'Turkish foreign minister told of Israeli real estate purchase in Northern Cyprus - Politics Today'

The Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan has expressed his concern over the purchase of real estate by Israeli citizens in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) and intends to discuss the issue with Cypriot authorities.

Speaking before the Turkish Parliamentary Budget Committee, Fidan acknowledged that significant land acquisitions by Israelis and intermediaries linked to Israel are under investigation. Fidan noted that the Turkish National Intelligence Organization (MIT) is monitoring the situation, but also stressed that Israelis rank only 12th among all nationalities acquiring real estate in the TRNC since 2000. He compared this to the UK and Iran, which lead''called on the Central Bank of Turkish Cyprus to take immediate action to avoid international sanctions. Gurjafer expressed concern that the current freedom of movement of money compared to European countries has made the region vulnerable to abuse of loopholes in the system. He warned that the lack of government action against such vulnerabilities threatens to stain the region's global reputation.

Accentuating the importance of updating legislation to modern standards, Gurjafer called on the Central Bank and Parliament to instantly implement the necessary reforms.

With these'. 's statements, Hüseyin Sadeghi, board member of the real estate association, emphasized the importance of a differentiated approach. While recognizing the need for regulatory measures to prevent money laundering, Sadeghi warned of broad generalizations that could harm the region's important real estate sector. Failure to pass such legislation could result in Northern Cyprus being placed on the global anti-money laundering gray list, along with Bulgaria, Croatia and Turkey, among others. This inclusion could have serious implications for the region's financial relations and could lead to further tightening of controls and restrictions. "The blacklist, which includes countries such as North Korea, Iran and Myanmar, represents still''a more serious level of non-compliance, emphasizing the urgent need for Northern Cyprus to bring its financial regulation in line with international standards.