A TURKISH Cypriot man sued for trespassing on Greek Cypriot property in occupied Famagusta is expected to appear in court and defend himself, it emerged yesterday.
Husseyin Caginer is being sued by businessman Panos Ioannides for illegally holding his family house on the coast of Famagusta, which is being used as a restaurant.
The plaintiff is asking the court to order the termination of the violation and for the equivalent of the rents from the day the Turkish Cypriot moved in.
Ioannides’ lawyer, Larris Vrahimis, told the Cyprus Mail that Caginer had been summoned to court both by post, on April 25, and personally, on April 26.
The delivery of the summons prompted the Turkish Cypriot authorities to issue a statement advising Turkish Cypriots and foreign nationals not to respond to the summons and not to sign for them.
It is understood that Caginer’s deadline to respond expires today.
Vrahimis, however, expects the man to defend the case.
Caginer has been on Turkish Cypriot television with his lawyers, declaring that he would fight the suit.
Turkish Cypriot sources suggested the suit has missed its intended target, as Caginer was not the ‘owner’ of the property.
“This man is not the owner of the restaurant. As far as I know, the owner of the restaurant is a member of the Rashit family, who became refugees in 1974 and were given the property as compensation for their losses in Paphos,” a Turkish Cypriot source told the Cyprus Mail on Tuesday.
The source said the property was then leased to a Turkish Cypriot who returned from the UK in the late nineties and invested around £500,000 in the business.
Legal circles point out that Caginer’s claims that the property is administered by a company and not by him personally would not be recognised by the court and he would effectively be treated as the trespasser.
It is understood that this is the first property case brought against a Turkish Cypriot.
Vrahimis said more cases were in the pipeline but they concerned foreigners who had bought Greek Cypriot land in the north.
A recent court decision ordering a British couple to demolish the house they built on a Greek Cypriot property in Lapithos is expected to prompt a wave of similar suits against other foreigners in possession of properties.
The fact that European arrest warrants can now be issued against those trespassing puts additional pressure on them to appear in court.
