between "buying" G/C land in the north on whose "title deed" it says that it is an "exchange" one, or not!

[theresa]

Yes that is what I have now come to understand by speaking to Turkish Cypriots as well - a one sided agreement can never work and these properties are still being sold - why?
Tess

[Kifeas]

Isn't that why all the confusion over "exchanged" land is still going on? A lot of TC's that went to the North gave up the properties in the South in exchange for (permanent) properties in the North - the GC's however NEVER agreed to do this did they? I know someone who really believes (or wants to believe) that the person who owned their property originally(Greek Cyp) is happily living in, and "owns" the TC's house who sold them the former Greek Cyp property!! Not true of course, but the word "exchange" is VERY confusing - an exchange cannot be called so when only one party has agreed!!!
Tess

The above is a very interesting observation which I have also come across. Doesn't this explain though, why the 30 years of completelly sealing off the north from any contact with the south by the Denktash regime? How would the ordinary T/Cs could be subjected to the relentless regime's brain washing propaganda, if they could at the same time have had the opportunity to maintain contacts with the south and eventually get to know the other half of the “truth,” or the lies they’ve being told? That is why the iron curtain of all those years!

[kalahari]

This is teaching me a lot guys, please keep it up.

Kifeas, could you give me your opinion on the state of TC communities in the south? If you have not yet seen this map, I attach it for your interest, but it shows a very large number of TC communities in the south, pre 1974. I find it very difficult to believe that no GC has availed himself of any of this land. The alternative, which I find equally incredible (call me a cynic) is that the GC government and community elected to extract no vengeance on the exiled (by Denktash) TCs. I have formed this cynical opinion by listening to the fury of GCG etc.

Please tell me that this cynical view is wrong - I respect your opinion and believe that I can rely upon you for unbiased advice in this matter.

Kal