A SERIOUS problem has emerged regarding Turkish Cypriot properties occupied by refugees since 1974, after their owners sold them to Greek Cypriots who now want to develop the land and are evicting the occupants.
Interior Minister Christodoulos Christodoulou has tried to appease the refugees, saying no one had the right to evict them from the property, since they had an agreement with the Custodian of Turkish Cypriot Property.
But AKEL deputy Kikis Yiangou charged that it was the Interior Ministry, through the Larnaca District Administration, which had sent the eviction letters to the occupants of the property in the district.
Christodoulou, who was apparently caught unawares, said he would look into the issue and determine if the Legal Adviser of the Turkish Cypriot Property Management Service, Haris Kyriakides, had given the green light for the evictions without the minister’s approval.
Christodoulou said that if it was found that Kyriakides had given such instructions, then he would investigate whether he had the authority to do so.
But Kyriakides defended himself yesterday, saying it was all perfectly legal.
He said that if there was no legal problem in the transfer of the property and if the custodian gave instruction to the Land Survey Department to accept and allow the transfer, then there was nothing wrong.
The district officers were notified about the transfer and were asked to take measures for relocating the refugees and replacing the property they occupied, Kyriakides said.
Yiangou said one refugee had invested over £700,000 on the property and now he was being forced to leave it.
” I believe the government’s responsibility is great because it did not find a way to stop the transactions and I dare say with its tolerance it encouraged them, leaving thousands of refugees exposed,”Yiangou said.
DISY deputy George Georgiou went even further suggesting there was an organised plan behind the dealings.
He said he had proof that certain individuals, including former police and army officers and former senior Larnaca Land Survey department officials, were involved in the matter, acting as middlemen and receiving commission on the transactions.
DISY deputy Lefteris Christoforou said many refugees occupying Turkish Cypriot property in Larnaca had invested heavily on it were in danger of being victimised for the second time.
He said the occupants were being blackmailed daily by the Turkish Cypriot owners and their lawyers to abandon the property.
