THE GOVERNMENT said yesterday it expected refugees to take on board the state’s position and not submit applications to the Turkish Cypriot property commission.
Spokesman Vassilis Palmas said the issue was being handled by Attorney-general Petros Clerides who would determine whether Greek Cypriot applications to the compensation committee were illegal.
“The position of the government is the position we believe Cypriot citizens should follow,” Palmas said.
The statements came a day after the House plenum passed a resolution condemning the developing of Greek Cypriot properties in the north and called on all Greek Cypriots not to submit applications.
“The issue of prosecutions that concern potential applications to this illegal committee is a subject which I cannot, from the position of Government Spokesman, interpret,” said Palmas.
“It is a subject which calls for the opinion of the Attorney-general and he has been given the names and cases regarding certain applications to this illegal committee and he will issue his opinion.”
According to the Turkish Cypriot side, 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.
The government is worried that a raft of applications to the property commission will affect those cases of Greek Cypriot refugees whose cases are with the European Court. At stake is whether the court might consider the commission an adequate ‘domestic remedy’, in which case all future property cases would have go through the north.
If this happened the fear is that once the commission received the rubber stamp from Europe, the Turkish side would then double cross the refugees.
So far the property commission says it has successfully resolved 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.
Last week two deputies gave a list of names of Greek Cypriots engaged in property deals in the north to the Attorney-general. This week Sigma television station also handed over a list of 20 names from the list of applicants to the property commission.
Palmas said he was aware of the situation but he said he did not know where Sigma obtained its list. He added that that it only contained names and no hard evidence. He said the question of where Sigma got the names would also be investigated.
Palmas said the Attorney-general’s office also had a list of concrete cases. These were being investigated.
“The validity or non-validity of the [Sigma] list will be verified,” said Palmas. “If evidence exists that an illegal transaction took place then there will be criminal responsibility.”
But he cautioned that if a private individual makes a deal with another private individual in the north, it was questionable as to what extent the state could intervene.
“It rests with the individual conscience whether we approve or disapprove of these types of actions,” he said.
Asked whether the government might offer increased benefits to refugees to try and deter them from applying to the property commission, Palmas said this would be very difficult for the government to respond financially to discourage the refugees. He said the move could be seen as populist.
As an alternative to giving refugees more benefits to discourage them, European Party deputy Rikkos Erotokritou suggested that those who had applied to the commission have their benefits cut instead.
Erotokritou said on Thursday his party was looking at submitting legislation to the effect that they would lose their refugee status.
