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Our
adventures in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus continue....
   
This morning Joan and I went over to the south to do some shopping, only to find that the DIY shop and the hypermarket were both open but all the other shops closed. Maybe this was some sort of April fools day joke.
However we at least found this curious advertisment which really calls for no comment
When we met Malcolm & Joan earlier in the week, they said lets go out to eat on Saturday. Now you all know how much Joan and I prefer to stay at home evenings !
We suggested trying one of our old favourites The Padisha, opposite The Colony Hotel. Last time we went in there Mel, the owner, told us he was changing his menu to offer the full kebab meze to those who wanted to try. Malcolm and Joan had never had this meal before so where quite surprised to find that you start off with 23 small dishes, some hot, some cold, followed by lamb sish and chops, and this followed by a local pudding, fruit, coffee and brandy. What you need to do is starve for about 1 week before hand and then eat very slowly, spreading the meal out over a long evening.
The restaurant was quite full and there was a Saturday night musician to entertain. The locals, of which there were about four tables, usually drink raki with this meal and traditionally perform the raki toast during the evening. After a little while the karaoke session then usually starts as they all get in to the spirit of the evening. It was in fact a great night out and we found ourselves leaving the restaurant about 12.15 a.m.
Late start after last night but a lovely sunny and warm day so breakfast on the terrace was the order of the day. At this time of the year we get a few really warm days and then a few days of light rain, a prelude to things to come but not quite time to get the shorts out of hock.
Spent the morning attacking another section of the hedge, only two more sections to go. We are trying to take it down about two foot so it is quite hard work to get through some of the thicker stems. So having worked up a good thirst we drove down to the new harbour in Kyrenia, sat out on the restaurant terrace and had a couple of beers. On a nice day like this, quite a few locals come down to this harbour for lunch with their families, leaving the old traditional harbour for the tourists. We saw our friend Serkan, a local builder, with his wife and two children enjoying the sun and the food.
Recognition at last. At least from the English Royal Family. On Friday evening, Prince Harry was seen at Roxannes in Kyrenia. It appears that he has been in South Cyprus on the British army base at Episkopi taking part in a military exercise with other Sandhurst cadets and had expressed a wish to visit the North, so front page news is what we now have in the Cyprus Today. Or was it the fact that the paper was printed on April 1st?
Among the other items was an article about the speed camera, installed near the hospital in Nicosia. Apparantly a test was run over a 24 hour period and it was discovered that 5,000 of the 10,000 vehicles that passed by, where going too fast. Please tell me if anyone finds this particular statistic very surprising.
The UN has told our President that the gap was too wide to consider starting peace talks again. Apparantly when Papadopoulus met with the UN in Paris recently he then talked about a joint statement, a Paris agreement and "technical committees" to discuss confidence building measures such as demilitarisation and Turkish settlers. When the local TRNC government, rightly incensed, asked the UN for clarification, a letter was received which said that no joint statement had been issued, there was no such thing as a Paris agreement and no suggestion made of technical committees. What a big surprise, another lying politicain coming up for re-election.
Still no further change or announcment about the 30th April "Census" day, but this week they did come along and hammer a little tin number eleven on our gatepost with a nail, this despite the fact tha we had already bought some numbers and I had made a nice hardwood block to display them on. The little tin plate had to be nailed alongside. Only in TRNC
I don't know if anybody else has noticed, but for the last three weeks there has been a deathly silence over the Gary Robb affair! Curious or not.
Today I received the attached article which came from a local newspaper, The Cyprus Mail.
New risks for Brits buying land in north
By Simon Bahceli
FIVE Britons suspected of illegally owning Greek Cypriot properties in the north were detained for several hours at the Ayios Dhometios checkpoint on Sunday, in what police yesterday insisted was “a coincidence”.
The Turkish Cypriot authorities held back on advising foreigners living in Greek Cypriot properties in the north not to travel to the government-controlled areas.
“I don’t want to scare British people by advising them not to travel [to the south],” the north’s ‘foreign ministry’ spokesman Kudret Akay told the Cyprus Mail yesterday.
Akay’s comments came after it emerged that five north Cyprus-based British nationals, two couples and one single man, were detained in three separate incidents by Cypriot police at the Ayios Dhometios crossing in Nicosia, as they made their way to Larnaca airport on Sunday afternoon.
Police spokesman Demetris Demetriou yesterday confirmed to the Mail that the five had been detained on suspicion of having purchased Greek Cypriot properties from which their owners were forced out in 1974.
“We didn’t arrest them, but we did bring them to the police station when we found they had papers concerning properties in the north,” Demetriou said. Asked whether he knew whether the properties referred to in the documents were Greek Cypriot-owned he said: “Yes, we think they are”. He added that the five Britons were later released, but that the documents found remained in the possession of the police “for further investigation to see whether they have broken the law”.
It was not clear yesterday whether the detention of the five signaled the start of a campaign to clamp down on foreigners buying Greek Cypriot properties in the north.
Demetriou adamantly denied that such a policy was being put into action, describing as “coincidence” the fact that the five had all been detained on the same day.
However, the Turkish Cypriot taxi driver ferrying one of the detained couples to the airport believes otherwise. Yesterday, he told the Cyprus Mail that customs officials at the checkpoint had targeted the laptop case belonging to the couple and began looking for documents in it.
“The looked through the side pocket of the laptop and found some brochures and, I think, a contract for a house sale. They also found a site map,” said the taxi driver, who wished to remain nameless.
“I believe they [the Greek Cypriot government] are trying to find out who has bought what from whom over here,” he added.
The driver described how the “apprehensive” British couple was taken for questioning to the police station in Nicosia, where they were asked which person or company they had purchased property from.
“As far as I know,” the driver said, “they gave the information the police were looking for.”
He also described how another Briton, a man traveling on his own who was also found to be carrying documents referring to property in the north, had angrily demanded his documents back from the police.
“He was only given photocopies,” the driver said. He added that one of the couples had missed their flight from Larnaca because of the incident.
A prominent Greek Cypriot property lawyer yesterday told the Cyprus Mail that he believed it possible for the Cypriot authorities to prosecute foreigners buying Greek Cypriot properties in the north.
“Buyers have an obligation to carry out a minimum search on the ownership details of the property. They are not just victims,” he said, adding: “Just the fact they have crossed the checkpoint shows they know the situation in Cyprus.”
In view of the serious possibilities of such things happening I have made a few phone calls to check it out. It appears that the article is quite true, so it seems as if the Greek Cypriots are once again getting worried about the success of the economy here, based on property sales and the fact that the market is starting to pick up again, so they are stamping their little feet. Apparently the policemen involved were heard to say that there is no Turkish land in the North it all belongs to the Greeks, because one of the couples involved had actually bought on original Turkish title deed land. Now there is a lie if ever I heard one. Why then is there lots of land which is linked to compensating land in the South where the Greeks now live. What about land around Paphos, Limassol and Larnaca etc that some Turkish Cypriots still hold title deeds to. I have a friend here in the North, whose family owned lots of land in and around Paphos, the airport is now built on this land, what about their rights and compensation.
One couple, together with their elderly parents, were taken to the Nicosia police station, where the police ranted and raved at them about buying property in an illegal land, this despite the fact that they had bought on exchange land. This is nothing more than intimidation and hostility by the border guards and maybe the answer is to stop flying in and out of Larnaca. Support the local airline, despite their lack of customer care and fly in to Ercan. Cyprus Airways are currently in serious financial trouble so lets help them go down.
Obviously the front page article today was about the border crossing incidents, but there were some interesting opinions by The Cyprus Today Editor and by a regular columnist.
First the opinion. Simple Solution: Boycott Larnaca.
The intimidation tactics of the Greek Cypriot authorities have resurfaced with a vengeance. The intentions behind this policy are blatant: to bully and harass anyone buying ot thinking of buying property in the North, presumably also in the hope of frightening others who read about the incidents. Judging by the attitude displayed by the checkpoint searches and the comments of the border guards and the material being seized, the Greek Cypriots would have people believe that it is an offence to buy property in the North, or even pick up a brochure on the subject. Whilst all this is going on it should be a reminder to the TRNC authorities that they also have a duty too. If they want people to visit Northern Cyprus and buy property, then they must make it easy and competitively priced. Something that would pay dividends in tourism terms also.
Columnist Tom Roche wrote:- Police spokeman Demetris Demetriou said that they did not arrest the people taken to the police station, but took them to the station when they found that they had papers relating to property purchases in the North. Too right they did not arrest them as they have no bloody right to do so. Tom Roche suggests that the Greek Cypriots have been emboldened by the Orams case, to fire some fresh salvos in their economic war against the North. Britons who fear they may be targetted should remember this; it is not aa crime in the UK or anywhere else in the European Union to own property in the North of Cyprus. If you own or are buying property here and you have a title deed endorsed by the TRNC government (and you must carry these documents with you) then you should refer all queries to that government.
In the meantime, don't go along with the farce. Wave that British Passport, demand the immediate presence of the British High Commissioner, refuse to answer questions and exert your right to travel freely.
What else of interest:-
Sweeping reforms to protect property buyers, says the headline. Details of the new regulations, which I have mentioned earlier, are currently before the parlaimentry committee for approval. Amongst the 23 provisions are believed to include regulations to protect the unwary against sharp practice by property owners and cowboy builders and to require the formal registration of Estate Agents and the lodging of a 100,000 YTL bond. One Girne solicitor said he believed the government is taking a sledge-hammer to crack a nut. It remains to be seen what effect all this has, but clearly some form of regulation is needed to prevent some of the current problems and practices.
The date of the census has been confirmed as 30th April. A website is being set up and the 4,500 officials have almost all had their training. take a look at http://nufussayimi.devplan.org and there is an English version.
More bits from the weekend papers:-
I mentioned before the idea of introducing a state run health insurance scheme. Well this week in an interview with a journalist, the Minister of Health spoke about his major reform plans. His plans are to change the way that the TRNC administers medical care to its citizens, foreign residents and visiting tourists. New health insurance policies, hospital buildings and a system of GP surgeries are all included in these ambitious plans.
Good news for all you golf fans. Despite the setbacks, caused by the winter rains washing away the seeds on the back 9 holes. Currently the club is on schedule to open the "academy" holes and driving range this month and the front 9 will open in July. the remaining holes will open in October together with a basic club house. So start booking those flights, but remember to come via Ercan only, don't give the buggers the satisfaction of stopping you.
The Silver Grill is now open fully, so as some of us felt a Kleftiko coming on, a group decided to make it a Sunday lunch treat. We convened around 1.30 p.m. for pre-lunch drinkies. The lapta ladies had an opportunity to put the world to rights as usual, aided and abeted by Fiona, next to Joan, who is over with husband Keith at their Alsancak villa. Unfortunately Michael was feeling a little under the weather so had to decline, but the remaining nine of us were well fed and declared Ali's kleftiko to be one of the best, but remember to order at least one day in advance.
Another busy week which started off with good news. George and Susan are back, they brought us a Melton Mowbray pork pie from Tesco and the really good news that they are proud grandparents for the first time. Bradley George was born on Thursday evening last and their daughter Rachel and their grandson are doing absolutely fine.
Today, both of us spent time with Margaret & Steve Costello, who are having a villa built in the hills opposite Escape Beach area. They have been promised completion by mid-July so were keen to get their kitchen equipment and furnishings sorted so that it can all be installed before they come over for a family holiday.
Now that George & Susan are back it was time for a gathering of The Lapta Layabouts; and where better to hold this than at L.D's. I had elected to drive this evening and take Michael & Barbara with us. Good job too, because when Barbara ordered a a small G & T she got slightly more than she bargained for. The problem here, is that the gin is cheaper than the tonic, so guess what happens to keep the profit levels up.
Joan and I had been saving some gifts brought back from Bulgaria until the whole gang were back. A Russian officers hat for Captain Michael who used to be a customs officer in UK, so this seemed appropriate. Roger often sits out in cold and windy corners of bars playing for the enjoyment of all. Even he would admit to being slightly thinner than most on top, so we felt that a little more hair would save him getting too cold. There really was no need for you to try to give it a saucer of milk Roger. Finally we come to the court jester amongst the Layabouts. A most appropriate hat we felt, but I did receive a promise from both George and Roger to get their own back. So guess I had better watch out.
Good Friday, but of course not recognised over here in a predominately Muslim country, so spent the day with the Bosch engineers putting four kitchen installations in. This evening Joan and I invited Stewart, from next door, round for dinner as his wife is currently over in UK. Joan, forever the northern traditionalist, came up with the salmon, mash, peas and fresh parsley sauce followed by one of her fruit pies, lovely.
Work has sort of started on the Girne (Kyrenia) by-pass, but the company who won the contract are being frustrated by red tape. So whats new here? Firstly they were quite amazed that it took a month and a half to register their workers here and this is a company awarded a public service contract, they want to try to get a foreigners temporary residency and then they will really find out how quickly the government administrators can work. There are still arguments about compensation and major discussions about all the trees etc that need to be removed, things that should have been concidered long before the work got to this stage. Maybe the same planning department that organised the census was invloved. Nothing changes here and the real world is light years away when it comes to organisation.
Maybe the fact that these guys have nothing to do at the moment, accounts for the appearance of a grader in our road the other morning. This came together with a JCB, two steam rollers, lorries full of hard core and a gang of men. After only two days we had this new road, made up at this stage of only compressed gravel, ready we hope for an eventual layer of tarmac. One heck of an improvement on the bumpy road we have endured for the last three years and only the cynical amongst us would dare to say it must be coming up for local election time.
This week we have received a couple of e-mails, from people who have either been stopped at the border or, in the second instance people who have decided not to come and look at property because of the border guards antics.
The first had the good sense to leave all their documents with friends so the border guards were frustrated and also made the decision to travel via Ercan in future. Good choice and a wise move, let them throw the toys out of the pram, stay away from Larnaca/UK travel, that will do damage to their economy.
The second family decided not to come over and this is playing right into the hands of the Greek Cypriots, this is exactly what they are trying to achieve, damage to the economy of the TRNC. Remember it is not illegal to own a property here, or anywhere else for that matter, providing you have the proper legal deeds issued by the responsible government department and as in the case of the TRNC, that government is offering guarantees as to the ownership of land on which it has issued deeds. If you buy original Turkish Title deed land then this is 100% safe, if you buy Esdeger land then this has a compensating piece of land or property in the south to offset the deeds you are given. Always remember that there are 1,000's of acres of land and numerous properties in the south that are owned by Turkish Cypriots. The border guard statements of the last three weeks, that all land in Cyprus belongs to the Greek Cypriots, is a load of crap, there are elections coming up in the south next month and all this pontificating is part of the vote winning tactics by Papadopolous and his party.
On the subject of tourism, an agreement has been reached on subsidies to Turkish Airlines and the travel agents association, aimed at bringing ticket prices down by between 15 & 30 euros per tourist, to encourage people to fly from Europe to Turkey and the TRNC. Good sensible move and maybe one the local government should consider agreeing with CTA.
It might have been Easter Monday for you over in UK, but not recognised as such by the locals here.
Joan and I decided to make a bit of a day out of it anyway as we had some business to do in Kyrenia, in Nicosia; and then finally over in Bogaz, Famagusta area. During early afternnon we found ourselves finally heading off towards Famagusta and feeling slightly peckish we stopped in Iskele village. We found a coffee shop in the middle, where they said we can do you a chicken doner with no problem. We ended up getting three pitta breads between us, huge plates of chicken doner with all the salad trimmings, a beer for me, coke for Joan and all for £7.00 the lot. Whew! stuffed to the gills.
We got over to the Medview apartments to deliver some bits and pieces and wait for the delivery from our patio furniture supplier. When they called to say that their truck had broken down in Famagusta and they would not be with us until 6 p.m. it did not seem to matter. The sun was shining, the windows were open, the car seat was comfy and the good lunch ensured that a few zzzz's went down well.
During last Sunday's Easter turkey luncheon, the Layabouts had a discussion about he fact that the old Cote D'Azur restaurant had been taken over by Haber, the owner of Bell Fodds, and that good reports had been heard.
Good reports are one thing, but there is no substitute for an actual visit and the Layabouts don't need too big an excuse for a night out. The restaurant has now been renamed The Saffron Restaurant and can be found on the main road in to Lapta from Kyrenia. Harber has done lots of very tasteful work on the decor etc and it really looks quite splendid, with a seating area near the bar as you go in and some splendidly laid out tables.
We are pleased to report that the testers found the food to be absolutely great, so well worth a visit folks when you come over. Almost all of us had a different meal so feel well able to say that it was good, Joan and I both had fish which was really delicious and Michael said that his filet steak was exceedingly tender, cooked to perfection for him. Puddings were there to be enjoyed and most of us settled for the fresh strawberries, except for Gill and George who couldn't resist the sticky toffee with half a ton of chocolate sauce. What a life, just don't weaken!
Have had an e-mail from a regular reader who wanted to know what happened when Joan set fire to the pampus grass and created her own personal "towering inferno". This all because the book said this was how to prune a pampus grass. Well folks now the proof is visible as this is pampus grass revived.
Headline news for this week:- Work on Amaranta homes to start within the week. Mr Gurcafer, chairman of the Construction Contractors Union, has been appointed to head up a new board of Aga Developments and he is also to be the representative of the state. The aim of the new board is to hand over the houses to customers within the year. Customers are to be provided with new guarantees by means of an extra contract and the funds to complete will come from the company accounts, which had been frozen, from buyers who still owed for properties and if needed, from Gary Robb who had promised to transfer funds to complete. Clearly he is not coming back then, but at least if people now realise on their investment then that is the most important thing. On the subject of Aga Developments, we have a local friend whose uncle was involved with the company, we believe as a contractor rather than a customer. This uncle has now died and our friend called to ask if we new of any group acting on behalf of customers etc that he could contact for information. So if anybody out there is willing to offer a contact, please send us an e-mail, thanks in advance.
The census is definitely going ahead on Sunday next and the government department responsible says “you had better have a good reason to leave your place – and seek permission by Friday at the latest”. Should be a fun day!!! Everyone has to answer a three page questionnaire with 61 points on it, no wonder they need 4,500 personnel to conduct the census. Maybe I will be able to get the website updated a little earlier than usual.
Phew! Panic set in on Monday afternoon, lots of very horrible grinding noises from the computer tower and a smell that had nothing to do with me.
I took the whole thing down to Comaks in Kyrenia and then collected today at a cost of almost £100.00. It appears that a fan on the graphics card had burnt out and the heat had caused damage to both this card and to the computer mother board. Now I know I back up things regularly on to our laptop, but it was still a major cause of worry for a few days.
Anyway back to normal today and nothing lost so now I can try to complete some of the things I was going to tell you from last weeks press.
Oh yes, yesterday evening we were sitting on the kitchen terrace and admiring the mountains again when we saw this the big "M" way up above the highest properties in Lapta. Saw this is my first attempt at starting a really good rumour. MacDonald’s are building their first franchise in TRNC, the views from the restaurant will be stunning but it will take you at least an hour to get up there.
Because it’s Friday and Roger is playing his last winter session at Dean’s Celebrity bar, we all went down there to give him some support and just have a couple of drinks. Guess what? 1.30 a.m. when we got home to bed so all good intentions go out of the window again, viz-a-vie an early night.
Many of you have asked me about medical insurance out here and I have always suggested that there are two alternatives that I see. First pay a UK based insurance company an exorbitant annual premium and the older you get the higher the premium, or secondly, put away a capital sum, in TL on a deposit account. The minimum net interest you will get is 10% per annum, so in effect you act as your own insurer. You have to make up your own mind about how much you deposit but consider that Joan and I were quoted £2,500 per person, per annum and we have been here three and a half years.
The reason I am prompted to talk about this subject is an article that appeared in last Saturday’s press. An Englishman, living here in Catalkoy was revived on two occasions by doctors here in Nicosia state hospital and recommended to fly to Ankara for a heart bypass operation. He says that the whole process took six days in Ankara and that the doctors, surgeons and nurses were magnificent. Total cost of 20,000 YTL or £8,700.00. Now I reckon that this beats the NHS system hands down because had he gone back to UK, which is obviously an alternative, he would probably still be on the waiting list, had he survived the six hour flight and nobody can tell me that this was very expensive for such a major operation.
Big campaigns in the English press about road safety, again. This time prompted by the death of a 20 year old English girl who was killed in a head on collision during the early hours of Saturday 15th April. The Turkish Cypriot driver she was with is being questioned on the suspicion of causing death by careless driving. The governments’ task in trying to reduce the road deaths here is an unenviable one and clearly a case for very serious education, better driver qualifications and law enforcement on the roads.
I received an e-mail from a reader, Andrew Duerden who was disgusted with an advertisement in the Sunday Mail.
NORTH CYPRUS FLY DIRECT to stay in Kyrenia or Famagusta.
“ First operator to offer direct flight packages to North Cyprus since May 2004.”
Shorter flight, no stop-over.
Direct Traveler ATOL 5819.
UK 0845 1235383
http:// www.directtraveller.com
When you actually go in to the website and investigate the flights are in to Larnaca with transfer to the north. Considering all the problems at the border currently and the need to protect the tourism industry here, this is pretty disgusting advertising and can only be called misleading in the least. If there are any travel agents out there who are able to take this up via their ATOL registration then do us a huge favour and do so. Meantime, ignore Direct Travel.
Last day of the month and census day.
April has not been as warm as the last three April’s that we remember and I think this is confirmed by the fact that the pool is not as warm as it has been in other years, by this date. But I suppose it is all relevant as a water temperature of 23 degrees is about as hot as an English summer gets usually.
Yesterday evening eight of us went down to Ali at The Silver Grill for dinner, but it is not yet warm enough to sit out to dine. It is a great shame for these two lovely people that more don’t make better use of their quality and value. We were in fact the only eight people there all evening.
Confined to barracks from 5 a.m. until 6 p.m. whilst they go around with their census forms and count us all in our houses. The first noticeable thing is how incredibly quiet it is. No singing of the Koran from the mosque, no boy racers going along the main road and in fact any sound of traffic anywhere. Maybe we should make every Sunday, “stay at home day.”
Joan and I decided that this was the morning for a leisurely Full Monty breakfast on the terrace. We were just in the act of enjoying this when a young man drove down our way with a book full of census forms. He went to Stewart and Barbara first and then came to ask us a lot of questions, so by 9 a.m. we had been done and the excitement of it all was over!
Clearly a day to catch up on the website and any news of value. Nearly all the front-page was devoted to census information and a brief article about some new roadwork’s in the middle of the main Kyrenia road through town. When this is finished, there will be a dual carriageway from the new stadium roundabout right through to the main Kyrenia/Nicosia road and this could be a major improvement, if the authorities ever succeed in stopping people using the inside lane as a car park. Back to that driver education thing again.
Somebody has opened an ostrich farm near Famaguta with 90 birds as a starter. He plans to breed 1,200 birds a year and export 900 of these. I suppose he may well succeed in a country that lives with its head in the sand.
The road safety campaign continues with a two page spread which includes a damning indictment of local drivers, by local drivers. They say that Turkish Cypriots “speed aggressively, drive carelessly and flout the rules”. Now that really is news!
See you next month.
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