Police get tough on those selling property in north

Cyprus’ authorities are getting tough on people found to be selling Greek Cypriot property in the north, with a 49-year-old German woman recently remanded the latest incident, it emerged on Tuesday.

Government sources told the Cyprus Mail that the uptick in arrests, the German woman is the fourth person this year to be arrested for this reason, is due to the ease of police tracking individuals down from frequent advertisements.

It is not just the police; Greek Cypriots have been filing complaints about companies developing on their properties in the north after seeing online ads.

Refugees have also visited their properties in the north and seeing the mass development, which then leads to them filing a complaint to police, as no permission was given for the developments.

Former Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash had after the Turkish invasion enacted a policy of having Turkish Cypriots exchange their title deeds for land in the Republic for a title deed for their new homes in the north, although these were not official documents.

The source alluded that these people have sold the land, which had been Greek Cypriot, to developers.

The most recent arrest of the 49-year-old German woman was followed by her remand for four days for selling properties in the north belonging to Greek Cypriots.

The woman, the fourth such arrest, was stopped at Larnaca airport on Sunday, after a complaint was filed against her.

According to what had been heard in court, the woman was heard talking about her role as a real estate agent in the north to an off-duty police officer on her flight to Larnaca last Tuesday.

The officer is then said to have told another officer, and an investigation was opened. The first officer reportedly informed the woman that selling property in the north was illegal, something which she did not respond to.

Police also found some land registry documents, which showed the woman could be involved in a case being examined by police headquarters on the usurpation of Greek Cypriot properties.

An arrest warrant was issued, and the woman was arrested attempting to leave Larnaca on Sunday.

According to an article in Politis, the woman appeared in court and as a translator was not found was informed by her lawyer using a translation app.

Police had initially requested she be held for eight-days but the judge ruled for a four-day remand.

She is believed to be connected to the case of Israeli businessman Simon Mistriel Aykut, currently in custody until his hearing in criminal court in September.

Another German, Josef Rikels, also has a warrant out for his arrest for promoting property sales in the north.

Following the current crackdown on property sales in the north, Turkish Cypriot representative at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) Oguzhan Hasipoglu called for an investigation to be launched after the Republic of Cyprus made the arrests.

Speaking at a PACE law and human rights committee meeting, he said the arrests contradict decisions taken by the Immovable Property Commission (IPC), which is accepted as a means of resolving property disputes by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).