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llegal construction halts in the north

ILLEGAL construction activity on Greek Cypriot refugee property in the occupied part of the island has come to a grinding halt following a Nicosia court decision ordering a middle-aged English couple to demolish their luxury villa and return the land to the rightful owner.

Thanks to an EU regulation, the wronged party, Meletios Apostolides, could have the Cypriot court ruling enforced on David and Linda Orams in the UK through the British High Court.

According to a special report published in the Turkish mainland newspaper "Referans," all applications by foreigners to obtain property in the north have been frozen since 9 November, the day on which the Nicosia court decision was issued.

Quoting the so called "advisor of the Turkish Cypriot foreign ministry" Kudret Akay, the paper wrote that construction work on 2,500 maisonettes has also stopped, while another 6,000 completed houses already bought in Kyrenia and the Karpass were affected.

"The decision of the Greek Cypriot court has upset the mainly British investors and applications for buying property have ceased," the report said.

It also quoted the chairman of the union of Turkish Cypriot estate agents Hasan Hungur as saying that the Orams case had caused panic to the foreign investors. He added, however, that the Turkish Foreign Ministry had made serious preparation to support the so-called "Republic of Northern Cyprus". "This family (the Orams) will not be left by itself," Sungur said.

Turkish academic Mensur Akgun told "Referans" that by transferring the Orams’ case to the English courts, the Greek Cypriots saught to erode bizonality through the abolition of the ownership regime in the north.

 

Contempt

Constantis Kandounas, Apostolides’ Greek Cypriot lawyer, who obtained the landmark county court decision, said another hearing was due to take place on December 20 to examine an application by the Orams to have the November 9 decision set aside. The court will also hear a new application by Kandounas against the English couple for contempt of court in refusing to comply with the judgment of the court.

Kandounas said Linda Orams was due to take part in the 20 December proceedings but she and her husband have left Cyprus to spend Christmas in Britain.

"We do not know if she will come to court," the Greek Cypriot lawyer told the Cyprus Weekly.

The economic and political repercussions of the Orams case have forced some strong statements from the leadership of the illegal regime.

Serdar Denktash, so called "foreign minister" and "caretaker deputy prime minister" claimed foreigners had always bought property in the north and accused the Greek Cypriot side of trying to take away the "ownership titles".

He and so-called "prime minister" Mehmet Ali Talat said the question of the refugee properties could only be settled as part of a solution of the Cyprus problem.

The chairman of the Turkish Cypriot Chamber of Commerce and Industry Ali Erel went a step further calling on the Turkish Cypriots to apply unilaterally the property provisions of the Annan plan, according to which they only had to return one third of Greek Cypriot property intact and develop the remaining two thirds.

Replying Government Spokesman Kypros Chrysostomides said Denktash ignored international court rulings which defined the status of refugee properties and other owners in the occupied areas of Cyprus.

Dismissed

He also dismissed Erel’s allegations, saying that the Annan plan never came into effect and therefore in no way could it affect the right of refugees to their properties.

The Orams judgment has raised concern also in the UK where the EU regulation for having the decisions of national courts in one EU member enforced by the courts of another could be tested for the first time.

Replying to questions in the House of Commons by Conservative MP Roger Gale, Minister for Europe Denis MacShane said the UK "strongly advised anyone considering buying property in the occupied part of Cyprus to seek independent qualified legal advise," and added: "We also draw attention to the political situation in Cyprus; the same advise is given to those who telephone the Foreign and Commonwealth Office or the British High Commission."

He said this applied equally to individuals and to UK companies, noting that "the British government was not in a position to intervene with or prevent UK companies from making commercial transactions with individuals or companies in northern Cyprus."

To another part of Gale’s question as to what his Department’s policy was on the ownership of properties constructed on illegally occupied land in the northern part of Cyprus and on compensation to be paid in respect of such properties, MacShane said:

"The UN Secretary General’s comprehensive settlement plan contained provisions for the return of property and compensation in respect of properties. We continue to believe that the best way or resolving these property issues is as part of a comprehensive, just and lasting settlement on the basis of the UN Secretary General’s plan."

However, the British High Commission in Nicosia has warned that the Annan plan provisions offer no protection to those who bought Greek Cypriot property illegally in the north.

In an advice secured in writing by the Lobby for Cyprus, an activist group in the UK, the British High Commission said:

Legal advice

"You should seek legal advice and be certain that the person from whom you are purchasing the property is the legal owner with pre-1974 provenance. This is necessary to prevent the possibility of losing your property in the event of a solution to the Cyprus property question."