Govt terminates over 300 rental contracts over misuse of Turkish Cypriot properties

The government has terminated more than 300 rental contracts for abandoned Turkish Cypriot properties after it was found that tenants were violating their terms.

Details of an audit of the Turkish Cypriot property management service published in Monday’s edition of newspaper Politis stated that a total of 4,032 rental contracts for commercial properties were examined, with their terms having been violated in 590 cases.

In 146 of those cases, tenants began to comply with their terms thereafter, while in 280 cases, the contracts were terminated.

The auditors also examined a total of 275 contracts signed by municipalities, with violations of terms found in 31 cases.

Following the audit, municipalities began to comply with their terms in 13 of those cases, while 13 warning letters were sent, and five contracts were terminated.

Additionally, 589 contracts signed by village councils were examined, with auditors finding 47 violations of terms. In 12 cases, full compliance was reached thereafter, while 32 warning letters were sent and three contracts were terminated.

Meanwhile, contracts relating to 91 residential properties were examined, with 31 violations of terms found and warning letters sent as such.

In six cases, proceedings have been initiated for the tenants to be evicted.

The audit comes after the law surrounding the use of abandoned Turkish Cypriot properties was changed last year, with the government now allocating properties based on a set list of criteria and a points system and having removed the discretionary power of the interior minister to take unilateral decisions.

Interior Minister Constantinos Ioannou had earlier hailed the law change as a “decisive step in the effort for the rational management of Turkish Cypriot properties”, pointing out that Turkish Cypriot-owned land makes up 10.14 per cent of the Republic’s total.

In addition, he said, the money earned from the lease of those properties will amount to around €6.56 million this year.

He added that the government had “focused on the modernisation of practices and procedures”, saying that the previous legal state of affairs had “created inequalities” among Greek Cypriot displaced persons who utilise Turkish Cypriot-owned land.

The points system, he said, is based on “specific, objective and measurable criteria”, while he said that the decision to remove the interior minister’s discretionary power has “limited the possibility of preferential treatment”.

“In simple terms, the decision to grant Turkish Cypriot properties does not depend on a single person, but all potential beneficiaries are evaluated and scored fairly and meritoriously with the same criteria, based on their financial and family situation, so that their real needs are effectively served,” he said.