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 been totally 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 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
all buildings in most of the Turkish Cypriot
villages have been totally destroyed while vineyards
and irrigated lands 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! 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% of the land; the area comprising their
enclaves. They haven’t got rich resources and
are having difficult times because of economic
atrophy. Finally they will have to accept our
decisions - or go."
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 on the basis of 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 UN 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 in 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 TRNC 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 29 September
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 North Cyprus. Can this
be undone now? Over the last 30 years, the character
of each plot has changed, several pieces of property
have changed hands 3 or 4 times.
We
call upon Greek Cypriot leaders to put aside excuses
and to 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.
Serdar Denkta
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