MPs to examine who benefits from Turkish Cypriot properties

A list with the names of people from the Turkish Cypriot property management service at the interior ministry and from advisory committees that own said properties is to be submitted to parliament on Friday.

House refugee committee president and MP Nicos Kettiros had requested the list six months ago, so that the committee could determine whether individuals from the service or their relatives took advantage of the system, obtaining large pieces of land to manage or sublet.

The committee discussed the list with the Turkish Cypriot property management service at their session on Tuesday, and the service claimed the delay in creating the list was privacy related.

Following the submission of the list and an examination by the House committee, Kettiros told daily Politis: “The auditor’s office and the Legal Service will be called to give their opinions on a whether or not a conflict of interest exists.”

He added that he and other members of the House committee had received complaints about members of the service.

Kettiros clarified that it may not be illegal for a member of the service to have such a property, but it is rather a conflict of interest to work in the service dealing with these properties, while also benefitting from them.

In a statement on Tuesday, the spokesman of the Audit Office, Marios Petrides said that an investigation was already underway regarding use of Turkish Cypriot properties for retail purposes.

According to Petrides, the service is examining whether public sector officials and members of advisory committees on Turkish Cypriot properties have these properties, or whether their family members have one these properties, and under which conditions they obtained such a property, as well as the rent they pay for it.

On Tuesday, Paphos Mayor Phedonas Phedonos said Turkish Cypriot properties in the Mandria area were being mismanaged, resulting in a “multi-million-euro scandal”.

According to Phedonos, the properties in question were not used solely for housing of Greek Cypriot refugees after the 1974 Turkish invasion but had instead been turned into areas of commercial use.

In June, parliament passed a bill that would allow for the commercial use of Turkish Cypriot properties, which was not the case before.

Before the bill was passed, properties belonging to Turkish Cypriots – and under the custody of the interior ministry since 1974 – could only be used for residential purposes.

The new law allows residents to also use the properties – in whole or in part – as business premises.

Greek Cypriot residents will be able, for instance, to open a beauty salon or operate a kiosk.

However, Phedonos said: “It is a cover up to hide the scandals that are hidden behind the management of Turkish Cypriot properties and the illegal enrichment that Greek Cypriot refugees and Greek Cypriot non-refugees have been enjoying for decades.”

He added that some of the properties in Mandria were handed to politicians who had previously held key positions.