Talat's Message for Expats

Cyprus Times Front Page

Talat's Message for Expats

In the second part of the exclusive interview with President Mehmet Ali Talat, he expressed his views on the property issue and the expat community living in TRNC. Keeping the answers as simple as possible, Talat after being asked what is happening with the property issue said: “Actually nothing is happening. Everything is as usual. Everything happening in the property sector is in line and compatible with our legislation.” Explaining his views, Talat told Cyprus Times that since there was no replacement of the TRNC Constitution that therefore, the actions taken by property developers and estate agents would be considered legal and there would be no problem at all. By mentioning replacement laws and the constitution, Talat was referring to the Annan plan, and that if it had been accepted would have changed the property regime altogether.

“As long as the TRNC constitution and legislation is valid, the property regime would also be valid,” he said. Talat added that he had conveyed these views to the international representatives and also to his Greek Cypriot friends declaring that he had to obey the rules that were in place because had he chosen not to do so, he would be tried by the courts in the country and most probably convicted.

“There was a proposal named the Annan plan. If it had been accepted its rules were going to replace my rules. In the end that would have defined the new property regime. It didn't happen. Therefore my property regime is still valid.” “Even if I wanted to I couldn't and can't do anything. There are laws in this country and everyone including myself has to abide by them,” he added.

Commenting on the Greek Cypriot property issue that has become inflamed by the demands and posturing of the Greek Cypriot Government, Talat described the recent row as “exaggeration.” “The exaggeration going on particularly regarding the Greek Cypriot property demands is not very realistic,” he added.

Accepting the fact the there is an explosion of growth in the construction sector, Talat stressed that the new developments were not only taking place on Greek Cypriot property, as they claim, but that building was taking place on all the land available by law for construction.

Talat told Cyprus Times that the government and the Presidency were working on a new site planning and control mechanism concerning development in order to protect the water resources and the natural environment and also to prevent further shortages of infrastructure including electricity and communications. Describing these planned controls as very crucial and nothing to do with the Greek Cypriot property war, he said that this was a general reality and needed to be tackled as soon as possible.

Cutting out the bureaucracy that TRNC has become famous for, President Talat intends to apply these plans without passing a law from the parliament and taking a short cut using internal directives to be issued by the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Talat seems sure that this would speed up the process to prevent more damage to the environment and also prevent anyone buying property without making sure services such as water and electricity were available. Vowing that these precautions would become visible in a matter of short time, Talat announced that they are in the process of finalising the whole plan.

The subject changed to the role of foreign residents in the community. He was asked what part expats could play. “They are our natural allies,” he responded. “They have joined their fates with ours,” said Talat while speaking about the expat community. “We share the same anxieties because as Turkish Cypriot we also have property issues.” He also commented that he realized the expat community has much to offer and recognised the importance of considering expats and Turkish Cypriots as one community that must work together to solve problems.

He then spoke about the future of the Island for all the residents in the north. “The Turkish Cypriots cannot foresee their future without a solution on the Island . This is also applicable for the foreign residents in TRNC,” he said and stated that the foreign residents' interests would never be met while the present situation continued. When he was told that many expats didn't welcome change and might prefer the status quo, he thought about it before replying: “The expats must consider what kind of change might interest them more, because change is inevitable.”

He then told Cyprus Times that the Turkish Cypriots made that decision and decided that the changes stated in the Annan plan suited them most and chose that as the way forward. “Is this the case for the foreign residents?” he asked. “This is what they should be discussing. Personally I think that the changes accepted by the Turkish Cypriots also suit the expats living in TRNC.”

During his closing statements, President Talat said: “A total collapse of the peace process and turning back to the 1960 system is totally out of their interest. In general they have to defend our policy. In detail we will try to find ways of accommodating their concerns.”