The following editorial appeared in the Cyprus Mail of Nicosia on 22 May 2002.

THE SALE of properties in the occupied north to Britons appears to be gathering momentum, if a report in the latest edition of The Observer is anything to go by. According to the paper, there are currently 1,000 Britons living in the occupied territories of whom only 25 owned properties there before the Turkish invasion, while the number of estate agents catering to foreigners has increased from three to 15.

An indication of the growing interest by Britons in properties in the villages of the Kyrenia area is the fact that scores of houses are advertised on the web-sites of British estate agents, who note that there are four types of title deeds. Two types refer to the houses that are owned by Greek Cypriots, 'Turkish Title' and 'TRNC Title'. These houses are usually leased to the buyer for 49 years, which is no consolation to the rightful owners, but is an indirect acceptance by the Denktash regime that it does not have ownership rights over such properties.

Yet this will mean nothing to Greek Cypriots who might see pictures of their family house -- which has been inaccessible to them for almost 28 years -- up for sale, on some British estate agent's web-site. It is an emotive issue that is certain to cause bitterness and resentment among the owners of the houses. And when they hear some insensitive Briton who has bought a house in Kyrenia, being quoted by The Observer as callously saying that the house was owned "by some Greek who obviously left in a hurry", is it not understandable that they would be consumed by rage? How does the owner react to this foolish man's boast that "it will be over my dead body that he (the Greek owner) gets this house back"?

Unfortunately there are no satisfactory rational answers. There are no legal measures that can be taken against foreigners who have bought or leased Greek Cypriot properties from the Turks. Attorney-general Alecos Markides said there was no legality in these transactions, "but unfortunately there is no way legally to stop these transactions". The only thing he did say was that people buying properties without titles run the risk of losing their money. Cases against estate agents cannot be taken up in Britain because, according to the law, British courts have no jurisdiction over transactions abroad.

It would seem that the only option open to Greek Cypriots with property in the occupied north is to follow the example of Titina Loizidou, filing recourses against Turkey at the European Court of Human Rights for depriving them of the right to use their property. This is a costly and protracted process, which people are reluctant to go for, even though they are almost certain to win. But this is also part of the problem -- an individual can only take a government to the European Court, not another individual. If the owner of a house in Kyrenia could take legal action against a foreigner who is currently claiming ownership and the estate agent who sold it, the number of such transactions would be drastically curtailed, but unfortunately this cannot be done.

The Cyprus government needs to find an effective way of putting an end to these transactions, and the only option available is to frighten off potential buyers. How this can be done, though, is a hard nut to crack."