The number of Turkish Cypriots claiming for their abandoned property in the south of the island has reached 100. The outcome of these claims will be determined at the European Court on completion of the judicial process, Yeniduzen reported.
Quoting from a report by Greek Cypriot daily Phileleftheros, it was stated that some of these cases concerned very large areas on which immigrant housing had been constructed.
Based on the examination made by the former director of the Turkish Cypriot Property Management Department, the newspaper stated that in South Cyprus, 2,932 residences/apartments had been built on 32 sites belonging to Turkish Cypriots covering an area of 901,129 square metres, 10 of these sites were located in Paphos, two were in Larnaca, eight were in Limassol and seven were on the Greek Cypriot side of Nicosia.
The claims made by the Turkish Cypriot land owners have been further complicated by the fact that a complex had been built on land which the original owners wish to reclaim.
It was noted that Turkish Cypriot owners had applied to the Republic of Cyprus’ courts with the aim of overturning the Law on Guardianship of Turkish Cypriot Properties. If they were successful, a wave of requests for compensation payments would come from the Turkish Cypriot landowners.
While the “state of emergency” conditions have been given as the reason for not returning their properties to Turkish Cypriots, the occupation of Greek Cypriot properties in the north is balanced against these properties. The most important case going to the Republic of Cyprus court is a Greek Cypriot who made an agreement with Turkish Cypriot heirs.
Concerning 1,500 acres of land in Paphos upon which Paphos Airport, Andreas Papandreou Air Base and immigrant residences are also built in the land in question, a demand for 50 million Euro in compensation was rejected.
It was pointed out that although the Turkish Cypriots’ claim had been rejected, they and their co-plaintiff, a Greek Cypriot, intended to bring the issue to appeal and then to the European Court.
It has been recorded that there are 1.453 million acres of Greek Cypriot property in the north, while the properties left by the Turkish Cypriots in the south were recorded as 455,000 thousand acres.