Thousands of Greek Cypriots who own land plots in the occupied territories of northern Cyprus have expressed a desire to receive monetary compensation for their property.
This was announced on Monday, January 29, by the former chairman of the Immovable Property Commission (IPC), Ayfer Said Erkmen.
According to him, the total compensation due to the events of 1974 exceeds 22.4 billion pounds (26.3 billion euros). At the same time, the IPC compensation has so far paid out compensation for 1.4 million dunams or 1.4 thousand m2. Erkmen revealed that as of January 2024, a total of 7,473 applications have been submitted to the IPC by Greek Cypriots. Of these, 1,483 applications totaling €383 million have been granted.
Of course, not all of this money has been paid out. Currently, the payment gap is about €160 million," Erkmen emphasized.
He also noted that the most important problem facing the IPC is the limited financial resources. Therefore, Turkish Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek suggested that the current users of Greek Cypriot property should pay 20% of its value to repay the compensation. However, they did not support this proposal. As a result, about 4,000 applications are hanging in the air.
Erkmen mentioned that among these bids is the "parliament" building in the north, which used to be the Dianellos cigarette factory. The former owners have demanded 35 million euros in compensation for the building, but there has been no response yet.
As for the formerly upscale Varosha neighborhood in the Famagusta area, of the 824 properties owned by Greek Cypriots, 404 owners have expressed a desire for cash payments. IPC has already paid about €198 million for the loss of use of the properties.
Finally, Erkmen touched on the issue of Turkish-Cypriot properties in the Republic of Cyprus, stating that a total of 455 thousand dunams (455 km2) remained in the south. This number has slightly decreased since 2016, when it stood at 591 thousand dunams (591 km2). He noted that many Turkish-Cypriots as well as Greek-Cypriots have decided to sell their properties, seeing no other ways to solve the problem.