The TRNC Government “has failed every property victim”

WITHOUT PREJUDICE: Martin Luther King wrote ” Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere”. I cannot aspire to be as brave as Mr King, or even to have the conviction this man obviously had. I feel very sad that in my declining years I have had to be as active a campaigner as I have been. I have no illusions, I will try to make a difference but it will I know be a small dent in the scheme of things.

I remember with alarming clarity the moment I changed from being someone who just watched from the sidelines. As you would expect, it was at the K5 Auction. I was standing across the parking area, away from where the Tapu representative sat, when I heard the crowd getting heated, I looked across and saw 4 policemen escorting a man away from the site. If you were ask me to tell you what made me do what I did, I would not be able to tell you. I felt a great surge of rage go through me, I sprinted across the car park like the bionic woman, I pushed the police aside and grabbed the man around the neck. At that moment, I truly believed he had put a bid in for our homes. I made him look me in the face and screamed at him to look at my face. I wanted him to see the misery he was causing me. That I am told went out on every news bulletin on TV that day. As it happened I got the wrong man and subsequent events proved that. But in that moment, I became a campaigner for property justice and that feeling inside me just will not subside.

It seems the current Government aided by the Banking family are going to exact a high price from me for realising at the age of 65 then, and almost 67 now, that courage and conviction may come late in life, but once it comes it does not leave you. The Bank primarily, but the Government secondarily, seem to believe that I am some sort of ‘agent provocateur’ who presents a real threat to the state. As you will have all read, the Bank have even called for my deportation such is the threat I present. You will have read of the allegations made in the Turkish language press that I am a Greek propagandist, that I own two villas with pools in the south, that I attack strangers breaking into my villa with a baseball bat, that I go to the south a lot and so I must be some sort of agent. Of course every good agent must be a mistress of someone, and yes they have accused me of that too. The funniest by far was the rumour that I work for MI6. I know from experience that I am watched and that everything I write is scrutinised. That the political (secret) police know exactly who I am. That in itself would be amusing if it did not have the potential of being dangerous.

It seems that the truth must be smothered at all cost. The truth about me is quite simple. I am an old lady who came to North Cyprus to retire and be a lotus eater. The Bank and the corruption in the property market put paid to that dream.

Having already lost my home, my first choice, I am now living in my second choice for a home. It seems that my wanting justice is a crime here, a crime for which I must be punished. The Ministry of the Interior now confirm that more police investigations are taking place and my Permission to Purchase, which ordinarily would have only needed the Minster’s signature because all other normal checks had been conducted and were satisfactory but clearly that was not enough. I know there is nothing further to add to my file, since I am not the spy they imagine me to be, so I can only conclude the present Government will not issue my Permission to Purchase. Sadly and with great regret I have decided I must sell this house, I will never be allowed to own. Having allowed my first home to be taken from me by the Bank, I am now being forced to abandon the idea of ever owning a property here.

The British Foreign and Commonwealth Office could only offer the advice to leave the island for our own safety when the vehicular attack on my partner took place. Campbell Thomas a British pro RoC journalist on several occasions in his guise as Pte Pike has posted warnings about my personal safety. I am mindful that I am at risk, that we are both at risk. The Government to whom I should be able to look for protection has failed me, as it has failed every property victim whether Turkish Cypriot or a foreigner.

Never give in, never give up.

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