Turkish Cypriot land battle goes to court

TURKISH CYPRIOT landowners yesterday appeared in court to demand the return of their land, during the first day of a trial examining the illegal transfer of ownership and sale of Turkish Cypriot land in Kato Pyrgos and Ayios Theodoros.

The Paphos Criminal Court heard Turkish Cypriot property was “illegally transferred to Greek Cypriots” who proceeded to sell the land to a development company for £972,000.

The accused are Kato Pyrgos’ community leader, a land registry official and four other area residents who are charged with forgery, circulating false documents, bribing public officials as well crimes related to covering up the scandal.

During yesterday’s court hearing one of the Turkish Cypriot landowners presented a document from the occupied areas, which caused an immediate reaction from the court authorities, the Cyprus News Agency reported.

The trial will continue on Tuesday in Paphos.

According to CyBC radio representatives of the Tyllirias Turkish Cypriot Society expressed their complete satisfaction, from a judicial and political aspect, that the scandal had been brought to light.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.