The director of the "administration of institutions" (EBKAF), Ibrahim Bender repeated the claim that the entire Varosha is Ottoman property, but Turkish Cypriot researcher, writer and archaeologist Tunzer Baghiscan refuted him with documents.
According to GMP, in an interview with the Turkish Courier, Mr. Bender commented on the decision of the "real estate committee" to make the EBKAF an involved party in a case registered by a Greek Cypriot for his property in Varosha, since, according to the publication, the EBKAF proved with "authentic title deeds" that the property in question belonged to the Abdullah Pasha Foundation.
Noting that until the said decision the "committee" considered only the 1974 titles held by Greek Cypriots as valid, last week it assessed the EBKAF's application to become a party to the case in question. According to the publication, the lawyer for the Greek Cypriot side argued that according to the "Foundations Law" (EBKAF), the deadline for filing objections to the property in question, which became private property in the 1940s, is 36 years and has expired, but the lawyers for the EBKAF countered with the argument that the original title deeds were found in the basement of an apartment building in 1990 and the time limit for objections should have applied from that date.
Mr. Bender told Houriet that the fenced area consists of 4637 acres and the entire area is owned by three institutions from the Ottoman period. In 1944 the Greek Cypriots, taking advantage also of the English laws on property conversion, he claimed, "by fraudulent methods converted into private property the properties of the foundations which legally could not be transferred. The whole of Varosha is Ottoman property. Since the day I took office I have been fighting. We will not let anyone eat the heritage of our grandfathers, the orphaned properties. Whoever causes damage to EBKAF property, let the curse of Sultan Suleiman be upon him."
Referring to the British Bases, Mr. Bender said that a significant part of the Cape Air Base has been declassified from a military zone and under the 1960 agreements, "they (the British) are obliged to transfer the EBKAF properties to us. The British Base Commander Major General Robert John Thomson has given a written undertaking that he will not transfer to Greek Cypriots 2400 acres of property belonging to EBKAF. However, in the matter of town planning, he transferred it to the Greek Cypriot municipalities. Now we will take legal action against the British."
According to the Hurriyet article, when he was governor of Cyprus, Satrazam Abdullah Pasha bought properties of 2743 acres by paying 30,000 groats to the owners and gave them away to the bhakufis.
Turkish Cypriot researcher contradicts Pender with documents
However, the online Gazedda Kıbrıs writes that the Turkish Cypriot researcher, author and archaeologist, Tunzer Baghegan has refuted Ibrahim Bender's claim about Varosha with documents and cites 1975 documents from the EBKAF archives that include correspondence between then EBKAF director Nail Asaf and the then "defence minister" and "vice-president" of the Turkish Cypriot "federal state" (KTFD), Osman Orek in relation to "the properties of the Abdullah Pasha Foundation in Varosha".
In this official correspondence, Nail Asaph states that all of Abdullah Pasha's real estate in Varosha was liquidated by mutual agreement, this money was sent to Mehmet Remzi Bey, the last caretaker of the bazaar, who resided in Istanbul, and because he closed this bazaar in Varosha in 1935, there is no property belonging to this bazaar in Varosha from that date onwards.
"The Abdullah Pasha Foundation was a vakufi settled on a tithe and liquidated in 1933 there is no such vakufi in Cyprus because he closed the vakufi that was in Cyprus by paying compensation 18.467, 16, 8 KL (eighteen thousand four hundred and sixty-seven pounds, sixteen shillings, eight groats) repeatedly to Mehmet Remzi Bey in Istanbul who was then its caretaker", states the letter signed by Nail Asaph dated 22 May 1975 and published by the online T/C newspaper.
"That is, it is understood that the claims of Ibrahim Bender, who claimed until a few years ago that about 80% of Varosha belonged to the Abdullah Pasha Foundation, do not correspond to reality," Baghegan notes.
Former director of the EBKAF
Meanwhile, in an open letter to Tatar and Suzhouoglu, Taner Dervish, former director of the EBKAF considers that this decision of the "real estate committee" creates a false belief and perception that their property rights will be protected during the proceedings before the ECHR. He notes that when one sees the decision of the ECtHR, on the basis of which the "committee" was created, one understands that it is not the final decision-making body, but the ECtHR itself.
Another important point that should not be ignored, he adds, is that the ECtHR decided in advance in favour of the Greek Cypriots, regardless of the basis of the immovable property. In this context, the most strategic - as he states - mistake is the consent of the pseudo-state to the ECtHR being brought before the ECtHR.
On the basis of this finding, he continues, in the ECtHR proceedings the T/C policy is subject to a summary assessment under the main headings.
The main purpose of the "committee", he says, is to provide, as an internal remedy, the possibility for the TCs to open a case at the ECHR and win it, making Turkey a party.
Mr. Dervis argues that the property and compensation rights of the TCs have been violated, stating that the ECHR decision (to create the "property commission") created a mechanism to compensate the TCs, but on the other hand, there is no corresponding compensation mechanism for the economic-social-political rights of Turkish Cypriots, which were usurped, as he argued, in the period 1958-1974, and the rights usurped by the Bacufis in the period 1878-1974.
He also states that the fact that the EBKAF administration is a party to the proceedings before the ECHR means, in principle, the loss of the fenced area of Varosha with compensation. In a second stage, he adds, the Bacufis created in the period 1878-1974 will be lost because a precedent will be set.
He believes that this process will cause the reduction/loss of the status of the pseudo-state and its territories, saying that the proceedings at the ECHR will be a significant loss for the TCs in terms of percentage of territory, compensation and emigration.
He also considers that the Vakufis cannot join the proceedings before the ECHR because of their recognised status under international treaties, legal and constitutional provisions. The legal status of the Vakufikas, he explains, is recognised by the "Laws of the Ottoman Period", the "Laws of the Colonial Period", the "Cyprus Laws", the "Cyprus Constitution of 1960", the "Treaty establishing the Republic of Cyprus" and the "Treaty of Lausanne".
The mandatory constitutional and legal rules in the legal system of Cyprus from the date of the establishment of the Republic of Cyprus, he continued, provide that legacies are irrevocable and cannot be annulled or modified, wakufikas cannot be disposed of or transferred under any circumstances, they cannot be confiscated. They provide, he added, for the survival of the foundations forever and the return of the occupied bakufiks with compensation.
Mr. Devris cited studies from 1997 which showed that the entire Varosha belongs to three bakufiks, Abdullah Pasha, Lala Mustafa Pasha and Bilal Agha.
He also believes that the opening of Varosha should be terminated because it violates the "constitution" and interferes with the administration of the "wakufi section" and kept out of the NCHR proceedings.
He also argues that the military zone status should be maintained in Varosha.
Source: CNA
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