The Two Cyprus Presidents Shook Hands And Asked For Money

handshakeThe two Cyprus Presidents, Nikos Anastiades and Mustafa Akinci, appeared before government leaders at Davos and shook hands and then asked for money from the international community. A deal has not been reached, and difficult issues remain over territory, property and compensation.

President Anastasiades said a settlement would require billions of euros in international aid to help solve property issues and said that he hoped Britain would return some of the land it has on Cyprus that houses sovereign military bases.

Little else was really said, apart from that 90% of the Cypriot Problem list had been ticked off and 10% of the list remained. But isn’t it always true that 99% of a project often takes only 1% of the time and the last 1% takes 99%.

I wonder if the money and land is returnable if, after a supposed settlement is reached, three years later it is proves that Greek and Turkish Cypriots just cannot live together and they go back to how it is now?

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29 comments to The Two Cyprus Presidents Shook Hands And Asked For Money

  • Cyprus Sue

    Nothing new there. Favourite past time of both communities asking others to give them money! Problem is as always, where will this money end up? How much will go into the pockets of developers, politicians and the society elite?

    Sorry to say this but it needs to be managed by an external body as Cyprus has neither the competence or faith that it would be managed appropriately and to the benefit of all citizens.

  • Ian Edwards

    I bet Anastasiades’ eyes were shining like beacons and he was smiling happily in anticipation when he was talking about the ‘billions of euros’ that would be needed to sort out the property problems. He would have been thinking of the large number of managerial positions needed to oversee the budget and the apportioning of the funds, all naturally from the special group of his family and friends. It would mean that at least 30% of the aid money would end up sorting out the property mess.

    I agree with Sue. There is no way the foxes should be allowed anywhere near being in charge of the chicken coop. If the provision of international aid were to become a reality, there would need to be the cast-iron stipulation that the management authority should consist of no trace of Cypriots, Greeks or Turks, nor of any person with any connection to same.

  • Jerry

    EDWARDS, you’re just making a fool of yourself with the rubbish you spout and you don’t even realise it.

  • Cyprus Sue

    I for one would like to see some facts and figures, surely someone should have done the ground work by now? A starting point has to be the number or amount of land owned by the GC in the North and the TC in the South, as of today. How many people have settled, would like to exchange property, want their property returned or want compensation, how many are owed money from compulsory purchase, how many are foreign buyers?

    Any solution must meet the needs of the people. Not to do this will simply lead to a “no” vote or in the event of a settlement leave the people aggrieved. Not a good start for a new Cyprus. As well as this further investigations need to be made to ascertain which TC and GC have actually sold their property so that double dipping does not occur and a further investigation into the workings of the Guardians of Turkish properties given that we now find very few GC refugees living in TC property. Much of this property discovered as being in the hands of rich developers and politicians who use them as summer houses or benefit from rents from non refugees. This is Cyprus so there will be corruption and it needs exposing.

    We appear quick to hold investigations into why Cyprus Airways and banks failed (like its not obvious and we aren’t going to hold anyone accountable anyway) but unwilling to do a thorough investigation to highlight the true extent of the property problem that has to be the basis for moving forward.

  • Polly Marples

    Very sensible and some would say obvious way forward Cyprus Sue.

    Sadly Cyprus (both sides) do not do sensible and why do the obvious when the opposite works so well for them. No one is accountable, no one is to blame for anything.

    I never knew such a country where so many spontaneous wrongs have occurred without a single Cypriot being culpable.

  • AM

    Ooohh there will be stars ,.. sorry Euros in the Cypriot eyes now 🙂

  • Jerry

    It’s generally reckoned that GCs left 3-4 times more private property behind in the north as the TCs left in the south. The problem is complicated by the fact that as “equal partners” the TCs say they are entitled to half of government owned land which is something like 15%+ of the total.

    From a Turkish Cypriot source.

    “Both the British High Commission in Cyprus and the Foreign and
    Commonwealth Office have issued warnings regarding the purchase
    of property in Northern Cyprus.34 Around 70% of the land in the North
    had title held by Greek Cypriots before 1974.35”
    http://www.ankarabarosu.org.tr/siteler/AnkaraBarReview/tekmakale/2010-1/6.pdf

  • Cyprus Sue

    Thanks for the link Jerry… the more I read the more confusing it becomes. Still feel more accurate figures are needed, I know it’s only a few but some cases have been settled by the IPC and there must be Cypriots on both side of the island that wish to take ownership of their current address, making an agreed swap possible?The starting point has to be finding out the wishes of those that lost property. Only then can a solution be found that will offer some sort of closure for the majority and more insight into the costs involved. My worry is that decisions will be made by the islands politicians that do not necessarily result in the interests of their citizens but are based on their own financial gains.

  • Ian Edwards

    I don’t think any rational, clear-thinking person could argue that politicians won’t be self-interested…examples of graft and corruption in politics are all too evident in any country you happen to look at, and unfortunately, Cyprus is no exception (and here I say Cyprus, not GC or TC).

    This is exactly why any settlement authority must be composed of off-island commissioners.

    Yes, Sue, finding out the wishes of those people who lost property would be a start, but there are as many differing cases of complicated ownership on the island as fleas on a dog. For example, our own dear resident GC, Jerry, would tell you that all he wants is his family home back. Unfortunately, it’s been sold a couple of times and is now refurbished and ‘owned’ by, I believe, a wealthy TC.

    Another example is the development near Esentepe on former GC-owned land which must now contain many hundreds of holiday villas, perhaps a thousand, all owned by different people.

    The whole situation is a complex mess, as each case would need to be investigated on its own merits. How, again for example, would you rule on the portions of those GC airports owned previously by TCs?

    In spite of what Yiannis and Jerry say, I am all for a fair investigation by impartial commissioners, who may decide that the villas in my development are liable for compensation to the former GC owner. Just how much and who pays is another part of the complexity.

  • Miltiades

    The property issue is by far the most complex but it can be resolved, after all property on the whole equals money. Most would be prepared to accept a fair compensation . The majority / minority issue can also be resolved if all Cypriots accept and swear allegiance to the island of Cyprus, dispose of the erroneous ideology concerning motherlands and embrace Cyprus.

    Having lived in the UK for more than half a century and having embraced the nation, its laws, its culture and way of life the issue of I being in the “minority” has never been an issue. I clearly feel a part of the majority.

    Most T/Cs that I know and have known for many years share my sentiments and consider them selves primarily as Cypriots just as I and many of my G/C compatriots do.

    We need a united Cyprus, united Cypriots, not constrained by notions that have contributed adverse affects on the island.

  • Cyprus Sue

    Ian said, “GC, Jerry, would tell you that all he wants is his family home back. Unfortunately, it’s been sold a couple of times and is now refurbished and ‘owned’ by, I believe, a wealthy TC”

    I don’t find this complicated at all. Legally and morally, the house and land belong to Jerry who neither gave permission for it to be sold or exchanged. The only question that needs answering is how are the TRNC going to compensate the wealthy TC currently living there who has paid for this property? The TRNC must be accountable for its actions. They chose to sell or give away these properties and it is that decision that has resulted in today’s problems. In the South it is now common knowledge that the Guardians of Turkish Cypriot properties have not been safeguarding TC properties and have turned out to be nothing more than a corrupt organisation making money for the usual ROC elites. They too must be accountable. As for all the building of infrastructure, then the 1974 owners (TRNC & ROC) must be compensated under compulsory purchase.

  • Ian Edwards

    Sue, it’s easy to speak legally and morally, and there’s no doubt that both the north and south authorities ‘must’ be accountable, but the realities of life suggest that such ‘accountability’ is the complicating factor.

    Just how is it going to be ensured that the authorities become ‘accountable’?

    That’s what I think is complicated.

  • Cyprus Sue

    I totally agree that the stumbling block will be getting the authorities to accept accountability for their actions past and future.This is why an external body and commissioners would have to take responsibility, in much the same way as the Troika has in the ROC. Look at what the Troika have achieved with the banking industry and title deeds, a problem that has riddled the island for decades. I doubt very much that other countries would throw money at Cyprus for a settlement without guarantees.

    If investment money arrives from the International Community, a simple ” No reforms- no money” approach will be needed. There will be winners and losers but even if a small number of refugees finally get closure, its progress. The problem is that it is so complicated we do nothing so never move forward.

  • Jerry

    For the enlightenment of the self proclaimed expert on Cyprus, its problems and my nationality – I am not a Greek Cypriot, my father was born in Cyprus and emigrated to the UK at the age of 23. He fought for the British Empire in WW2 and subsequently became a British citizen. He never held a GC passport after he left Cyprus. My mother was a Cockney. I speak very little Greek.
    Most GCs that I know want the RIGHT to reclaim their property but few will actually want to move back, they will settle for compensation as no doubt will most TCs. Whilst there has been some dodgy dealing in the south with TC property most of it is occupied by legitimate refugees or their offspring, remember there was a serious shortage of houses in 1974. Unlike the “trnc” the ROC has not established an industry of flogging off the other side’s property cheaply to ignorant cheapskate opportunists. The property problem was created, in the main, by the actions of the “trnc” and Turkey, they are the ones who are accountable.

  • AM

    So there you have it folks, one person who has not lived in Cyprus for over 60yrs and the other is a Brit not a Cypriot, you would have thought the pair of em lost millions in 74 the way they talk however they lost jack shit.

    Can I also say the offspring of displaced people who are under 40 are not refugees they were made and born in the RoC so have never known the North as their home lets get the facts right shall we.

  • Cyprus Sue

    In Feb 2014 minister Socrates Hasikos stated there was to be a major shakeup with the administration of Turkish Cypriot Properties claiming a fairer redistribution of Turkish-Cypriot plots to refugees should be on the cards, after it was discovered that there are Greek Cypriot refugees who owned a lot of property in the north but received no Turkish Cypriot land in the south.

    In November 2015 DISY MP George Georgiou told a House refugees committee meeting that nine in ten holders of Turkish Cypriot owned professional establishments sublet them to companies for ridiculously high monthly rents.Some are even being used by millionaires and high-ranking state officials as holiday homes
    In the Mackenzie area in Larnaca, MPs heard, ten out of the 14 Turkish Cypriot owned properties are being exploited by non-beneficiaries.

    Lets not simply dismiss this as “some dodgy dealings” its outrageous! Refugees should have been the ones benefiting and it reflects badly on those that supposedly took on the role of guardians, put themselves on pedestals claiming they held the moral ground, whilst abusing the trust of their own refugees and for one reason only – to increase their own wealth. Please lets hold both sides accountable for the crimes they have committed and the misuse of power.

  • Jerry

    Sue, I read the CM report that you refer to. One has to question its agenda when one reads “And what a cr*p photo CM used to illustrate the story. That ‘Larnaka cinema’, which was only used post-1974 as a warehouse, no longer exists. It was demolished.” from a respondent to the report. Doubtless there have been dodgy deals since 1974 but you make it sound as if the majority of TC property is involved and as I said before the Greek Cypriots did not build an industry of flogging off TC property – unlike in the north. I suggest you read some of the responses to the CM report, they swing both ways. I can’t ever see a TC politician trying to put matters right as appears to be the case with Socrates Hasikos and George Georgiou.

    Yes AM, there you have it, my late father was denied his retirement home for 30 years and I am denied use of my property currently valued at £200k – hardly jack shit.

  • AM

    Yes Jerry but as Ian said earlier this property has been extensively upgraded and modernised since 1974 so in my estimation that would have cost about £125k what with inflation and property price increase over 40 odd yrs then yes “jack shit”

  • Jerry

    Rubbish AM, you clearly demonstrate your ignorance and the fact that you are a first class lightweight ar..hole. The house has not been extended, it has always stood on a double plot near the sea. It’s been painted and three ornamental (non structural) arches have been built under the balcony. The only major work was the installation of a swimming pool, a brick boundary wall and hard standing. The value of the work at local prices is about £20k, the house has been valued by Busy Bees estate agents in Bogazi at £200k. And of course this sum does not compensate us for the Riley 4/72 car that was stolen nor the furniture or personal effects. In addition for the last 41 years we have had to visit Cyprus as tourists and pay for accommodation.

    UP YOURS AM!

  • Jerry

    Damned Smart..se thinks he knows more about my property than I do.

  • AM

    So the bottom line is you are hankering for 200k then all will fine ?

    Typical .

  • Jerry

    No, mr bl..dy know all, I’d be prepared to compensate for the improvements. Why is it “Typical” to want what is legally mine? What have I done that means I deserve to lose what is mine?

    You’ve let yourself down badly with your ignorant assumptions. Would you have made the same stupid remarks if both my parents were British born but we still lost all we had in Cyprus? You are a nasty vindictive piece of work.

    BTW the IPC exists only in name at present, it has not paid any compensation for months, possibly a year, because motherland Turkey has pulled the plug.

  • AM

    I say typical because these discussion’s always end up with GCs throwing insults at anyone who disagrees with your point of view, you simply can not accept that not everyone is in support of you.
    You may get very well compensated after a settlement or you may get nothing who knows but blaming everyone except yourselves for this mess you are in is wrong.
    I am not the one who is vindictive here its you Jerry….I am quite prepared to stand against most of what you spout and if you don’t like it…. tough.

    Get a grip of yourself you silly old fool.

  • Jerry

    No AM, “Typical” was what you said after you said “So the bottom line is you are hankering for 200k then all will fine”
    You are blinded by irrational hatred, you can’t even remember what you wrote above an hour earlier.

    Where is MY blame for the Cyprus mess? You “stand” against facts that you know nothing about, my own personal business.

    Hand on heart how would YOU feel if your property was forcibly taken away from you and an outsider said it was YOUR own fault?

  • AM

    Not once do you argue for a together, equal, stable, integrated Cyprus.
    No mention of your friends the TCs, not once do you mention the future of Cyprus.
    All your argument’s are based on your property and the return of it .
    It’s all typically about you you you……selfish person that you are.

    I have no sympathy for you whatsoever you are not a Cypriot working for the good of Cyprus you are in it for what you can personally gain out of it.
    Typically you are a greedy self obsessed hanger on who wants nothing more than to fill your boots.
    You don’t like what I say Jerry because you can’t bear the fact that other people have a different view on the Cyprus problem.
    Its funny that the only people that argue for the RoC are the people like you and Miltiades who have little or nothing to do with Cyprus other than the smell of money on its way.

  • Jerry

    Having lost all credibility AM goes widens the argument to include other aspects of the Cyprus problem. I have discussed all the other aspects of Cyprus problem here and in other places many times before but once again your memory fails you. THIS topic is about” A deal has not been reached, and difficult issues remain over territory, property and compensation” as stated in the initial report.
    You have no idea what I have done regarding the good of Cyprus and Cypriots, you are stumbling in the dark trying to slur my name.
    I suggest you are selfish and greedy for wanting to keep what is legally yours, you want nothing more than to keep what you have acquired over the years. What business is the Cyprus problem of yours?

  • AM

    What ARE you rambling on about man ?

    I don’t wish to slur your name Jerry… you are very good at doing that yourself.
    Me Greedy ?? You know absolutely nothing about me so I will enlighten you,.. As I have told your meat head mate on numerous occasions I do not or ever have owned property in Cyprus GOT IT and have nothing to lose at all, I have a deep passion for the wellbeing of Turkish Cypriots and I myself feel they have had a pretty crappy deal over the last 40yrs or so and if you got your way they would suffer forever more so forgive me if I and a few others come out on the underdog side and try to stop your bullying of innocent Turkish Cypriot people.
    I really do wish people like you stop this constant bleating when really Jerry you are neither hard done by nor are you a so called refugee.

  • Jerry

    I suggest you are greedy for keeping the home, wherever it is, it’s your property but you should abandon it and let someone else help themselves to it, and don’t complain because your rights don’t matter.

    I’ve discussed the history of TC involvement here many times but you choose to ignore the arguments. I have also stated that both sides must share the blame but no, Mr knows-all-about-Cyprus, an expert on the subject thinks he knows the truth.

    You obviously have a very poor grasp of right and wrong if you think its ok for someone to have there property forcibly taken away from them.

  • AM

    Jerry as you said earlier stop trashing my name now ?
    I am not an expert on Cyprus never claimed to be and what is more important neither are YOU with some of the bilge you post.
    I have never advocated what happened in 1974 or what has happened since but I do have an opinion why it happened and it differs greatly with yours but again because it does not agree with yours I am wrong ??
    The actions of 1974 in my opinion was brought on largely by yourselves which was encouraged by GC people at the time like it or not that is fact,.. what happened after is very tragic but with a little more diplomacy on your behalf since 1974 could have sorted this out but again this didn’t happen so here we are….