Former Prime Minister Ferdi Soyer has dropped a bombshell on Evkaf claims to Varosha. The Abdullah Pasha Foundation, which is presented by the Evkaf religious foundation as the owner of the fenced-off city of Varosha/Marash, was compensated and closed down in 1933, former Prime Minister and former leader of the Republican Turkish Party (CTP), Ferdi Sabit Soyer has said.
Soyer referred to a book titled ‘The History of Turkish Cypriot Foundations with Documents’ (Belgelerle Kıbrıs Türk Vakıflar Tarihi 1571-1974) written by Mustafa Hasim Altan, which had been printed by the Cyprus Evkaf Administration Publications in 1986.
The above-mentioned documents are published in the second volume of the book on pages 1262-1281, Turkish Cypriot daily ‘Yeni Duzen’ reports. It was noted in the book that the history of the Turkish Cypriot Foundations was checked by a committee consisting of Harid Fedai, H. Fikret Alasya and Güney Esendağ and a decision was made by the Board of Foundations and Religious Affairs to publish the book.
The book was based on “official documents” which say that “no such foundation exists in Cyprus”, notes the paper adding that the book’s presentation was written by former Turkish Cypriot President Rauf Denktas, its foreword by Raif Unsal, the then Chairman of the Administrative Council of Evkaf and Religious Affairs, and its preface by Soner Cuvalcioglu, the then general director of the Evkaf. Furthermore, the book was submitted to the then Prime Minister Osman Orek.
Soyer told the paper that “the Evkaf phenomenon” was important “for the processing of land rights”, but some errors existed in its history, which should be discussed objectively. Soyer noted that neither the “Evkaf phenomenon in Varosha” nor the “historical reality” could be defended with the current Evkaf propaganda and its director through the media and advertisements.
Yeni Duzen
