It is an unusual situation where people such as the Orams are being pursued for occupying GC property and yet very little is being said about the TCs who originally owned the property. When you think about it, for every Brit who now occupies a GC property there was at least one TC who owned it before them. If we accept that international law treats the original ownership as theft then the final owners are only guilty of receiving stolen goods, a much lesser crime. Surely any sensible court would try to find out the name of the actual “thief” and pursue them with far more force so they too can be brought to justice. You would expect this to be especially true for the south Cyprus government. Every TC who travels south has an address which can be checked in the south Nicosia Land Registry, surely this is not a difficult matter? I wonder if any TC official travelling internationally is occupying GC property?
The reason there does not seem to be any attempt to prosecute TCs is not because Cypriots are sticking together, it’s because the TC might simply point to their property in the south which GCs are occupying. Foreigners are easy targets as they have no counter challenge, not even those who own mythical “exchange” property. So, the answer to the question posed in the title of the article is a resounding NO! TCs are treated as if giving them GC property is understandable but Brits like the Orams are demonised for buying it from them. If anyone expects the Orams to win a counter-suit against the TCs who sold them the property, dream on? However, if the Orams lose their case, there should certainly be questions asked about whether certain nationalities are being discriminated against in relation to the property issue.
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