DISY plans bill to help refugees stop property sale

OPPOSITION DISY has submitted a proposal to reform the law controlling the sale of Turkish Cypriot properties in the free areas.

The proposal, prepared by MPs Soteris Sampson and Kyriacos Hadjiyiannis, was presented yesterday.

The deputies said problems with selling Turkish Cypriot properties were taking on huge dimensions and having a direct effect on the refugee population, which was becoming exposed and vulnerable.

Hadjiyiannis said that according to information received by DISY, there are currently hundreds of sales contracts on the market for the specific properties, some of which have already been submitted to the Land Registry Office.

He presented a specific example, where the mother of a missing person in Larnaca has been asked to abandon the Turkish Cypriot home she has been living in since the invasion, after the home had been sold by its Turkish Cypriot owner.

“The state itself is calling on her to sign a contract, the content of which is still unknown,” said Hadjiyiannis.

The problem is not just political, he added, but social, and the state needs to deal with it.

“Unfortunately Turkish Cypriot properties are being transferred without there being transparency and without existing criteria,” said Hadjiyiannis.

Analysing the opposition’s proposal, Sampson said the amendment would see each refugee living on Turkish Cypriot property being informed by the state in time to attempt to prevent the sale.

A second provision will give the refugee priority to buy the house if they wish.

“A refugee must be given the right to purchase the property where he or she is residing,” Sampson explained.

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