Panel urges legal action to ensure return of Maraş to Vakıflar
A CALL has gone out for legal action to regain property in the closed Maraş (Varosha) area of Gazimağusa which it is claimed was seized from the Vakıflar religious and cultural trust by British and Greek Cypriot administrations.
Speaking at a public meeting in Girne American University on Tuesday — entitled VakıflarOwned Properties in Maraş — a member of the panel, Professor Nazif Öztürk said the land and buildings in the now-abandoned suburb had been confiscated by British authorities.
They then leased them to Greek Cypriots who were subsequently given full ownership.
The granting of title deeds had also continued after creation of the Republic of Cyprus in 1960 and there was now a need for the Turkish Cypriot side to begin an “international struggle” to reclaim them, said Prof Öztürk.
Another panel member, Professor Derviş Deniz, called for a working group to be formed, consisting of lawyers and academics, to prepare the basis for legal claims by Vakıflar on its rightful land and property.
“Parliament then needs to enact laws to make the properties Vakıflar-owned anew,” he added.
Vakıflar Administration general director Professor İbrahim Benter described the original seizure and subsequent Greek Cypriot use of the trust’s land and property as “unethical and against human rights”, saying the foundation had been left now owning just one dönüm of land in Maraş.
Former TRNC Chief Justice Taner Erginel stressed that the Maraş ownership issue and other property claims throughout Cyprus could only be solved through a global property exchange.
“Any other way of attempting to resolve such claims would create tension on the island and threaten peace,” he said.
“The British implemented legal measures during the Colonial era which rendered the Vakıflar title deeds invalid and [the current occupiers] are now demanding compensation.”
On the subject of other property in the TRNC, Mr Erginel said after a referendum on the TRNC Constitution in 1985, the government had appropriated all Greek Cypriotowned property and distributed it to Turkish Cypriots.
He commented: “The Greek Cypriot and international courts which recognised the legal changes implemented during the British Colonial era now need to recognise TRNC title deeds.”