Buying property in the North of Cyprus.
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The purchase of property in the Turkish Occupied areas is illegal and invalid. |
| 21/05/2002 |
The Minister of the Interior Mr Andreas Panayiotou, commenting during a press conference yesterday on a report by the "The Observer" newspaper on 19 May 2002, which said that more and more Britons were lining up to buy houses and plots of land in the Turkish occupied areas of Cyprus at very low prices, stated that such sales are illegal and invalid and have certainly not appeared at the District Land Offices of the Republic of Cyprus. The Minister stated that according to the Immovable Property (Transfer and Mortgage) Law No 9 of 1965 as amended to date, all transfers of immovable property have to be made by the competent District Land Offices, otherwise they are invalid and the ownership (title deed) of the transferred immovable property does not come into the hands of the purchaser. Mr Panayiotou pointed out that for foreign nationals to obtain immovable property in Cyprus, an approval by the Council of Ministers is required, adding that in the last two years this approval has been assigned, according to the relevant law, to the various District Officers. He also stressed that people buying property should know that if they don't follow procedures and purchase property in the occupied areas of Cyprus, their actions would be considered illegal and invalid and that they would lose their money. Moreover, the Government Spokesman Mr Michalis Papapetrou asked to comment on the report that hundreds of Britons rush to buy property in the Turkish occupied area because there is a possibility that there may be a Cyprus solution and EU accession soon, stated the following: "I have to say that on a permanent basis, the Cyprus Government informs international public opinion, especially in Britain, about the huge dangers such an action has on well-meaning people, who may fall victim to crooks trying to obtain gains by trading in Greek Cypriot properties in the north. In view of the article, efforts will be stepped up and renewed. The message that will be renewed will be that anyone buying from an illegal owner will not be secure and at the end will lose his or her money. We wish to send this message clearly. Moreover, to back our argument, we are also using the relevant decisions of the European Court of Human Rights." Replying to another question as to what action the Republic of Cyprus has taken in view of the fact that British Members of Parliament are also implicated in the purchase of property in the Turkish occupied area, he said: "In the past there were reports and articles about the implication of a British MP, who bought or was given a house in the Turkish occupied area. Many representations were made, discussions at British Parliament were held, press conferences were given to inform the Editors in Chief and the political editors of all the major mass media in Britain and as a result of these actions, there were reactions at a political and party level from various directions." |
(Source: P.I.O. – 21.05.02) [http://pio.gov.cy/news/dailynews]
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