The validity of records of property ownership in northern Cyprus prior to 1974 in the hands of the land registry was called into question during Tuesday’s hearing of the trial of Israeli property developer Simon Aykut, accused of developing and selling €43 million worth of property on Greek Cypriot land in the north.

Defence lawyer Maria Neophytou cross-examined land registry officer Chrysovalanto Kyprianou, stressing the difference between a title deed and a certificate of ownership.

Kyprianou told the court that after Turkey’s invasion of the island’s northern third in 1974, the original land registers for the Famagusta and Kyrenia districts remained in the north, and that the records currently in the hands of the Republic are “temporary registers”.

These records and the attached certificates of ownership, she added, were created after the government of the day asked displaced property owners to declare their properties, with the help of displaced mukhtars and witnesses as many people did not have title deeds before 1974.

Neophytou then said that the certificates given out were “certificates of ownership” and not “registration certificates”, and that in these cases, only a registration certificate can be taken as an “irrefutable presumption of title”, as these certificates were only issued following a cabinet decision in each case.

She then asked Kyprianou whether it is true that no such cabinet decision has yet been made, with Kyprianou answering in the affirmative and then telling the court that “the full verification of the declarations made will only be possible when the Republic gains access to the authentic records held by the occupying forces”.

“The Turks are keeping our books,” she added.

Neophytou highlighted a series of “grey zones” and gaps in information in the land registry’s records, with Kyprianou saying that the land registry “cannot know” about property transactions taking place in the north, with the exception of “sales between Greek Cypriots which are properly declared in the Republic”.

To this end, she said she was unaware of whether any of the potential owners of the property on which Aykut’s Afik group have built have appealed to or been compensated by the Immovable Property Commission – a procedure which requires pre-1974 owners to waive their rights to the property.

Nonetheless, Kyprianou defended the reliability of the existing registers, telling the court that “we fought for the registration, our registers are reliable, there is no dispute”.

The case will continue on Wednesday.