THE government said yesterday it would pull out all stops to thwart the exploitation of Greek Cypriot properties in the occupied north, though conceding that the continued division of the island was a considerable impediment.
On a political level, however, the administration was adamant that the ongoing construction boom in the north would have taken place regardless of a settlement. President Papadopoulos maintained yesterday that development of Greek Cypriot properties would probably not have been halted if the UN plan were accepted last year.
The President was being asked to comment on widespread media reports on a frenzy of construction in the occupied territories, in the wake of a case last week when a man was arrested in Paphos on suspicion of acting as an intermediary for the sale of such properties. The suspect was reportedly part of a ring involving Greek Cypriot and foreign businessmen who advertised land plots on the Internet.
“We shall use all the diplomatic and legal levers at our disposal to put an end to this,” Papadopoulos said. He was understood to be referring to the possibility of issuing European arrest warrants against EU nationals who were acting as estate agents in the north dealing in property belonging to Greek Cypriots.
And Justice Minister Doros Theodorou described European arrest warrants as a “powerful weapon” in curbing the exploitation of properties. Citing the Orams case and, more recently, the action taken by a Greek Cypriot couple against estate agent Mark Unwin, Theodorou claimed that these efforts were already paying off.
“We have indications that EU nationals have been discouraged from buying Greek Cypriot property in the north, so businessmen from mainland Turkey are now being brought in to do the job,” added Theodorou.
He went on to confirm that police were investigating “a number of cases” where Greek Cypriots may have been involved in exploitation of properties, but added that no concrete conclusions could yet be made.
But Interior Minister Andreas Christou was more cautious.
“Admittedly, we lack the means to definitively put an end to this practice… only a solution to the Cyprus problem could achieve that,” he remarked.
“Still, we shall use all other means to try and slow down the phenomenon.”
Press reports said authorities have in mind as many as 300 cases involving development of Greek Cypriot property in the north. But EUPRO (European Property Association of Northern Cyprus), representing European business interests, doubts whether the action taken by Greek Cypriots can stick in European courts.
They argue that parliament’s decision last month to increase to two years the jail time for “illegal possession and use of immovable property” does not distinguish between mere buyers, estate agents, contractors and developers.
