Sale agreements for Varosha properties filed to the immovable property commission (IPC) will be returned to the Turkish Cypriot businessman over deficiencies in his application, commission head Novber Ferit Vehci said on Friday.
The IPC decision comes on the heels of reports last week that the businessman had agreed with the Greek Cypriot owners on the sale of the Cleo Hotel, the Golden Seaside Apartment Hotel, the Aegean Hotel, and two apartment building floors.
Vehci said that the Turkish Cypriot had indeed filed the documentation for the sale of the properties to the IPC, but that due to faults in his application, it would be returned to him, until he manages to complete it.
“Submitting an application to the IPC does not mean that the process will begin or that a positive response will be given,” she said.
According to Vehci, their decision is based on what is enshrined in the law.
According to an article by Hasan Hasturer in Kibris, the IPC examines whether the relevant property has a suitable character for the procedure and if the property is located in a military area, no procedure is carried out.
He writes: “For this very reason, in order to be able to implement the decision in relation to the opening of the closed Varosha, it must first be removed from the status of the military zone. As long as, the closed Varosha retains the character of the military zone, submitting an application to the IPC for any property within that area has no current special meaning, special value.”
The columnist also mentioned that the Turkish Cypriot religious foundation Evkaf claim to the entire closed area, which had been touted by the ‘government’ in the north when they opened Varosha, must be dealt with for applications to the IPC to proceed, if the area is removed as a military zone.
On Thursday, Interior Minister Constantinos Ioannou said that there is nothing for the government to investigate, regarding the sale of properties in Varosha last week, citing that the documents that were notarised are private sale agreements.
“It is a sale agreement, which has been notarised by a notary public, and has not been submitted to the land registry department,” he said.
Ioannou said that the ministry has been in contact with the attorney-general’s office to see what legal measures can be taken if and when there are developments on the matter.
According to the report in the north early Thursday, the businessman had submitted an application to the IPC on Wednesday.
The Turkish Cypriot businessman said that if there is no obstacle, he will start accepting reservations for 2025 for the hotels in two months’ time.
