Over 7,200 applications lodged at IPC

Over 7,200 applications have been filed to the immovable property commission (IPC) in the north, reports in Turkish Cypriot media said on Wednesday.

To date compensation of £382,541,826 has been awarded for 1,233 claims.

For four applications a return of the property was decided, in two cases an exchange and compensation were decided and for eight applications a return and compensation were decided.

According to an article in Yeni Duzen, the total number of applications to the IPC reached 7,248 as of April 2023.

Among the total applications, 1,449 resulted in an out of court agreement and 34 were sent to trial in the north.

Columnist Cenk Multluyakali commented, that if the property issue continues at this pace, it could be resolved within 3,000 years, noting that in the north there are 1,453,000 acres of private property, which means all those for which the committee has made decisions do not even constitute five per cent.

According to Mutluyakali, 133 hotels of 166 in the north have been built on Greek Cypriot property.

“It is said that at least £10 billion is needed to solve the whole property issue, apart from Varosha [properties],” he wrote.

In the assessments that are made of the IPC, the principles of bizonality and bicommunality are protected, which are a key element of the High-level Agreements 1977-79 and of all the plans prepared by the United Nations to date for resolving the Cyprus issue.

The committee is working to fulfil the demands of the property owners in a way that does not harm the rights of the Turkish Cypriot community, Multluyakali wrote.

According to IPC head Novber Ferit Vehci, they are working intensively to close the cases filed.

“It is extremely important that the commission exists, and resources are needed to make it sustainable,” she said, adding that the financial dimension of the matter is not the IPC’s responsibility.

According to the press office, in the same article Mutluyakali also refers to the application of the National Westminster Bank (Royal Bank of Scotland) and Pharos Estate Ltd to return their property in Kyrenia, which includes the Jasmine Court hotel.

According to the columnist, on November 28, 2017, the committee unanimously awarded compensation of £22,773,940 for the property in question, but the decision has not been implemented for six years due to a lack of resources.

The columnist recalls that on February 2, 1996, a 49-year lease agreement with an annual rent of $100,000 was signed for the management of Jasmine Court between the ‘finance ministry’ and the Ember Hotels Ltd company owned by Omer Lutfi Topal and his family.

The hotel has remained closed for a long time, does not offer services, and serves only special customers, he wrote, noting that the new development is that the hotel’s management agreement has been nullified and a new buyer is being sought, who will pay the compensation of £22,773,940, otherwise the property will be returned to its original owners.