Cyprus and the Politics of Property

Abstract

The ‘property issue’ in the Cyprus problem has manifold implications. It concerns the individual rights and interests of around a third of the island's population, and will be central to economic and social considerations in the event of reunification. However, there are additional important political factors that have made the property issue into a key aspect of the Cyprus problem. Here we attempt to elucidate these factors by analysing the two Cypriot sides' official positions in relation to the property issue. We try to show how the two sides have managed to formulate their apparently irreconcilable positions in this area on the basis of the two ostensibly agreed principles of any prospective settlement, namely, the achievement of ‘bizonality’ in the Turkish Cypriot case, and the restoration of ‘human rights’ in the Greek Cypriot case. We also examine the way the two sides' leaderships and administrations have in effect guided and shaped the perceptions and expectations of the public along the lines of these positions by, among other things, presenting them as ‘non-negotiable’ or ‘sacrosanct’.

Acknowledgement

This paper is part of a project of the International Peace Research Institute, Oslo (PRIO), the PRIO Cyprus Centre.

Notes

¹ Note that people had been displaced also in 1958 as a result of incidents of violence between the two communities (Patrick, 1976: 8–13).

² This is an estimate based on the information provided in an official report of the Turkish Cypriot administration dated 20 October 1974 (An, 2002: 319).

³ The Evkaf is the organization of vakıfs (traditional Muslim establishments) of Cyprus that began following the Ottoman conquest of the island in 1571. According to the Ahkam-ül Evkaf (the special law for Evkaf), ownership of the Evkaf properties is non-transferable. In 1960, the Evkaf was recognized as a Turkish Cypriot institution and the Ahkam-ül Evkaf was reaffirmed in the Constitution of the Republic of Cyprus (Morvaridi, 1993: 264–6; Seager, 1883). Miri land (arazi-i mirié; literally, ‘treasury or exchequer land’) refers to agricultural land, which under the Ottoman land code belonged to the state (equivalently, the sultan), but was in the use of hereditary tenants who cultivated the land. Such land could be transmitted from father to son but could not be sold, mortgaged or donated by its possessor. The miri land tradition was ended in 1946 when the Ottoman land code was superseded by a law enacted by the British colonial administration. The new law stipulated that all state land properly acquired by individuals became their private property (İİnalcık, 1997nalcik 1997: 139–40; Solsten, 1991).

⁴ Unit of measurement of the area of land used in Cyprus: 1 donum = 0.33 acres = 1338 m².

⁵ To obtain the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot private ownership figures in Table 4, Giray's estimated figure of 322,109 donums for the area of the allegedly ‘usurped’ miri lands was subtracted from his figure for the Turkish Cypriot private ownership and added to his figure for the Greek Cypriot private ownership.

⁶ Whether ‘global exchange and compensation’ is still preferred by the Turkish Cypriots has not been systematically investigated. However, a number of things suggest the Turkish Cypriots may still have this preference. For example, development and/or trading of Greek Cypriot properties in the north have continued unabated after the referenda. Another indication is the public's generally sceptical response to the legislation (Law 67/2005 passed in December 2005) which concerns Greek Cypriot properties in the north and provides for compensation and exchange as well as restitution.

⁷ Rauf Denktaş represented the Turkish Cypriot community at the intercommunal talks between 1968 and 2004. He became the leader of the Turkish Cypriot community in 1973 and was president of all the Turkish Cypriot administrations from 1974 until 2005.

⁸ Enosis (meaning ‘union’ in Greek) refers to the union of Cyprus with Greece (Ertekün, 1981: 29).

⁹ Quoted from Resolution No. 1 of the Legislative Assembly of the Turkish Federated State of Cyprus, adopted unanimously on 5 November 1976.

¹⁰ Paper presented by Rauf Denktaş at the fifth round of the Vienna Talks on 18 February 1976 (Ertekün, 1977: 29–32).

¹¹ Throughout the twentieth century, the Turkish Cypriots comprised roughly one-fifth of the island's population and the Greek Cypriots four-fifths.

¹² Paper presented by Rauf Denktaş at the fifth round of the Vienna Talks on 18 February 1976 (Ertekün, 1977: 29–32).

¹³ Turkish Cypriot proposals of 5 August 1981 (Necatigil, 1996: 165).

¹⁴ Paper presented by Rauf Denktaş at the fifth round of the Vienna Talks on 18 February 1976 (Ertekün, 1977: 29–32).

¹⁵ Paper presented by Rauf Denktaş at the fifth round of the Vienna Talks on 18 February 1976 (Ertekün, 1977: 29–32)

¹⁶ Resolution No. 1 of the Legislative Assembly of the Turkish Federated State of Cyprus, adopted unanimously on 5 November 1976.

¹⁷ See statement made by Rauf Denktaş on 21 March 1981 (Ertekün, 1981: 40–41).

¹⁸ See statement made by Rauf Denktaş on 21 March 1981 (Ertekün, 1981: 40–41)

¹⁹ See, for example, Greek Cypriot Proposals of 31 March 1977 (Ertekün, 1977: 137–9).

²⁰ Under Laws of 1962 and 1966 on Requisition of Property: ROC Official Gazette, August 1975 and September 1975.

²¹ Law of 1991/139.

²² Needless to say, the word ‘abandoned’ here is a description just as euphemistic as the one used in the TRNC constitution in relation to Greek Cypriot properties in the north.

²³ Glafkos Clerides represented the Greek Cypriot community at various stages of the inter-communal talks both before and after 1974. He was the acting president during a brief period following the coup and the subsequent Turkish intervention in 1974 (between July and December of that year). He was elected (twice) and served as president between 1993 and 2003.

²⁴ For a useful discussion contrasting the Turkish Cypriot and Greek Cypriot views on ‘bizonality’, see Palley, 2005: 155.

²⁵ Greek Cypriot proposals of 30 January 1989.

²⁶ See also Papadakis, 1993 and Mavratsas, 1997.

²⁷ The Comprehensive Settlement of the Cyprus Problem, 31 March 2004 (Annan Plan V), Main Articles, Article 10.

²⁸ Particularly in Loizidou v. Turkey, and after Turkey's payment to Ms Loizidou of the compensation ruled by the court.

²⁹ For example, see speeches by Mustafa Akıncı (leader of Peace and Democracy Party – BDH) on 12 December 2003 and Mehmet Ali Talat (then prime minister of the TRNC and leader of CTP) on 8 April 2004 (Turkish Cypriot press).

³⁰ Note that this is the very reverse of the impact these cases had in the north, as one would expect.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

KUDRET ÖZERSAY

Dr Kudret Ozersay, Department of International Relations, Faculty of Business and Administration, Eastern Mediterranean University, Famagusta, North Cyprus via Mersin 10, Turkey. [email protected]