TC businessman says he filed with IPC for sale of Varosha properties
The unnamed businessman who agreed to purchase Famagusta properties from their Greek Cypriot owners, submitted an application to the immovable property commission (IPC), reports from the north said on Thursday.
The newspaper, Yenis Bakis claimed that the businessman in question had submitted an application on Wednesday.
Under the headline, “An application was made to the real estate commission,” the news source publicised photos of the relevant document.
The addresses of the properties are listed in the document, but the names of their owners have been redacted.
The news source further quoted the Turkish Cypriot businessman as saying that, if there is no obstacle, he will start accepting reservations for 2025 for the hotels in two months’ time.
Earlier on Wednesday, IPC ‘chairman’, Novber Ferit Vehci was reported as having stated that no sales transaction had been made for the three hotels in Varosha.
Turkish Cypriot newspaper Yeni Duzen reported at the time that Vehci maintained she did not receive any official request regarding the purchase.
The claim, initially brought to light last Friday, concerns the Cleo Hotel, the Golden Seaside Apartment Hotel and the Aegean Hotel, and two apartment building floors to be used as housing for hotel staff, which were sold to an unknown Turkish Cypriot businessman by their Greek Cypriot owners, through official procedures in the state-controlled areas as well as the immovable property commission (IPC) in the north.
Government authorities on Friday attempted to get to the bottom of the reports about the sale of the three hotels in the fenced off area.
According to Yeni Duzen, the IPC chair also said she did not know whether the sale was by deed or contract, and that regardless, such an agreement cannot be considered legal.
Additionally, the ‘interior ministry’ has no authority to approve such sales, the latest report stated, pointing out that since Varosha is under military rule, such a sale is not possible.
Famagusta Mayor, Simos Ioannou, among those responding to the incident on Tuesday, said the municipality had been warning for a long time about the consequences of continued inaction on the matter of Varosha, and the fact that people were losing hope and acting out of conditions of financial hardship.
The mayor said the issue is first of all moral and political and its legitimacy was a secondary concern.
“As a municipality we have been warning for a long time about what the developments will be and it seems that the main reason is this continuous inaction on the Cyprus issue, which gives people the feeling that there is no longer a solution, as a result of which some are forced, either for financial or other reasons, to sell their properties,” he said.
Speaking following a meeting with Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos, Ioannou said the sale of the properties in Varosha undermines the Greek Cypriot position on the territory aspect of the Cyprus problem.
However, he added, there are humanitarian issues in which the municipality cannot get involved.
Councillors are expected to hold further meetings with the minister in the coming days to discuss the issue.
Meanwhile, main opposition parties Disy and Akel called on the government to get moving on the Cyprus talks, as there has been stagnation for too long.
The issue was also raised at a House refugee committee session, where the head of the central body of equal distribution of burdens, which manages refugee losses, Akis Pouros said that Turkey’s goal is to take advantage of the IPC to change the territorial majority to which the state currently holds claim.