The acting head of the Turkish Cypriot properties administration service has described a nexus of corruption within the agency, where staff are said to have aided and abetted as well as covered up a host of irregularities over the years.
In a lengthy report, the agency’s Makis Economides recounts numerous instances where employees and officers covered up, tolerated and concealed misdeeds.
This included alerting violators – users of Turkish Cypriot properties in the south – of impending actions by the agency, allowing these people to cover their tracks.
In some cases, according to Economides, agency staff obstructed or delayed implementation of decisions taken by the agency’s management. In others, they dragged their feet in taking the prescribed corrective measures.
They also failed to report irregular activity by beneficiaries of Turkish Cypriot properties – such as sub-letting the properties, constructions lacking permits, and payments in arrears.
This disregard for the law contributed to fostering a sense of impunity and to perpetuating the violations. The report, cited by daily Phileleftheros on Monday, does not make reference to the possible benefits reaped by agency staff as a result of their conduct. But recently, auditor-general Odysseas Michaelides revealed he was initiating a probe into whether former agency staff and their relatives were the beneficiaries of Turkish Cypriot properties.
It’s understood the probe will scrutinize the period from 2000 to the present day, but could go as far back as 1991.
Last week the auditor-general told MPs of three cases where Greek and Turkish Cypriot land had been exchanged and where the go-ahead had been given by female staff of the service whose husbands worked for companies that benefited from the transaction.
Specifically, there were two cases of land exchange in the Limni area, Paphos, and one in Asomatos, Limassol.
The police meanwhile, assisted by the interior ministry, are conducting their own investigation. According to reports, 23 cases are currently being looked at, 13 of which are in Paphos, eight in Larnaca (Mackenzie area), and two in the Nicosia district.
Interior minister Constandinos Petrides said authorities have taken a series of measures, including repossessing premises, initiating legal proceedings, and sending cease-and-desist letters to violators.
The apparent mismanagement of Turkish Cypriot properties re-emerged recently after Paphos Mayor Phedonas Phedonos went public with the names of people and companies using such properties without being eligible.
Following the 1974 Turkish invasion, properties abandoned by Turkish Cypriots in the south were, by law, put under the protection of the interior ministry, or the guardian of Turkish Cypriot properties. Because of the need to house Greek Cypriots who were displaced from the north, it was decided to allocate such properties to them – usually for a token fee – on condition that the owners would not lose their rights.
It has been reported that in cases where people were given the land, along with loans to build restaurants, they either failed to pay their loans, or sold the establishments, or sublet them for much higher fees.
