Insiders Made Millions by Exploiting Turkish Cypriot Properties in South Cyprus

An Audit Office investigation into the selling of Turkish Cypriot properties revealed they had been bought at a fraction of their value in some cases and sold for millions of euros in a matter of weeks.

One civil servant was said to be in possession of 1.8 million square metres of Turkish Cypriot land.

A 13,713sqm piece of land in Pervolia, Larnaca, valued at €1,708,601, was bought by a company for €1,537,741 and sold three months later for €3,613, 692.

The Audit Office said in its report that another piece of land, 33,111sqm in area, again in Pervolia, was bought by a company for 3,417,203, while valued at €7,346, 986, and sold two months later for €8,884,728.

A third piece of land in Pervolia, 17428sqm in area, was bought by a company for €1,537,741, less than half the estimated value of €3,417,203, and sold four months later for €4,015,213.

Politis newspaper said a civil servant working at the interior ministry department managing Turkish Cypriot property in Paphos was found to be in possession of 1.8 million square metres of Turkish Cypriot of land and a house, while his son and daughter also had a Turkish Cypriot house each rented in their name and his wife was found to be renting Turkish Cypriot land destined for the construction of a business building.

The property rent was reported to be ‘peanuts’ and they were subletting it for tens of thousands of euros per year.

A criminal investigation into this case is ongoing.

When Constantinos Ioannou was appointed interior minister, he began investigating the administration of Turkish Cypriot property, which included houses, business buildings and agricultural land, having determined that wrong practices had been in place for decades.

He then submitted a bill to parliament for the fairer allocation of Turkish Cypriot property for use by eligible refugees, taking into consideration measurable factors, such as family composition and annual income.

The bill was passed by the plenum and with the voting of regulations in June it will come into force.

Politis said one of the most characteristic examples of the exploitation of Turkish Cypriot property was Mackenzy beach in Larnaca, where it was common knowledge that a few were making a fortune by renting the property from the government for ‘loose change’ and subletting it for thousands of euros a month, to the detriment of the Turkish Cypriot property administrator and the Larnaca municipality.

The action plan drafted by the administrator aimed at dealing with the problem from the roots.

Each property was renegotiated and new contracts were signed with ten of the 14 beneficiaries. Deliberations with the remaining four have not yet concluded.

This resulted in €960,000 reaching state coffers annually and secured funds for Larnaca municipality to carry out upgrading works in the area.

Similar action plans are being drafted for other areas too.

In August 2023, the interior ministry scrutinised contracts across Cyprus and found that over 500 out of the approximately 3,500 were problematic and measures have already been taken to rectify the situation.

Rents were also re-evaluated and new contracts have been promoted.

In some cases, Turkish Cypriot property was being rented for as low as €40 a year, when it should have been over €5,000.

Ioannou also promoted an action plan to make collecting rents more efficient for the Turkish Cypriot property administrator, while legal action has been taken for owed rents reaching a total of €1.2 million and arrangements made for the gradual payment of older debts valued at €2.1 million.

The minister told Politis that the government’s aim was to terminate exploitation and strengthen the refugee housing policy.

Source: Cyprus Mail