Land matters
It is a fact that more than 90% of the land of the occupied area of Cyprus is owned by Greek Cypriots – individuals and families, the Church and Government, business and commercial interests.
It is also a known fact that the land in the north is potentially worth a fortune – the sandy beaches of Karpasia, the beach fronts of Famagusta, the picturesque mountain villages of Kyrenia bordering the sea are all unique and priceless.
When the Greek Cypriot refugees reclaim their lands with their legitimate title-deeds (the Turkish Cypriots cannot do so with the fraudulent ‘title-deeds’ issued by Denktash) the value of the land will rise immeasurably. No measure of ‘compensation’ from any property claims board could possibly match the market value of the reclaimed land. Who would accept limited compensation for an asset worth many times more? And as for ‘property exchanges’ how can there be such an exchange when more than 90% of the land in the occupied area is legitimately owned by Greek Cypriots?
The indigenous Turkish Cypriots, for historic reasons, do not have sufficient land holdings in either the north or the south to effect property exchanges. Put another way, if you only have less than 10% of the occupied area legitimately in your hands, you cannot possibly talk of conducting exchanges of any sort.
We can understand the desperation of the Denktash regime to want to have the international community recognise it as ‘co-owner’ of Cyprus and thereby legitimise its theft of our land. This is nothing less than confiscation. The only way for them to achieve this, as they see it, is too seek ‘global exchange’ of properties and ‘compensation’.
However, the key to a settlement is firmly in the hands of the refugees. It is they who must exercise their rights and use their title-deeds to reclaim what is theirs. But they must be patient. Patient to reclaim their land and wait: wait to evaluate the security situation, wait to consider whether they want to return with their families, villages or townsfolk to take up permanent or temporary residence. They may decide to sell later (that is their prerogative) but in the first instance they must reclaim what is theirs. It is crucial that the refugees reclaim; this is the means by which Denktash and his illegal regime will collapse.
They must be deprived of the spoils of war and 27 years of occupation. At last, the opportunity has come to be rid of the despoilers of our country and the thieves of our lands and homes.
