MEMORANDUM Illegal Construction in the Occupied Area (As Revealed
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MEMORANDUM Illegal Construction in the occupied area (As revealed through Turkish and Turkish Cypriot Press reports since February 2007) Construction boom takes place on Greek Cypriot properties According to CYPRUS TODAY (3-9/2/07), “a Multi-million-pound shopping development1 comprising 1,000 shops and stalls is set to transform the fishing village of Bogaz, (occupied Bogazi), near Gazi Magusa (occupied Famagusta) – which the developers see as “being like Las Vegas” within five years. An Israel-based company plans to start building a traditional Turkish-style bazaar complex this summer and the project is due to be completed in three years. An area of 45,000m² located 400 metres from the village on the road towards Bafra (occupied Vokolida) has been earmarked for the ambitious project which is set to become the biggest one-stop shopping centre in ´North Cyprus´. Various housing developments are currently being built in the area which has a population of about 2,000, rising by another 1,000 in the summer months. Nine hotels – three of which are nearing completion – are planned for nearby Vokolida. A spokesman for Big Old Bazaar Developments Ltd said: “It’s going to be like Las Vegas in the next five years. We have a vision and we think now is the time to invest as the area will be unrecognizable in a few year’s time”. KIBRIS (8/2/07) reports that the breakaway regime is preparing to establish an “Investments’ Agency”, aiming at the increase of the investments which are necessary for the development of the economy and at determining and applying strategies for supporting and promoting local and foreign investments. The “Agency” will also be aiming at improving the environment for investment and attracting international investors to the occupied areas of Cyprus. A “strong team” at the self-styled prime minister’s office is working for the materialization of the “Agency”. The “permanent undersecretary” of the so- called “prime ministry”, Mr Ontac Duzgun, said, inter alia, the following: “Both serious investments and about three billion-dollars of capital are waiting for a decision at various bureaucratic levels as a result of our gaining legal status, even though we partly did, especially after the Annan Plan and the referendum procedure. The state should be organized according to it. It is an application which will pave the way for consultancy in a professional sense in the country”. KIBRIS (28/2/07) reports that the Cyprus Turkish Contractors’ Union held a protest in order to draw attention to problems being faced by the construction sector and to protest against the unplanned development in the occupied Cyprus. Under the title “An unprecedented property scandal”, AFRIKA (1/3/07) reports that the “government” is putting into force a practice that was never done before. Two plots that belong to Greek Cypriots in Famagusta were sold to the “Medical Centre - Hospital”. The plots, the value of which is said to be 100 thousand sterling for each one, were sold as follows: 53 thousand sterling were given for the first one and 52 thousand sterling were given for the second one. The money taken from this sale will be deposited in an account of the self-styled “council of ministers” and the money gathered will be paid as compensation to persons as equivalent for the property they abandoned in the free areas 1 According to the distribution o population by ethnic group in 1960, Bogazi village was inhabited by 90 people of whom 88 belonged to the GC community. of the Republic of Cyprus. The paper adds that the self-styled deputy of the Republican Turkish Party Okan Dagli is among the owners of the “Medical Centre Hospital”. In this case, the occupation regime far from taking measures to safeguard the property rights of the displaced persons is selling property that belongs to another in order to provide cash for its treasury. The statement of Enver Ozturk, self-styled “minister of tourism and economy” that their aim is to increase the beds in the fields of tourism from 13.600 to 40.000 in 2012 (HALKIN SESI 5/3/07) proves beyond any doubt that the occupation regime not only is not willing to take any measures to protect the property rights of the displaced persons but it follows a policy of alienating the displaced persons from the properties. Under the title “Constructions are being built now in Morfou”, KIBRIS (7/4/07) reports that the majority of the new constructions during the past two years were built in the occupied areas of Kyreneia and Trikomo, but a boom in the constructions took place in the occupied area of Morfou, where the building of new constructions had been stopped. The paper notes that KADEM Company conducted a research in December 2006 upon a request by Tosunoglu Group. Officials from the two companies announced on Friday the results of the research. KADEM’s director, Muharrem Faiz said that the research was conducted in 724 houses, 237 working places and 212 architects and engineer offices. He noted that according to the results of the research, Trikomo and Keryneia are the areas where most of the constructions were built during the past two years. The increase in Trikomo was 13.7 % and in Keryneia 13.5 %. On the same day KIBRIS reports that Ozkan Murat, self-styled “minister of internal affairs”, stated that during the term of their “government” the areas of occupied Trikomo and Karpass peninsula are turned into construction sites. Mr Murat toured the Karpass area last Friday. He noted that the one fourth of his “ministry’s” budget is spent for the above- mentioned areas. Murat said that they have already opened tenders for the construction of a new “court” building at Trikomo. CYPRUS TODAY (7-13/4/07) reports the following: “Turkish Cypriot businessman Ali Ozmen Safa is in negotiations to take over the completion of part-built homes at Amaranta Valley in occupied Klepini village. The Medview Homes managing director was approached by Aga Development Construction founder Gary Robb and an initial meeting was held six weeks ago, CYPRUS TODAY has discovered. Builders downed tools at the Aga Development project in September 2005, leaving around 300 people, mainly British, with only partly constructed homes despite investing tens of thousands of pounds each. KIBRIS (18/4/07) reports that the opening ceremony of the Malpas Hotel and Casino was held yesterday. The Hotel, which is built in occupied Ayios Epiktitos village, covers an area of 35 thousand square metres and is a five star hotel. The hotel has 174 rooms and is of 428-bed capacity, five restaurants, six bars, four swimming pools, a salon where 180 persons can gather and offers services of tennis, football, basketball and other sports. AFRIKA (23/4/07) reports that the “law” for acquiring a residence will soon pass from the self-styled assembly. The “law” will be implemented first in occupied Famagusta. The self- styled “Prime Minister” Soyer has said that the resources for this are ready and added that the “citizens” will become owners of houses and that will be “just like paying rent”. He noted that at the first stage 400 residences will be built on a territory of 25 donums (Tr. Note: A land measure of 1000 square meters) in the Besevler area in occupied Varosha. The self-styled “minister of internal affairs”added that the houses will be from 75 square meters to 130 square meters. Commenting on the same issue KIBRIS (23/4/07) reports that Soyer and Murat made the above statements during a meeting yesterday with inhabitants of occupied Famagusta. The paper writes that Soyer said that a great economic development took place in the occupied areas during the last three years and added that this development drew the attention of the international community. He noted that the GDP increased from 985 million euros to two billion euros and the budget deficit decreased to 7 % of the GDP. CUMHURIYET (23/4/07) reports that Mr Erdogan ιn statements he made during a visit to Bursa’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said that until four and a half years ago there were no investments in the occupied part of Cyprus. He noted: “There was nothing except a couple of hotels. But look now brand new hotels have began to be built. Their number exceeds fifteen. Investors began to come to Cyprus from various places of the world. … Per capita income had been around 4.700 dollars when we came to power. Now it became 12 thousand dollars. …The motherland gives the necessary support. This is the way these things happen. …What have you lost? What have they lost? Until four and a half years ago there was a Cyprus with absolutely no political respect in the world, but now there is a northern Cyprus which is being respected with political invitations to its president of the republic, its prime minister and its ministers. RADIKAL (25/4/07) reports that Reha Arar, chairman of the executive committee of the Merit Hotels, which is the biggest foreign investor in occupied Cyprus, stated that their investments in occupied Cyprus will reach 250 million dollars with the construction of another hotel which will offer therapies using sea water, which is planned to start operating in 2008. Mr Reha Arar added that the new investments which started in the construction sector will have a significant contribution to Cyprus tourism as well. RADIKAL cites also the names of the hotels that “Merit Hotels” have in occupied Cyprus: Merit Crystal Cove2, Cyprus Garden and Green Karmy.