| |
Our
adventures in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus continue....
 
Happy New Year!
After the late, late night we had a relaxing morning and in fact most of the rest of the day was just lazy stuff. This was followed by a steak dinner for two and an evening in front of the TV.
Great stuff, what other way is there to spend New Years day. We did use the old Skype phone and call up some friends in UK and Holland, so you can't think that we were totally lazy.
We had been invited round to John & Sandy's place for midday drinks and nibbles but before that I had the job of taking Smudge to the vet. Just a regular injection to keep up the passport but she yelled at me all the way down town and all the way back again.
We went round to John & Sandy's around 12.30 and didn't get home until after 4 p.m. A very enjoyable afternoon and as the weather was just glorious we were all able to be outside on the front veranda.
Sandy does this every year and always seems to manage to get the weather just right.
See what I mean about Sandy having all the luck. We woke up this morning to strong winds again, too much to really get out in the garden, so Joan and I went down to Girne, had the car washed at the American Car Wash and then drove over the mountain to Lefkosa.
We had heard that Index had opened a shop which traded 7 days a week so thought we would be nosey. Mostly very modern furniture but some nice stuff and we did in fact find a companion set for a very reasonable price which we need in France, so the trip was worth while.
Cyprus Today has been printed again after the holiday period so lets take a look at anything that might interest you,
Electric bills are on the way down. Apparently they are to revamp metering in TRNC in conjunction with Turkcell, the mobile phone company. They are promising 21,000 new meters by the end of 2010 with a further 120,000 on order. The idea is that you will get your bill by text message on your mobile or by logging on to their website. Now that will be intersting to see if they can pull this off.
Turkish postal chiefs are to come to TRNC early in the new year and it is hoped that they will come up with a solution to the missing mail from the UK. The problem still exists and the BRS experiment which showed that only 17 of 82 letters sent reached their destination. The experiment ruled out problems in UK so a solution is being sought in Turkey.
President Talat is still confident that there will be serious progress towards a peace deal on the island, before the presidential elections in April. He says that they are continuing the talks with very strong Turkish support and the current Turkish policy on Cyprus, which focuses on an agreement, is state policy in Ankara. At the same time, the opposition leader in the south has poured cold water on any chance of a peace deal on Cyprus. Remains to be seen who is right, time will tell.
Let us all hope that 2010 sees some sense come out of all this as it sure is time that the two sides recognise that Cyprpus history did not just start in 1974.
Joan and I visited a couple more of the estate agents who have our villa on their books. We needed to discuss dropping the price to encourage a sale and also to say we are taking all the furniture to France so it will not be included. I think we also agreed that the effort of changing the staircase etc was not really an issue so we have put that to one side for now.
Only four of us for "Boys Night Out" as a couple of the guys are still stranded in that lovely weather you are having in UK. So we went down to The Celebrity bar. Immediately we noticed the effect that the smoking ban, effective 1st January, is having. The air was completely clear down there for the first time ever.
Lapta Layabouts night out was this week at The Green Palace in Karsiyaka. This really is a superb restaurant now and not desperately expensive. I had the garlic prawns which were absolutely delicious.
Today I received some pictures of Ferrensac, France, just to show us the farmhouse in the snow. It looks really picturesque there and feel sure that if Joan and I had been there we would be out walking as my guess is that the whole countryside in that area would be really beautiful under a blanket of white.
We also got pictures for the winter swimmers but can't see us going in when it looks that cold. Stewart and Barbara's house was also snowbound but I would imagine that Stewart had the wood burner going full blast and they were tucked up all warm and cosy.
Lovely warm day again today and because we knew in advance that the Electric Authority were going to cut off our power, from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m., we had the reasonably early breakfast and then went in to the garden.
No hedge cutting as the electric trimmer would not be working and we had decided not to have the diesel gennie thumping away all day, so out came the big hand shears and I spent lots of time trimming some shrubs in the front area. Satisfying work, now I only need to get some of that weedkiller on the gravel areas around the front drive, but guess that may have to wait as there is rain forecast for early in the week.
Richard came round early in the afternoon as he is dog and house sitting for somebody this week, but we had promised him dinner today.
By about 3.30 p.m. it starts to get cold as the sun has gone behind the mountains so we were all three glad to get indoors and get the gas fire on. Also it gave me a chance to read this weeks Cyprus Today so that I can pick out a few items for you in tomorrows posting.
Joan and Anne went over south today on a ladies shopping trip and that left me with Anne's car to take Tiggy to the vets. I am convinced she knows when we want to pop her in to that basket and take her for the treatment because she always manages to go walk about. She came strolling back in around 9.30 not realising that I was ready for her. She has 5 more of these monthly chemo treatments left to go and she is doing so very well that we have to keep going.
Popped in to the village on my way back for a 10TL haircut, which was really needed as the last time was 6 weeks ago. So now I have no excuse for not updating this site with some news before I have to go back down town to collect Tiggy.
Apparently we are to get an Italian Invasion this summer. CTA and a locally based travel company, have done a deal a Rome based company to bring 7,000 Italian tourists to TRNC this summer. Lets hope it all comes off, with the first tourists due to arrive on May 25th.
The government is urging the shop owners to cut prices. Their argument is that the Turkish Lira has strengthened against other currencies making imports cheaper and if they don't act competition from the south would become a bigger threat. The chairman of the Consumers Association said that there is nothing the government cam do about prices it was up to businessmen and shopkeepers. In other words.....It ain't going to happen, me thinks.
The long awaited Girne bypass will be finished in March, weather permitting, a highways official has vowed. Oh dear, is this another promise. Note that nobody said which year.....
Now it would appear that the former coalition government has been shown to cover up CTA's huge debts by making illegal corrections to the national flag carriers accounts whilst they were in power. It is clear that this government is trying to prove these sort of actions to strengthen their argument for pay and staff cuts.
Lots, at the start of this new year, about the Cyprus solution. Lord Maginnis of Drumglass has made lots of comments in the House of Lords by saying that he feels utterly ashamed at the UK governments attitude to the Cyprus tragedy. He further said that the privileges that the Greek Cypriots enjoy today as "the government of Cyprus" .. have resulted from the fundamentally immoral disregard by Britain and the International community of the appalling crimes of the Greek Cypriots and of the rights of the Trkish Cypriots. Strong words, but is anybody listening?
As for a solution, opinion swings wildly between party leaders here in TRNC. Opinion also swings about the presidential election results due in April. Guess the result for Mr Talat depends on if he can make any significant progress in his talks with the south. If the fact that the two leaders failed to make any significant progress during 2009, must go against him.
Finally for the week, the weather is set to take a turn for the worst in the coming days so that will probably be my excuse for not doing too much gardening.
Joan and I went over to Lefkosa this morning. My passport is due to expire on 17th February so I had downloaded the application form and had my picture "certified", who would want to do that I ask and then took the whole to the British Commission offices. I had no idea that the costs had gone up so much. 143 Euros and a ten working day wait, for the new passport. It will be interesting to see if I get one of those new style passports.
For a complete change, the Lapta Layabouts went to the new 10 pin bowling alley this evening were we had a real fun evening. We played two games on two lanes and finished about 9 p.m., so then we all went to The Ravine were they seemed very happy to serve meals for 10 people despite the lateness of the evening.
A super evening out and no doubt we will repeat this in the future.
This evening we went with Charles and Yvonne to the Chateau Lambousa here in Lapta to help Eddie and Marion celebrate Eddie's 65th birthday. He was telling us about his big surprise, totally unbeknown to him, his daughter and son have come over to help him celebrate.
They had arranged for about thirty friends to help them celebrate with a buffet, some music and of course the odd drink.
According to yesterday's newspaper, the end is in sight for the Orams. The legal ruling from the London Court of Appeal will be given on Tuesday next. Both sides already know the court findings but are legally bound not to disclose the result before Tuesday. Still therefore speculation abounds. Today's Cyprus Mail suggests that the whole thing could once again be referred back to Luxembourg as EU law cannot apply here until there is a settlement on the island.
The biggest piece of news today is the signing of The Economic and Cooperation Protocol between Turkey and TRNC. This agreement is in return for all the financial support that has and is still being given by Turkey. The whole is to be implemented by end 2012 and is aimed at cutting government spending, overhauling the country's infrastructure, improving utility supplies and boosting industry.
Some of the measures which have got opposition parties bleating, are the privatisation of the Electricity Supply Company and CTA, among others. Also the government is planning a restructuring of the stupid summer working hours, when government workers etc only attend for around 4/5 hours per day. This in a time of new offices and air conditioning. Also there are plane to cut the salary payments and to block all recruitment. I have always said that the time to do the nasty things to try to straighten this country's economics out is in the first year of office and it looks as if it may be happening. They also will need to reduce the power of the unions here if they are to succeed. Interesting times ahead.
Reunification of the island is not moving forward at all it would seem. The first phase of the new intensive talks has concluded without any significant announcements. Should the second phase talks, to be held on 25,26 and 27 January, also conclude without result, then it is very likely that President Talat will have snookered any chance of re-election in April.
The likely replacement will be the current Prime Minister and he is already saying that because past agreements have always ended in rejection, the Turkish Cypriots no longer entertained hopes of a solution. He says that his vision, if the talks do fail, is a mutually agreed separation. In other words, similar to the division of Czechoslovakia in to the Czech Republic and Slovakia. This should of course include recognition around the world.
General stuff in the paper says that this has been declared the warmest winter for 30 years and have to admit that Joan and I have only this week put our electric blanket on the bed. Having said that the week ahead looks very bleak, with rain, rain and more rain forecast until the end of the week. So that lets me off the rest of the hedge cutting for a little while.
Obviously there has lots been said over the last few days over the Orams case and the fact that they have lost their appeal. Everyone it seems is devastated by the news and feels for Linda and David Orams. We will all be aware that the press will have a field day and paint pictures of total doom and gloom and report that thousands will now lose their property here in TRNC, but in fact the decision this week means that the original court decision in 2004 by the South Nicosia District Court, that the Orams must demolish their property, pay back rent and compensation to the original Greek owner has not changed, but is now ratified. The UK court also made no mention of the Orams needing to sell their UK home in order to pay the Greek owner.
That is all very well, but the south cannot enforce this as they do not recognise the TRNC and that is unlikely to change in the near future. It would need a dramatic change of heart by the Greek Cypriots to unify the island and to therefore be able to enforce this decision. The current talks between the two presidents would not indicate that this is about to happen.
At the same time the TRNC Presidency has pledged financial and mental support to the Orams, offering to pay their compensation bill and provide them with a new villa if necessary. This would mean that they could get to keep their villa and their home in UK. At the same time the Presidential office says that there is no guarantee that they would do the same for any other cases which might arise. So for the Orams, no loss there then, just five years of damage to the construction industry here whilst the case progressed. A political win, win situation for the south. Clearly another case could only arise if anyone is silly enough to accept a summons from the South Nicosia District Court and some 12 months ago the authorities here made it illegal for any court officer to try to issue a summons to individuals here. So if anyone knocks on your door here, with paperwork to this effect, then call the police immediately, preferably with the registration number of the vehicle they are in.
The dispute between the Greek and Turkish Cypriot communities over property, can only be resolved by a political solution and not by issuing thousands of individual writs and in the meantime the Immovable Properties Commission has been accepted as the right route to go to resolve property matters and it has to date helped in around 400 cases, so this must be the way forward, at a much lower cost. Recently the Greek Cypriots have paid considerable compensation and returned property and the Turkish/TRNC government has done similar things here, so the claim, some years ago, that compensation would be handled by the government authorities appears to be valid.
In the meantime the propaganda machine will make short term mileage out of this situation, just at his done since the original court appearance. I personally believe that this has been the main objective of the Greek Cypriots involved as they must be fully aware that they cannot solve the property issue in this way. This coming year will hopefully see some of these issues resolved, but probably not until after the presidential elections.
I have had an e-mail criticising my entry of 21st re the Orams. The writer says quite rightly that they can not solely be blamed for the damage to the construction industry here as rightly the legal people, dodgy builders etc have to bear a considerable amount of the blame, not to mention the considerable damage done by Mr Gary Robb.
Since receiving this mail I have discussed the outcome with many here, not just Brits, but some very well established business people not associated directly with construction and their opinion remains as it was in 2005. For this reason I refer you back to my entry of 21st January 2005, reprinted here:-
January 21st 2005
Controversy. For some time now I have been openly critical of the Orams who have a home here in Lapta and who we all know are involved in a legal dispute with the South,
I have said at various times, “bless them for going south” and even called them “those silly Orams” and in my mind and in the opinion of very many others here not without justification. Anyway they decided to respond by e-mail, reprinted here:-
LAY OFF THE ORAMS!
Twice on your website recently you have referred to us in a patronising and condescending tone. First it was: "Bless them for going to the South", now you call us "the silly Orams's". Why do you consider us "silly" to be protecting our half million pound house in England? Wouldn't you do the same? As it appears you have no property or assets in the UK, you are hardly in a position to make these comments.
You know NOTHING about our case and your crass and personal remarks simply prove your ignorance.
We have done nothing to you to deserve it.
We have no need to defend our actions to you or anybody else. However, we will just say that we have been told by top lawyers in both Cyprus and England that we followed the correct course.
When legal papers were served on us in the UK on New Year's Eve 2005 we, together with our defence team, were well prepared. If Linda hadn't gone to the South over a year before we would have been caught completely offguard.
The result of our case will have far reaching effects. A fact that seems to have escaped your attention.
If you cannot say anything positive and supportive on behalf of fellow Brits - say nothing at all and restrict your usual ramblings to chocolate cake and cheap meals.
You are always claiming you are fair and will print adverse comments. Prove it by printing this.
David and Linda Orams
First a bit of info. for you both. We still do have property and assets in UK but we are not brash enough to declare the value and then ask for it to be published. But more important is the justifiable reasons for saying what I did.
We have discussed this situation with many friends and with people in business over here and there is clearly one thing that springs out above everything else:-
The Orams’s were directly advised by the President’s office here not to attend the court in the South.
Justification is obvious. The South do not recognize the North except as an occupied territory, therefore the server had no legal right here and it was 100% guaranteed that the case would be lost even before the border was crossed. It is consistently maintained by very, very many here, that had they not attended the court then the case would not have been able to escalate to the current position and would not have fed the hungry publicity machine for the South and would not have had such a devastating effect on the economy of the North. There have in fact been other arrest warrants issued. The recipients were also advised not to attend court, they didn’t and there has been no further publicity. It is a definite fact, that I cannot deny, that this case now has far reaching effects for the North. If the case is eventually won then a very positive situation exists as far as land and property issues here are concerned, let's hope to goodness they do win, because consider the outcome if the case is lost and then consider the initial advice given.
In addition to the above, there is one other reason for my comments. We have heard, some considerable time ago, from a very reliable source, that one of the organizations here, set up to counter the South’s propaganda machine spent around £7,000 to £8,000 on legal advice for the Orams with a team of experienced barristers, which they then chose to ignore. I find that very hard to swallow, especially when I consider that that money came in as small donations from property owners here, encouraged to fund and hopefully improve the North’s publicity campaign.
Enough said, you now know how I feel about this situation and why I have made previous comments, but I shall no longer mention the Orams, unless of course there is an article in the press that I feel needs highlighting. I particularly like articles by that well known correspondent, Tom Roche, who included them in his New Year’s honors list, for NOT seeking publicity in 2005.
The facts remain the case has been finalised everybody is now worried about the future and their position here so we will have to see what the future brings.
There is to be a meeting in parliament here this coming week and no doubt we will get to here the outcome and how much support we can expect.
Meantime the newspaper headline for today reads:- DON'T PANIC.
President Talat is urging the people to "stay calm" in the wake of the Orams verdict and he said that they were evaluating the possibility of further appeals. This despite the ruling in UK that no further appeals were to be allowed. He said that necessary steps will be taken to diminish the economic implications of the verdict and to prevent foreign homebuyers from suffering. Everybody's rights are under guarantee, he said.
Mr Talat accused the court of being one sided and blamed the EU for its unilateral acceptance of South Cyprus into its ranks in 2004 and further said that the Court of Appeal had totally ignored the ongoing negotiations process in Cyprus.
The Foreign Minister and Cabinet spokesman has also said that the government would not allow the estimated 15,000 Britons who had purchased property here to suffer any hardships.
Guess lots more will be written and much water will pass under the bridge before this is resolved, but ultimately this has to be all resolved politically not bit by bit.
Interesting article in The Cyprus Mail, which is of course a Southern newspaper.
OUR VIEW. ORAMS RULING MUST BE KEPT IN PROSPECTIVE.
Published in Cyprus Mail, Tuesday January 26th 2010.
A FEW DAYS ago, we wrote that Greek Cypriots should not get carried away by the Orams judgment and lose sight of the need for a political settlement. The Oramses may have been punished by the courts for building a villa on the land of Greek Cypriot refugee Meletis Apostolides, but the owner is no closer to having his land returned to him as a result of the judgment. Yet we are already hearing of plans for more legal action. Apostolides’ lawyer Constantis Candounas has announced that he has instructions, from the owners of the Dome Hotel in Kyrenia, to take legal action against 60 tourists who had stayed there in 2009. The lawyer said he had the names and addresses of the tourists, who would be accused of trespassing, and the means of serving them with a court summons, in whichever EU country they were residing.
There is a danger of this process degenerating into a joke. If a tourist does not appear in the Cyprus court and he is found guilty he would be fined a few hundred euro, for trespassing for a week. Would we then appeal to the guilty party’s country of residence, to execute a court decision involving a few hundred euro? We would become the laughing stock of the EU, if we started bombarding the courts of member-states with requests for the execution of such court orders, making a mockery of the EU law. The cost of executing the court order would be 10 to 20 times higher than the actual fine.
There is a possibility that the Cyprus courts would throw out a case of trespassing against a foreign tourist, but if it does not we may witness hundreds of trespass cases being brought to justice. Considering more than a thousand recourses were filed at the European Court of Human Rights after the referendum, the Cyprus courts, to which people have much easier access, could be looking at tens of thousands cases against suspected trespassers. Perhaps, legal action would be taken against Greek Cypriots that stayed at a hotel in the north as well.
The question is, would the court decisions facilitate the return of properties to their owners? We think everyone knows the answer, after our experience with the ECHR, which encouraged the setting up of the property commission in the north in order not to have to deal with the recourses by Greek Cypriot refugees. This is why we need to put the Orams judgment in perspective.
True, it was a legal and moral victory for the Greek Cypriot side but it has not done away with the need for a negotiated settlement. A lawyer hit the nail on the head a couple of days ago when he said, “if you think that the (Orams) decision would rid us of the Turkish troops you are making a big mistake”.
From this article one question springs to mind. Who is SELLING lists of peoples names and addresses to lawyers in the south? How do they actually find the names and addresses of all these people, especially those who are now going to be charged with trespass. The whole is now stooping to the ludicrous and all to feed the propaganda machine that tries to convince the world that the Greek Cypriots are the innocent party, whilst all they really want is control of the whole island and nothing less. History did not start here in 1974. Turkey did not invade, they intervened to protect their people who were being subjected to the worst forms of genocide and as usual of course Britain sat on it's arse and didn't intervene when it should have done, probably because George Bush wasn't around to ask it to get involved. It couldn't possibly have anything to do with the British bases here. could it ?????
Many Turkish Cypriots here say they do not want to go back to Paphos and other places because they have made a new life here since 1974 and I feel sure that there are many Greek Cypriots who feel the same, but politicians prevent a solution for their own ends. Rightly the land and property owners feel they want at least compensation for their losses, but nobody says anything about all the land and property owned by Turkish Cypriots in the South. This includes both airports, built on Turkish Cypriot owned land, I believe.
Back on the hot topic at this time, some interesting articles have appeared in the press. The first appeared in the Guardian UK today.
Turkish Cypriot appetite for united island dwindles as hostility grows.
Separatist sentiments gain ground in north of Cyprus despite new
round of reunification talks.
Surveys suggest rising numbers of Turkish Cypriots feel that a separate state is a more viable solution than reunification.
Mustafa Iusufoglu was only a small child when Turkish troops overran his village a few miles outside Nicosia in the summer of 1974. But he remembers clearly the elation with which his father and the local Turkish Cypriot community greeted their arrival after years of often bloody, island-wide confrontation with the Greek Cypriot majority.
Cyprus has been divided ever since by a UN-monitored ceasefire line running east to west. But that's for the best, Iusufoglu said. "Before 1974 it was no good. In the village we had two quarters, one for them, one for us. There was one church and one mosque. There were two separate schools. There was no co-operation, no visiting. There were terrible feuds. It's better now.
"The Greeks don't like us and we don't like them. We need to have separate states, though of course it would be good to have a better atmosphere," he said.
Iusufoglu is not alone in his views. Separatist sentiments are gaining ground in Turkish northern Cyprus despite a new round of internationally mediated reunification talks, the latest in a series going back more than 40 years. Ever distrustful of Greek intentions, angered by the international trade embargo and other sanctions imposed on their isolated, mostly unrecognised republic, and buoyed by
the rise of Turkey as a regional superpower, Turkish Cypriots are tired of waiting for a settlement that never comes.
A rising number – 34% in one recent poll – want to go their own way. Another survey found that 85% of Turkish Cypriots do not believe a reunification solution is possible.
There is much scepticism on the Greek Cypriot side, too. "For me personally I think it is better that the two communities are separate," said Halil, a civil servant in Kyrenia. "We tried. But you saw what happened between 1960 and 1974 [when Greek Cypriots discarded a power-sharing constitution bequeathed by Britain, the former colonial power]. The Greek Cypriots feel the same way."
Suleyman Oral, owner of the Mardin restaurant near Lefke, is more vehement. "The Greek Cypriots are looking at the world with one eye. They don't understand the realities. The Greeks would like to see all Turkish people go back to Turkey. If Turkey [which has an estimated 30,000 troops in the north] leaves, in a minute they will destroy us. They have tried to do this before."
Businessman Gunay Cherkez, president of the Turkish Cypriot chamber of commerce, said the self-styled Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) was viable economically, especially if post-1974 restrictions on direct trade and exports, flights, visas, telecoms and higher education opportunities within the EU were lifted – although
he conceded it would continue to rely on support from Turkey.
Like other Turkish Cypriots, Cherkez expressed anger at last week's court of appeal decision to uphold a ruling ordering a British couple, David and Linda Orams, to demolish a house they built in northern Cyprus on land belonging to a dispossessed Greek Cypriot.
He claimed the case demonstrated the insincerity of the Greek Cypriot side in the peace talks, where property rights on both sides of the UN buffer zone are a central issue along with security, territory, and governance.
With the current nationalist prime minister, Dervis Eroglu, tipped to replace the TRNC's pro-reunification president, Mehmet Talat, in elections in April, separatist momentum seems likely to grow. Only an unexpected breakthrough in the latest round of talks, due to conclude tomorrow, would significantly change the current dynamic, said Ahmet Sozen of the Cyprus Policy Centre in Famagusta.
"Turkey will push the TRNC to stay at the negotiating table" for fear of damaging its bid to join the EU, Sozen said. "But if the Turkish Cypriots are forced to quit, there are other scenarios. One is growing normalisation of relations with other countries, like
Taiwan has done. Some countries will start recognising the TRNC, Muslim countries like Syria and Qatar."
Comparisons with Kosovo were also valid, Sozen suggested. In that case, an independent state had been carved out of territory belonging to a sovereign power (Serbia) after a military intervention. A degree of international recognition had then followed.
Turkish Cypriot leaders say they are committed for now to the UN brokered reunification process. But foreign minister Huseyin Ozgurgun said that if the talks failed again, "we will work for recognition" of the TRNC as an independent state. He said his government had increased the number of its representative offices overseas and
obtained observer status in the 56-country Organisation of the Islamic Conference. It may open direct air links with Iran next year.
Gunay Cherkez summed up Turkish Cypriots' exasperation with what they characterise as endless Greek Cypriot foot-dragging: "I want to dance. I arrange the music. I lower the lights. I'm all dressed up! But my partner doesn't want to join me. So maybe I dance on my own."
And now to some activity from the BRS.
At the same time the British Residents Society has been active with the governing authorities here on our behalf and below is a statement issued by the. I would suggest that their comment about increasing the number of members is very valid as it will give them a stronger voice in their discussions. So if you do reside here, or even if you are not permanently resident here but just have a holiday home, then log on to their website www.brstrnc.com and use the links to join up.
STATEMENT BY THE BRS.
Stephen Day, Vice Chairman and Colin Mulcahy, Government Liaison Officer of the British Residents’ Society have had a meeting with the Presidency, which has had responsibility for the handling of the Orams case. The Society is pleased to have been given assurances that the validity of all forms of title deeds will be honoured by the TRNC. Whilst unable to give a blanket guarantee of compensation in every case, should there be any further Greek Cypriot court action, each case will be judged on its merits.
Further meetings with relevant Ministries and Agencies will take place in this developing situation to ensure that the interests of B R S members and the wider expatriate community are represented and safeguarded to the best of our ability.
We have been given to understand that the ruling of the European Court of Human Rights on the status of the Immovable Property Commission is expected by the summer and this is being viewed optimistically by the Presidency.
Until it is known, if the IPC is recognised as a legitimate remedy in property disputes, the B R S suggests that no precipitous action is taken to divest property or cancel agreed purchase agreements until the ruling of the ECHR is given.
There are already 400 applications with the IPC, 86 of which have been settled, and on affirmation of its legality the IPC would become the legitimate and practical way of resolving claims. The settlements would be internationally recognized.
We urge all British Passport holders with property in the TRNC to join the B R S in order to increase its influence of the expatriate community and strengthen its ability to protect their interests in the present difficult circumstances.
Further statements will be issued as the situation develops and details of further initiatives that the B R S is developing will be given.
Morton Coles
Chairman BRS 27th January 2010
On Tuesdays and Thursdays, Joan goes to a keep fit class at the Black Olive. There is one guy there who has MS and he is a regular because he finds that the exercises help his balance etc. They found out that this week it was his birthday so he got a couple of candles to go in his slice of cake.
Yesterday it was Andrew's birthday so when the gang went to The Punjab for an evening meal there was chocolate cake for us all to share.
Just before we left home, I received a phone call to tell me that the TRNC government had compulsory purchased the Orams villa. One can only assume that this means that as they now own it application will have to now be made to the Independent Property Commission to demolish. It has already been said that the government is to pay all the costs incurred.
Hopefully more information will come out on this soon.
In today's newspaper the TRNC government has said that the Greek Cypriot owner of the Orams villa must apply to the IPC if he wants his land back. Also they say that they are challenging the £1.5 million costs but are going to pay the compensation costs. This would seem to indicate that the phone call I received about compulsory purchase may well be right.
Lots and lots of other opinions on this important subject but only time will tell what the eventual outcome will be.
The current Prime Minister, Mr Eroglu has announced his decision to stand for the position of President in the up and coming elections in April. Looks like it might be a two horse race between the current President and him. He is recently reported as being in favour of a separate state for TRNC which is in total contrast to Mr Talat's negotiating stance.
Two British Euro MPs have recently raised the issue of the isolation of the Turkish Cypriots. At the time when the south was given EU status it was declared that this would be agreed by the EU as well as things such as direct flights etc. So far, since 2004, no move has been made to agree any of the promises. Somebody needs to keep shouting loud and hard about this situation and not keep taking the laid back attitude here in TRNC.
The second round of intensive talks by the two presidents has been extended and it is hoped that the visit of Ban Ki-moon, the UN Secretary General, later this week, will help to produce some results. But I am not really holding my breath because I am still convinced that the south will only agree to TOTAL control and TOTAL take over of the entire island. This is after all what the original fighting back in the 60s and 70s was all about, it was called Enosis then and still is.
We have friends here who were here during the period leading up to 1974, on the British bases during this time. They have told of the genocide against Turkish Cypriots and of them being forced to live in enclaves with basic human and constitutional rights denied. Please dont try to tell me that they want anything different now.
|
|
