SIGMA television station has given the Attorney-general a list of Greek Cypriots who submitted applications to the property commission in the north.
Although the station and its affiliated newspaper Simerini did not name the 20 Greek Cypriots, they published their initials, the location of their property and how much the individuals were claiming in compensation.
The detailed list was given to Attorney-general Petros Clerides and House President, AKEL leader, Demetris Christofias the two media outlets said. They said the applications to the property commission were made between last year and this year.
Compensation claims ranged from £100,000 to £2.6 million.
Clerides told the Cyprus Mail yesterday he had taken a decision about the list of names given to him by Sigma. “I have decided but I’m not making any statements about it,” he said.
In its broadcast on Tuesday night, Sigma said that when it presented the list to Christofias, he thanked the station and reproached those who were in a hurry to run to the pseudostate and its illegal property commission, calling for cool heads.
AKEL spokesman Andros Kyprianou said yesterday the idea of Greek Cypriots resorting to the Turkish Cypriot property commission was “unacceptable and reprehensible”. He called a news conference on ‘Sigma’s List’.
“We call on all Greek Cypriots, independent of the problems they face, to first and foremost respect their homeland and the legality of the Republic,” he said.
“We cannot compromise the future of our homeland for the sake of any amount of money.”
Asked about the possibility of improving the financial lot of refugees so they would not be tempted to resort to the property commission, Kyprianou said no one would disagree with such a move and he said he had no doubt the government would do more.
“But no one can invoke potential weaknesses and problems in order to resort to illegal committees,” he said.
The House Refugee Committee also condemned those who resorted to the property commission yesterday.
The Turkish Cypriot side says over 180 Greek Cypriots have applied to the Commission, which was set up last year, including one applicant who also has a case at the European Court of Human Rights.
This was one of two cases resolved by the property commission through an exchange of properties, Turkish Cypriot press reports said yesterday. They said the commission had completed the examination of 22 out of 182 cases.
In three cases, the commission decided to return property to Greek Cypriot legal owners. Two cases were resolved through property exchange and 17 were being paid compensation totalling $20 million.
