New lease of life for The TRNC?
Cyprus Today’s ELTAN HALIL speaks to Prof Dr Ibrahim Benter, head of Evkaf – one of the oldest charitable organisations in the world and the biggest landlord in North Cyprus
YOU might not have heard its name before, but Evkaf is the largest landlord in the TRNC and owns land and property all over Cyprus, including on the British bases, in the contested “ghost town” of Maraş (also known as Varosha) and in South Cyprus too.
It employs around 100 people, with offices in Lefkoşa, Gazimağusa, Girne and Güzelyurt.
Steeped in history, some of the charitable organisation’s acquisitions pre-date what is commonly known as the “Cyprus problem”.
It existed long before the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus was established in 1983; before the island become split between a Turkish Cypriot North and Greek Cypriot South following the events of 1974; before Turkish Cypriots were attacked and forced from the government of Cyprus in 1963; before Cyprus gained its independence from the United Kingdom in 1960; and well before the British even set foot on the island in 1878.
Indeed, Evkaf can document its history to more than 300 years before British rule, to 1571 in fact, the year the Ottoman army conquered Cyprus and took it from the Venetians following a year-long siege.
The word Evkaf comes from “vakıf”, spelt in English as vaqf or waqf. According to the Oxford English Dictionary waqf comes from Arabic and “implies a religious endowment fund, which renders a property unalienable, incapable of being surrendered or transferred”.
“When Cyprus was conquered by the Ottomans . . . they established several vakıfs,” explains Prof Dr İbrahim Benter at the Evkaf headquarters in Lefkoşa’s walled city, close to Saray Hotel and the Venetian Column.
“For example, based on our records, Lala Mustafa Paşa, who was the general in charge of the army during the conquest, purchased thousands of dönüms of land in the area called Famagusta, Maraş and İskele. And he established a vakıf called Lala Mustafa Paşa Vakfı, with the intention of doing charitable activities.
“So the Ottoman tradition is that when they conquer a land, whatever properties belong to the previous rulers pass on to the Ottoman rulers but the private ownership was always sacred for the Ottomans.”
At the time ownership of what is now the closed part of Maraş, the seaside resort that has been cut off to civilian life for 46 years, was divided up into three vakıfs named Lala
Mustafa Paşa, Abdullah Paşa, and Bilal Ağa, Prof Benter says.
“The Turks, the Greeks, the British, everybody agrees that Maraş belonged to these three vakıfs for 300 years. There is no dispute about this point. The dispute is that later, some of these properties were transferred to individuals.
“We believe the leasehold was transferred, because the freehold cannot be transferred. Why? Because the Evkaf law says that a vakıf, once established, is forever. It cannot be cancelled.
“The properties that belong to a vakıf cannot be sold or given as a gift to individuals under any circumstances.
“And when the British came to the island in 1878 they agreed to use all the vakıf properties according to the Evkaf law.”
Prof Benter is clear that there is no “adverse possession” law – also known as “squatters’ rights” – applicable to Evkaf properties.
“You cannot say, you know, ‘ I used this property for 10 years or 20 years and then nobody said anything, therefore this property now belongs to me’,” he explains.
“We know that during the British rule, vakıf properties were given to individuals and the Greek Orthodox Church, but we believe that what was given to these individuals is actually the leasehold
“In other words, these properties belonged to Evkaf, what they received was just the right to use the property for investment or whatever, for agriculture.
“But now, a lot of people are arguing that these properties belong to them, that is, the freehold belongs to them. This is illegal according to Evkaf law, the British law that was practised in Cyprus [at the time] and international law.
“The British administration had the right to give the leasehold to different people . . . The problem is when these individuals start claiming that they have the freehold, that is a problem.”
In support of his argument, Prof Benter referred to a 1955 court case over a farm near Larnaca, called Tersefan, that was run by Greek Cypriots.
“The Greeks who were using this farm hundreds of dönüms of [land], for about 5 years, argued that they should be given th title deeds . . . as they had used [the land] fo such a long time.
“The British administration said that not possible because it belongs to Evkaf. Th Greek [farmers] went to court [in Cypru and a court consisting or Greek judges rule that [Evkaf] properties are forever and tha there is no [adverse possession] time lim and that therefore, those Greek applicant have no right to ask for ownership.”
Prof Benter adds that the Greek Cyprio farmers took the decision to a higher cour which backed the lower court’s decision.
“So this judgment proves that, no matte how many years you use a vakıf property you are only a leaseholder. You are a tenan You cannot become the owner.”
The fenced off area of Maraş covers 4,63 dönüms of land, the freehold of which Pro Benter says belongs to Evkaf and is backe up with the title deeds to prove it, some o which he has enlarged and framed, and ar hanging on his office walls.
According to Evkaf figures, 5877 parce of land were “unlawfully” transferred t “Greek Cypriots and Greeks”; 37 plots to th Greek Orthodox Church; 165 plots to Gree Cypriot companies; seven plots to the “Gree Cypriot Municipality”; 33 plots to “foreig nationals”; and 11 plots to the “Greek Schoo Commission”.
“It’s all 100 per cent Evkaf properties Prof Benter states.
The land ownership issue sits at th heart of controversial plans by the TRN government to reopen the closed part o Maraş.
The area was subjected to a Unite Nations Security Council resolution on Ma 11, 1984, which said, among other thing that “attempts to settle any part of Varosh by people other than its inhabitants” wer considered “inadmissible” and called for th “transfer of this area to the administration o the United Nations”.
Prof Benter says that regardless of wh controls Maraş, former inhabitants woul still need to get permission from Evkaf t use land and property there.
“If someone built a hotel or a property i closed Maraş, say in 1970, and they woul like to come back and use the building, the can come and make a lease agreement wit Evkaf and they can use their building,” h says.
I asked Prof Benter why, based on th strong evidence and arguments produced b Evkaf, that outside of the TRNC the percep tion is that Maraş belongs to the Gree Cypriots.
“The Greeks are good at creating the pe ception that Cyprus is a Greek island, no only Maraş, but the whole bloody island i Greek according them,” came the reply.
“I mean, if you go outside Cyprus an travel anywhere in the world, as soon as yo say you are from Cyprus they automaticall assume you are Greek. Why? Because the have created this perception it’s a Gree island and also Maraş is a Greek area.”
Some Greek Cypriots have argued tha an appendix to the 1960 Republic of Cypru Treaty of Establishment, known a “Appendix U”, is proof that Evkaf relin quished its ownership rights in return for payment of £1.5 million.
The money is described in the documen as a “grant to the Turkish community i Cyprus to be used for education, the develop ment of [vakıf] property and cultural an other like purposes which fall within th
competence of the Turkish Communal Chamber as it is to be established under the Constitution of the Republic of Cyprus”.
The appendix includes a letter from the British governor to the late Turkish Cypriot leaders Dr Fazıl Küçük and Rauf Denktaş requesting confirmation, in “paragraph 3”, that the “Turkish community, including the High Council of Evcaf [sic], have no financial claims against the Government of the United Kingdom, or against the Government of the Colony of Cyprus, arising or purporting to arise out of or in connexion with either the administration of Cyprus or the establishment of the Republic of Cyprus or otherwise, and that no such claims will be made hereafter by or on behalf of the Turkish community”.
Appendix U also includes a response from Dr Küçük and Mr Denktaş acknowledging the letter from the British governor and giving “the confirmation requested in paragraph 3 of your letter”.
The reply from Küçük and Denktaş also includes a list of items that the “grant to the Turkish community” will be spent on, such as new school buildings and repairs to existing ones.
Prof Benter, who appears irritated by my questioning on this matter, dismisses the Greek Cypriot claims that this official exchange of letters means Evkaf forfeited its property rights in Maraş.
“As the British were in charge of Evkaf properties until 1955/1956, they decided what the rent should be for different properties,” he says.
“And as the Republic of Cyprus was getting established, the British said that they had been keeping the rents for Evkaf properties lower than the actual value for the time . . . and the British said they acknowledged that becausse of the low rents Evkaf became very poor and could not [carry out their] duties, which is building school buildings, mosques, and paying salaries of teachers, public servants, imams, doctors, nurses, etcetera, etcetera.
“And because of that, the various buildings were [in a] bad shape because proper repairs, maintenance, were not done.
“So the British said, as a compensation for the low rents, ‘ we would like to give Turkish people £500,000’. Dr Küçük and Denktaş, representing the Turkish community, asked for £3 million and they agreed on £1.5 million.
“As the Republic of Cyprus was established, the British made an Appendix U to the Treaty [of Establishment] and wrote a document saying that this money is given because of the low rent and the aim is to help with those buildings that need repair.
“There are 10 items as how to use this money. For example, repairing a school building in Lefkoşa, fixing a mosque in Girne. So there is nowhere any statement saying that this money is given as a compensation for Evkaf properties that were illegally transferred on to third parties.
“So these [are] rumours – they are not based on facts – that £1.5 million is taken, and therefore we [Evkaf] have no right to ask the return of our properties that were taken illegally.
“Now in the 1940s the British administration made a decision saying that there are many properties rented out to individuals [for] small amounts of rent to Evkaf. The British authorities said to Evkaf ‘you will not collect these rents anymore from these individuals. We, as the British administration, will pay you a whole sum for all those properties once a year’. So these are properties all over the island, including closed Maraş, and the amount was around £2,000 per year. The British continued paying this amount every year until 1959.
“When the Republic of Cyprus was established, and the responsibilities of the British authority passed on to the Republic of Cyprus, the Republic of Cyprus, acknowledging that these properties belonged to Evkaf, continued paying this amount to the Evkaf administration during 1960, 1961 and 1962. When the troubles of 1963 started, they stopped paying.
“So this proves [that the] Republic of Cyprus agreed that these properties, including the closed part of Maraş, belong to Evkaf. Otherwise why would they continue paying the rent?
“And a lease agreement means that as long as you continue paying the money, the rent, you can use it. Once you stop paying the lease, [the property] goes back to the owner.”
Prof Benter says that the approximate £2,000 annual rent has continued to be included in the Evkaf accounts as a “receivable from the Republic of Cyprus that wasn’t received”.