The northern area of the Republic of Cyprus, under military occupation by Turkey since 1974, has been experiencing an unprecedented construction “property sale” boom. The vast majority of the properties affected by this boom are owned by Greek Cypriots who were forcibly expelled from their homes due to the Turkish invasion. These displaced people are to this day prevented by the Turkish Armed Forces from returning and repossessing their homes and properties. A recent development is that the occupied area has become a haven for corrupt and unscrupulous businessmen out to make a quick profit from the illegal “sale” of Greek Cypriot property.

According to the 1964 Land and Registry record, approximately 82% of the privately owned land in the territory now under Turkish occupation was owned by persons belonging to the Greek Cypriot community. While persons belonging to the Turkish Cypriot community owned approximately 16.7%. That position was still obtained in 1974.

In August 2004 Ahmet Uzun, the so-called “finance minister” of Turkey’s puppet regime in the occupied area, stated that the UN Plan provided an incentive to build on Greek Cypriot property, because persons investing in such property could have had priority over the legitimate Greek Cypriot refugee title-holder in its ownership. Such provisions were indeed an incentive, and facilitated the rush to build on usurped properties and to “sell” them mainly to British and other European citizens seeking a home in the sunny Mediterranean.

On 23 August 2004, Turkey’s Deputy prime Minister and Minister responsible for Cypriot affairs, Abdullatif Sener, was reported by Milliyet as having stated that the amount of properties that foreigners had “bought” in the occupied areas of Cyprus had increased tenfold over the last two years!

Nonetheless, anyone who has “bought” or is seeking to “buy” Greek Cypriot owned property in the occupied part of the Republic does so illegally, as first discovered by a British couple in October 2004. Anyone contributing to the ongoing plunder of such properties becomes a potential target for criminal and civil law suits in the courts of the Republic of Cyprus. The resulting arrest warrants and decisions could then by judicially enforced abroad.

The rights to restitution of the properties and home of Greek Cypriot displaced persons have been recognised by the European Court of Human Rights. The Court found Turkey guilty of depriving Greek Cypriot refugees of the use of their properties. The Government of Turkey is obliged to compensate the refugees for the time period of the deprivation of use and to allow them to return home. Ankara has not done this, thus violating the fundamental human rights principles with which an EU Candidate Country must comply in order to start accession negotiations.


…quick points
• Four fifths of the privately owned land in the territory now under military occupation by Turkey is owned by displaced Greek Cypriots. The government of the Republic of Cyprus itself owns one quarter of the total area under occupation.

• The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has upheld the rights of the displaced Greek Cypriot owners to their properties, and on a number of individual applications, the Court ordered Turkey to restore those rights and to pay compensation for the period of deprivation (Loizidou v Turkey, Xenides – Arestis v Turkey). Several thousand applications by Greek Cypriot displaced owners are currently pending before the European Court of Human Rights.

• Pursuant to Security Council Resolutions 541 (1983) and 550 (1984), the illegal secessionist entity in the occupied areas cannot issue valid title deeds. “Certificates” so issued, are not recognized by the Republic of Cyprus nor by any other state, other than Turkey.

• Several governments, including U.K., U.S.A., Russia, France and Germany have issued warnings on the purchase of property in the occupied areas of Cyprus.

• Therefore, buying property in the occupied area of Cyprus could infringe upon the property rights of others involved. A violation of criminal and civil law could entangle the buyer in legal proceedings, financial damage, personal liability and the risk of losing money invested, as well as assets at home. Why then undertake such unnecessary risks?

Firstly it should be understood that the North and South of Cyprus will never again be administered by the GC's. These two states are here to stay and the problem is that the GC's cant come to terms with this fact. There is a lot of misinformation on these threads which I will clear up. Firstly the english couple ( named Orams) won the case in the English courts brought against them by the former owner of the land upon which their house is built. GC's can no longer go to the European court with these cases for one simple reason. The EU inconjunction with Turkey and the TC's have set up a property compensation board whose offices are in the old city of Nicosia. To date more than 200 GC's have accepted full present day valuation compensation for their land in the North. The Turkish Government is underwriting these compensation payments for the simple reason that they have realized that to not do so will prevent their progress towards full EU membership. Further the Turkish Government has already informed all TRNC property owners ( build on GC land) that the individual owners holding Titles issued by the TRNC, will not be asked for payment of any kind. There is a good basis for this decision because the Turkish Government issued these TRNC titles in the first place and so it is they that the GC's must settle this property propblem with. GC's are given three choices by the property compensation board foir their proprerty. 1) Full present day valuation compensation. 2) Alternative land of equal quality and value still owned by the TRNc government. 3) Their house/land returned if there is no TRNc title on it and it is unoccupied. The fact is the steady stream of GC's accepting compensation from the Property compensation board will become a flood. Its hardly surprising since the GC Government, and Papadopoulis in particular, have consistent lied to the GC people about the eventual GC return to their lands in the North. Dream on fellows!!!

THe TRNC market will explode because properties there are cheap the onlyt question is when.

Northern Cyprus is beautiful and the Turkish Cypriots wonderful people. They just wish the mainland Turks would leave the island, give them back their jobs and land and stop interfering! There's no problem with truly Turkish Cypriot owned land/property; but the problem is the TRNC has arbitrarily issued 'new' title deeds for property that is actually owned (with all the genuine relevant and internationally-recognised paperwork) by Greek Cypriots. So some of the 'title deeds' are in fact false. You need a very good lawyer/investigator to be sure you haven't been 'conned' - and therefore in danger of actually losing your land/property down the line. If everything is 'genuine' then you'rre lucky. But there are plenty of 'buyers' who have discovered too late that they've been taken to the cleaners. You need to do your homework very thoroughly before you take this kind of risk.

Anybody know the implications of buying a property in northern Cyprus,where the Land has been built on without permission from the original owners?.

Yes I do know the current situation regarding buying units built on GC owned land in the TRNC. Without going into the complicated and very boring political situation on the Island some 34 years has passed since the Island was divided. Since 1974 there have been numerous political initatives to resolve the situation. All have failed because the GC's want the pre 1974 status and that is just not going to happen. When the GC's voted no to the Annan plan in 2004 ( having previously agreed to it!!) that was, I believe, the last straw for the UN, US and the EU. It is now no longer possible for GC's to take foreign ( usually British) buyers of units built on former GC owned land, to the European courts because the EU, and the UN, have agreed to a Turkish Goverment initative, to set up a "Property Compensation Commission" to pay Bona fide GC former owners of land in the TRNC " current value compensation" for their land. More than 200 GC's have already taken up this offer and received good money for land which, despite all the rhetoric, was never again going to be in their possession. I believe that as time goes by most, if not all, GC former owners of land in the TRNC will take compensation from the Turkish Government.

It should be pointed out that the Turkish Government ( more than 2 years ago) reassured all the foreign owners of units built on former GC land that they will never have to pay a penny in compensation to former GC owners. In affect the Turkish taxpayer is underwriting the compensation paid to GC's..

So in answer to your question you can buy a villa or flat in the TRNC without worrying about the future repercussions. But there is moral issue here also so you must make up your own mind about this. Hope this helps

Thanks for the info kismet it is very helpful.

I keep seeing posts about the unspoilt nature of the north. Not true; the north has been wrecked in the past three years by a rash of chavfriendly complexes and 'developments' targeted at the be-tattooed bare chested spivs that now infest the place. If the TRNC government really wishes for a prosperous future it should be targeting the international rich. Too-small plots, augmented by low-rent building standards, are resulting in a sort of Romford outremer. The Spanish islands, and the cleverer parts of north Africa are targeting the better educated and better off population of Europe; to their advantage. A chavfest of beer and fish and chips should not be the future of one of the loveliest remaining parts of the Med. Stop the tasteless developers, and their vulgar clients, and go upmarket; and then see what will happen to the prosperity of the island. Oil prices are rising inexorably; so any Mediterranean government should be aware that within five years only the rich will be able to afford to travel; think on...

Well ulpian,
I guess you are not a fan of north Cyprus.
I have never travelled to North cyprus,I have however been to the south many times and do like it a lot.
I was guessing the prices on the northern side would be a lot more affordable then the south,I must admit I have heard a few stories that's what makes me a bit apprehensive about investing in the North.
I have currently already invested in Egypt and am looking for another investment around Cyprus.What would you suggest?.

Buy in France or Iberia, they are accessible by train. Leave the poor north of Cyprus alone!
As I said, in a very few years no-one will be able to afford to travel there so any 'investment' property will be a deserted wreck.

Whilst I wouldn't mind investing in Iberia I don't think I would be too willing to invest in France at the moment.I am looking for all year round warmth,reasonable living costs and somewhere where I would feel comfortable.