Cyprus-Forum.com

[brother]

The Orams case, property issue and sustainable settlement in Cyprus

Serdar Denktas¸

The public persecution of David and Linda Orams through the press is reprehensible especially while the case is sub judice.
All the laments and pleas for “fair justice” by those Greek Cypriots who left their properties in the north and went south pretend that refugee problems and property problems attached to them are the product of Turkey’s arrival in 1974. If this one-sided glance at the picture is replaced by an objective look at the problem, then this is the picture that one sees:
The refugee problem started in 1963 when nearly half of the Turkish Cypriot population had to flee from 103 villages and take refuge in what came to be known as, “Turkish enclaves,” denied of all their property rights until 1975.

Turkish properties abandoned in the south since 1974 have enriched Greek Cypriots to this day, without any compensation. Homes and other buildings, including 107 mosques have totally been destroyed. Valuable land belonging to Turkish Cypriots in the south has been “compulsorily acquired” without any notification to the owners. Mr. Papadopoulos is on record as saying that compensation will be considered when there is a settlement of the Cyprus problem. From the Greek Cypriot press we see, from time to time, the monkey business, which goes on in the south regarding Turkish properties. Not only houses but also buildings in most of the Turkish Cypriot villages have been totally destroyed while vineyards and irrigated land are being utilized by Greek Cypriot “occupants” free of charge!
To recap, nearly half of the Turkish Cypriot population were deprived of all their rights and use of their properties between 1963-1974, confined to enclaves, living on subsidies from Turkey while defying the attempt of the Greek Cypriot partner to take over the whole island (the homeland of both peoples) and colonize it by giving it to Greece! The economic life for the whole Turkish Cypriot population was thus at the mercy of Greek Cypriots with the result that there was little or no economic life! The message of the period to Turkish Cypriots was very clear and simple, as stated by Mr. Glafkos Clerides:

“The best solution for us is no solution. Next year we shall be where we were the last year, and the next, where we were the year before.
We, the Greek Cypriots, today have the government completely under our control. We do not have the Vice-President with his veto, or the three Turkish ministers in it. All the ministers are Greeks. Our government is the only one internationally recognized. Why should we bring back the Turks? The Turks today control only 3 percent of the land; the area comprising their enclaves. They don’t have rich resources and are having difficult times because of economic atrophy. Finally they will have to accept our decisions -- or go.”
Reported By Aleccos Constantinides in the Greek Cypriot daily Fileleftheros on September 20, 1992.
However, the intervention of Turkey in July 1974, this vision of Mr. Clerides would have been realized, had Greece succeeded in its 1974 coup.

After 1974, it was agreed that we would shape the future under a bi-zonal federal structure, Turkish Cypriots living in the north and Greek Cypriots in the south (where they had respectively consolidated as a result of the coup, events following the intervention, and the 1975 agreement for population exchange). The events of the 1963-1974 period and the 1974 coup made bi-zonality an imperative security need for Turkish Cypriots and it was on this new reality and basis that negotiations were set in motion, on and off, until today.
Had Greek Cypriot leaders from Kyprianou onwards wanted a settlement based on the High Level Agreements, they should have not told their people that there would be no settlement until Greek Cypriot refugees returned to their properties in the north.
After the decision on bi-zonality, in line with the voluntary exchange of population agreement of 1975, half of the Turkish Cypriot population moved from south to north.

Allocation of Greek Cypriot properties in the north to these people was done out of necessity. In time, these allocations were reviewed and formalized under our “Equal Valuation Law,” which we believe is in line with the agreed principle of bi-zonality. The factor of imminent necessity was there because no one would invest in such properties and no one would be able to lease or mortgage such properties, get money and use it for the development of them. The fact that this was a painstaking, difficult and sensitive job is clear from the fact that, even today, some allocations are being contested in court. In any case, all U.N. proposals that followed, including the latest Annan plan, contained provisions that regulated the freedom of settlement and the right to properties in order to safeguard bi-zonality.
Had the Greek Cypriot leadership wanted or needed a settlement, they would not have challenged these proposals, mainly on the ground that Greek Cypriot refugees were denied the right of return to their old habitats.
Those of us who wanted permanent peace on the island believed (and continue to believe) that the huge movement of population which was necessitated by the violence into which the island was pushed (started by the Greek Cypriot side and Greece) needed a political settlement. The attempt to demote and treat the Cyprus issue in the confines of the right to properties of the individual, which also has to be respected, disregards the constitutionally protected collective rights dimension of the issue as well as the political reasons for the movement of population on both sides and the need for personal security, especially for Turkish Cypriots who were almost eradicated from the island.
Coming back to the Orams’ case, hundreds of British and other foreign residents have bought properties from KKTC title-deed holders in the north. This has been going on for years. Now, the advent of the Greek Cypriot side, under the false title of the legitimate government of Cyprus, into the EU has given the Greek Cypriot side (which is using the EU as a means of achieving what it failed to achieve between 1963-1974) the opportunity to further its political design by bringing civil action against these residents who have acquired properties in good faith.

As stated by the President of the Greek Cypriot Bar Association, Nicos Papaefstathiou, on September 29, 2004, the property question should be settled through political discussions and not through the courts. This is what we have been saying all along.
Over the last 25 or so years, the Turkish Cypriot side has been trying to apply the mutually agreed principle of bi-zonality in northern Cyprus. Can this be undone now? Over the last 30 years, the character of each plot has changed and several properties have changed hands 3 or 4 times.

We call upon Greek Cypriot leaders to put aside excuses and uphold the mutually agreed principles of bi-zonality and political equality so that a political settlement can be possible. We also call upon them not to prevent their people from applying for redress to our institutions.
Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Serdar Denktas¸


 

[insan]

Allocation of Greek Cypriot properties in the north to these people was done out of necessity. In time, these allocations were reviewed and formalized under our “Equal Valuation Law,” which we believe is in line with the agreed principle of bi-zonality. The factor of imminent necessity was there because no one would invest in such properties and no one would be able to lease or mortgage such properties, get money and use it for the development of them.

Ok, Mr. Denktash... You did the right thing for TCs in frame of summit and high level agreements,but what about the GC properties which have been allocated to the settlers, free of charge?

[brother]

EXACTLEY MY POINT TOO.

[insan]

Another remarkable point here is Klerides' words:

To recap, nearly half of the Turkish Cypriot population were deprived of all their rights and use of their properties between 1963-1974, confined to enclaves, living on subsidies from Turkey while defying the attempt of the Greek Cypriot partner to take over the whole island (the homeland of both peoples) and colonize it by giving it to Greece! The economic life for the whole Turkish Cypriot population was thus at the mercy of Greek Cypriots with the result that there was little or no economic life! The message of the period to Turkish Cypriots was very clear and simple, as stated by Mr. Glafkos Clerides:

“The best solution for us is no solution. Next year we shall be where we were the last year, and the next, where we were the year before.
We, the Greek Cypriots, today have the government completely under our control. We do not have the Vice-President with his veto, or the three Turkish ministers in it. All the ministers are Greeks. Our government is the only one internationally recognized. Why should we bring back the Turks? The Turks today control only 3 percent of the land; the area comprising their enclaves. They don’t have rich resources and are having difficult times because of economic atrophy. Finally they will have to accept our decisions -- or go.”
Reported By Aleccos Constantinides in the Greek Cypriot daily Fileleftheros on September 20, 1992.

Although the mentality of GC ruling and leading elites has always been known by TCs and Turks; it was proved by a GC in 1992. Could TCs trust them anymore? Guess how a TC nationalist would react and retaliate against this mentality... Fights for Taksim? Takes revenge upon...? Fill the North with settlers?



But if you ask to Piratis, there's nothing wrong with Klerides' mentality, neither the Makarios' or other's political stance(minority obsession) against TCs. TCs and Turks look for excuses to justify their actions...


With this mentality, we'll never reach a joint acceptable settlement on Cyprus issue.

[brother]

I think everyones actions are there to be seen, and that their need to exterminate us failed but now we must be wary of the people that try to breed hate to drag us into another era of darkness.