Investment abroad boosts real estate in occupied Cyprus

In the occupied northern part of Cyprus, the "government" plans to take measures "on issues related to the sale of real estate to foreign investors," the Halkin Sesi newspaper reported Friday.

A Turkish Cypriot publication writes that in the last two and a half years, 6,958 transactions involving the sale of real estate to foreign buyers have taken place, noting that the majority of property buyers in occupied Cyprus are of Russian and Iranian origin. "However, according to information from the real estate sector, a significant number of properties are purchased by local companies with 'mysterious foreign partners', far exceeding the figures reflected in official records," the report said.

It is added that the matter was discussed yesterday at an extraordinary meeting of the "parliament" in the occupied north. Addressing the "parliament", "Prime Minister" Unal Ustel confirmed that there is a "significant accumulation" of transactions in the Tricomo and Long Beach regions. However, this phenomenon is not limited to these areas, as foreigners are purchasing properties "across a large part of the island." It is therefore proposed that an interim committee be set up to devise measures.

Ustel said that there is a problem of "distortions in urban planning" and that the demand for land in the occupied areas of Cyprus has increased from foreign countries. Ustel said that a team of experts had been brought in to conduct a study in Turkey.

According to Ustel, the influx of foreigners into the occupied territories increased markedly after the pandemic. However, he said, his "government" was not inactive before this development. "The law" has been drafted and awaits the opinion of the "prosecutor's office," Ustel emphasized. He was responding to criticism from Republican Turkish Party (RTP) President Tufan Erhurman, who, addressing the "parliament," expressed his concern about the rapid pace of real estate acquisition in the occupied north.

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Construction boom by investors in occupied Cyprus, mostly Russians, Israelis and Iranians.