As stated in a circulated statement by the Cypriot diplomatic mission, “over the past months in the northern part of the Republic of Cyprus, which has been occupied by Turkish troops since July 1974, there has been an unprecedented construction boom accompanied by the illegal sale of real estate belonging to Greek Cypriots who were forced to abandon them during the Turkish invasion under threat of force.”
“Since companies operating on the territory of the Russian Federation are calling for investment in the purchase of real estate belonging to Greek Cypriots in the occupied territory of the Republic of Cyprus,” the document notes, “the embassy feels an urgent need to address the Russian public with an explanation of the risks to which persons who unknowingly enter into such transactions expose themselves.”
The press release explains that “a lawsuit may be filed against any purchaser of such property in the courts of the Republic of Cyprus, whose decisions are also subject to enforcement abroad.” In this connection, the statement cites the example of a British married couple, the Orams. In October of last year, a Cypriot district court accepted for consideration a lawsuit by a Greek Cypriot expelled from the occupied village of Lapithos against the Orams couple, who live in a house built on a plot belonging to him without his consent.
The decision of the said court, the press release says, provides for the demolition of illegally erected structures and the immediate return to the plaintiff of the possibility of free ownership of his property, payment of certain amounts as compensation, as well as the cessation of the defendants’ illegal disposal of the plaintiff’s real estate. If the defendants fail to comply with the court orders, they may be arrested and their property confiscated, the statement emphasizes.
As Interfax reports, the Cypriot embassy particularly notes that “decisions rendered by Cypriot courts are recognized and subject to enforcement also on the territory of the Russian Federation, since a bilateral agreement on legal assistance in civil and criminal matters, signed on January 19, 1984, is in force between Cyprus and Russia.” “Consequently, enforcement of Cypriot court decisions is also possible on the territory of the Russian Federation if Russian citizens are involved in the purchase of illegally appropriated real estate belonging to Greek Cypriots,” the Cypriot embassy states.
_