Front Page Headlines
‘405 applicants are demanding the return of their properties’
The new head of the Immovable Property Commission (IPC) Növber Ferdi Veçhi spoke for the first time to Yenidüzen. She summarized the process concerning Maraş (Varosha). Vehçi said that most of the applications concerning Maraş (Varosha) are for the return of property. “However, applying property owners may later change their application asking for compensation or exchange instead,” she added. The IPC head also said she did not believe that the IPC had lost its function. “The IPC makes a decision, but its implementation does not bind the IPC. Just like the rulings of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). Some countries ignore the rulings, but they don’t shut down the ECHR, do they?” she asked.
- “We are defending our homeland” – The ‘This Country is Ours Platform’ held a rally to express its determination that it will continue to struggle for its homeland.
Sucuoğlu’s government receives a vote of confidence
The majority of the MPs voted in favour of the National Unity Party (UBP) – Democratic Party (DP) government during an extraordinary session of the parliament, which convened yesterday.
- The fire at the Güngör (Koutsoventis) landfill cannot be put out – The cause of the fire is being investigated. While the efforts to put out the fire at the Güngör (Koutsoventis) landfill is underway, it emerged that there have been 25 fires since the beginning of the year at various dumpsites throughout the country.
Confidence in politics lost
Politicians who voted during the declaration of the TRNC said that the necessary steps were not taken in the last 38 years and that the country’s growing problems have become a burden. Former MP İsmail Bozkurt who spoke to Diyalog said that politics in the country was creating problems rather than solving them. Former MP Hakkı Atun said everyone in the country was demanding better governance. Ergün Vehbi said that time should not be wasted with small parties and steps need to be taken to fix politics. Current TDP MP Hüseyin Angolemli for his part said that nothing has changed since the creation of the TRNC. “All they have done is split us,” he said.
- They gave a message – Greece, South Cyprus, France and Italy carried out a joint military exercise in the Eastern Mediterranean.
- They announced the figures – Over 126,000 people in the South earn below the poverty threshold.
Where are the old rallies?
This is all that the “This Country is Ours Platform” could do! The rally organised by the platform yesterday at the İnönü Square failed to generate the massive crowds that were once drawn. The İnönü Square misses its glorious days of rallies with 40,000 to 80,000 people.
- The government received a vote of confidence – 27 MPs voted in favour and 19 against. The Republican Turkish Party (CTP), People’s Party (HP) and the Social Democratic Party (TDP) voted against the government.
Main News
The majority of Maraş (Varosha) property owners want their properties back, says IPC head
Yenidüzen
Property
OVERVIEW
The newly-appointed head of the Immovable Property Commission (IPC) in the north Növber Ferit Veçhi has said that the majority of Greek Cypriots applying to the commission for their properties in the fenced-off city are opting to have their properties reinstated. In an interview with Yenidüzen, Veçhi said that there were currently 405 applications made for property in Maraş (Varosha).
She explained that applications, should they wish, can later change their demands to compensation or exchange. Veçhi reminded that the IPC was recognized by the ECHR as an effective domestic legal remedy.
“This is important because in a sense it is legal recognition of an institution established by the Turkish Cypriot community,” she said, adding that it would be a great loss if the existence of such an institution which contributed to the settlement of the Cyprus Issue was to be terminated.
Asked as to how many of the applications have been concluded so far, the IPC president said that 1,301 of the 6,976 applications filed with the commission had been settled.
Vehçi said that the total amount of compensation that has been agreed to be paid has reached £325.4m. “The commission has ordered the payment of compensation for 1,078 of the cases, return of three properties, return of one after a solution, compensation and return of seven properties and compensation and exchange for two properties. 195 applications have been withdrawn and four applications have been rejected. 10 properties have been purchased from Greek Cypriot owners by current users”, she said.
She reminded that the IPC was operating based on past agreements reached in the past or proposals tabled by the UN which safeguarded the principle of bizonality.
Regarding the properties in the 3.5 per cent of the fenced-off city recently reopened by Turkish Cypriot authorities, Vehçi said they were currently examining the properties to see how many of the 405 applications were located within the reopened area. Asked to comment about the ECHR, the IPC president who once served as a representative for the Turkish Cypriot community in Strasbourg said that the ECHR secretariat, in general, was impressed with the work carried out by the IPC.
“Of course, the work carried out by the IPC is making our job easier for the Turkish Cypriot authorities and their relations with the ECHR,” she said. Vehçi added that the payment of compensation was not the commission’s responsibility but that of the Turkish Cypriot government. She said that the IPC’s duty was to settle cases not to implement them.
The IPC head also said she did not believe that the IPC had lost its function. “The IPC makes a decision, but its implementation does not bind the IPC. Just like the rulings of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). Some countries ignore the rulings, but they don’t shut down the ECHR, do they?” she asked.
KEY ACTORS
Vehçi (IPC)
>> Majority of GC property owners in Maraş (Varosha) want their properties returned.
>> Applications may always change their demands later.
>> IPC always operates on basis of UN plans & past agreements respecting the principle of bizonality.
>> IPC’s duty is to settle cases, payment of compensation or implementing decisions is the responsibility of TC authorities.
>> IPC’s recognition as an effective domestic legal remedy is important as it means legal recognition of a TC institution.
GC side’s unilateral hydrocarbon activities condemned
Yenidüzen, Kıbrıs, Diyalog, Avrupa
Energy
OVERVIEW
The Turkish Cypriot Foreign Ministry on Saturday condemned the Greek Cypriot side’s unilateral hydrocarbon activities, reiterating that the Turkish Cypriots have equal rights in the natural resources on and off the island.
In a statement issued, the ministry noted that the Greek Cypriot side issued a new navigational telex (NAVTEX) for Nautical Geoscientific research vessel from November 12 to 17 for coordinates that overlap with the ‘TRNC’ licensed areas.
“The Turkish Cypriot side will not remain silent to Greek Cypriot side’s attempts to usurp its rights and to carry out a fait accompli. We will take simultaneous and reciprocal steps,” the ministry stressed, adding that the north will continue its activities in the areas licensed to the Turkish Petroleum Company (TPAO) in 2011.
Noting that the Turkish Cypriot side always prefers to resolve disputes through diplomacy and dialogue, the ministry also recalled that the Turkish Cypriot side’s July 13, 2019, dated co-management proposal and the proposal to hold a regional hydrocarbons conference are still valid and on the table.
“We wish to bring to the international community’s attention that it is the Greek Cypriot side that disrupts peace and stability in the Eastern Mediterranean whilst the TRNC is the side that is making constructive collaboration proposals to resolve the disputes,” the statement concluded.
In the meantime, Admiral Adnan Özbal on Saturday said Ankara will never allow “any fait accompli in the Eastern Mediterranean or the Greek Cypriot side’s unilateral initiatives.”
uring a meeting with the Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar, Özbal, who will be representing the Turkish Defence Ministry during the ceremonies on Monday, November 15, added that “Ankara will protect Turkey’s and Turkish Cypriots’ rights and interest emanating from international law.”
He also noted that Ankara fully supports the Turkish Cypriot side’s new vision based on a two-state model. Also speaking during the meeting, Tatar reiterated that the two-state solution is the only feasible option on the island that will ensure the continuation of Turkey’s effective guarantees.
KEY ACTORS
Ertuğruloğlu (UBP)
>> TC side will not remain silent over GC side’s attempts to usurp its rights & carry out a fait accompli.
>> TC side will continue to operate in areas licensed to Turkish Petroleum.
>> TC side’s proposal for co-management of hydrocarbons is still valid.
>> TC side always desire to settle the issue through dialogue & diplomacy.
Akar (Turkey)
>> Ankara to continue to protect rights & interests of TCs in East Med.
>> Ankara fully supports the TC side’s new vision for a two-state solution.
Tatar
>> Two-state solution only feasible option on the island that will ensure the continuation of Turkey’s guarantees.
Pro-federation platform organises rally in north Nicosia
Yenidüzen, Kıbrıs, Diyalog, Avrupa
Negotiations Process, Governance & Power Sharing
OVERVIEW
The ‘This Country is Ours’ platform made up of various pro-federation political parties, trade unions and civil society organisations (CSOs) organised a rally at İnonü Square in Nicosia on Saturday.
Several hundred people gathered at the historic square where mass rallies were held in 2003-2004 in support of the UN-sponsored Annan Plan to protest the current state of the economy in the north, the government’s failure to address the country’s growing political, economic and social problems as well as to express support for a federal settlement in Cyprus.
Throughout the rally, demonstrators chanted slogans such as “End the occupations”, “We don’t want another state”, “Peace cannot be prevented in Cyprus” and “Long live a federal Cyprus”.
Speeches were delivered at the event which ended at around 5 pm. Speaking during the event the head of the Turkish Cypriot Public Sector Employees Union (KTAMS) Güven Bengihan drew attention to the growing problems in the country.
He said that they rejected the administrative style imposed on the country and expressed the hope that the rally will ignite a new fire that will spread across the north. Bengihan warned that Turkish Cypriots had reached the point of being wiped out because of the economic and social policies being implemented. He said that the public’s purchasing power was also eroded because of the devaluation of the Turkish Lira.
Sucuoğlu’s government receives a vote of confidence
Yenidüzen, Kıbrıs, Diyalog, Avrupa
Governance & Power Sharing
OVERVIEW
Turkish Cypriot Prime Minister Faiz Sucuoğlu’s newly formed coalition National Unity Party (UBP)-Democratic Party (DP) government received a vote of confidence on Saturday at an extraordinary session, a day after deliberations and debate on the new government programme which was read out by PM Faiz Sucuoğlu on Monday. Sucuoğlu’s cabinet received a majority of the MPs’ votes launching the start of an interim arrangement for the next two months until early elections are held in late January 2022. Sucuoğlu had presented his cabinet to Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar a week ago on Friday.
As expected, the opposition Republican Turkish Party (CTP), Peoples’ Party (HP) and Social Democratic Party (TDP) voted against the new government. The government programme was accepted by 27 votes in favour and 19 against. Three MPs were absent from the vote.
Addressing MPs after the vote, Sucuoğlu thanked all the MPs for their participation. He said the interim government will aim to use the period until the elections as effectively as possible. Earlier a parliamentary advisory board set the date for early elections for January 23 and agreed for the establishment of an Ad-Hoc committee tasked with determining whether to scrap or amend the system of split voting currently in place.
The main opposition Republican Turkish Party (CTP), the Peoples’ Party (HP) and the Social Democratic Party (TDP) had announced on Thursday that they would not vote in favour of the new government.
All three parties expressed the view that Sucuoğlu could not achieve a fraction of what he promised to do in the government programme given that there are only two months before the early election and two weeks before the election bans come into force.
A confident Sucuoğlu who responded to the criticisms said that the programme was the basis of what he would set out to do after his party won the early elections. He said he was confident the UBP would win enough votes to form a government on its own.
In the meantime, the date and hours of the discussions to be held in parliament for the 2022 fiscal year state budget was announced on Saturday. According to the decision adopted, work at the committee level for the budget will begin on Tuesday, November 16. The debate on the budget will begin on November 22.
Meanwhile, UBP MP İzlem Gürçağ said it was important not to rush any amendments to be made to the election law, particularly when it came to scrap the system of split voting. She argued that any changes to be made should have been done much earlier, not on the eve of elections.
Gürçağ also said that it was highly unlikely the new government could do much before the election bans came into force on November 25 and that what was important was for the government’s projects to come to life after the election.