The People’s Party leader (HP) Kudret Özersay called on the government to explain how much property has been purchased in North Cyprus by foreign citizens.
Immovable property in North Cyprus has been purchased by foreigners from Israel, Germany, Finland, Sweden, Ukraine, Russia, Iran and other countries, Özersay said. Unfortunately, transparent information has not been shared on how much land has been sold, or from which areas there been more purchases by foreigners, he said. “The total amount of land sold to foreigners should be disclosed to the public immediately,” Özersay said.
Speaking on a television program, HP leader Özersay said that the actual danger lies with land sales made through companies. Since companies, normally owned by foreigners, are limited in the number of lands they can purchase, they then transfer 51 percent of the company shares to TRNC citizens (usually a lawyer). Then an unlimited amount of properties can be purchased as the company is no longer counted as a foreign company. Then after a while, the 51 percent share is given back to the foreigner, the real owner of the company, through share transfer or other methods.
“The main problem here is not the houses or villas built within the framework of the construction sector, as there are several interlocking security filters in the sale of houses to foreigners. First of all, there is a restriction on the number of houses that can be purchased by foreigners. On the other hand, when such houses are purchased by foreigners, the Council of Ministers approval is required, but there is also a security enquiry before this approval, this is carried out as a security measure. How many acres in total have been sold? Is there a density in strategic areas and what is the specific density of foreign nationalities?”, HP leader Kudret Özersay is cited as saying.
Source: Star Kıbrıs