'A sharp increase in the number of foreign nationals granted the right to buy real estate in the occupied north. (120 characters)'

The total number of foreign nationals who have been granted the right to buy property in the occupied northern part of Cyprus between January 2019 and November 2023 is 9,699, according to Turkish Cypriot newspaper Yeni Duzen.

According to the publication, in the first 10 months of 2023 alone, the "government" issued 4,569 such permits through decisions taken by the "ministerial council." It should be noted that on Wednesday, the "ministerial council" approved 283 such permits by a single decision.

Meanwhile, only 5,130 such permits were granted to foreign nationals over the three-year period from 2019 to 2022. RTK "MP" Dogus Derya, who questioned "parliament" on the topic, told Yeni Duzen that "Interior Minister" Dursun''Oguz said that only 35 percent of the "real estate purchase permits" issued to foreigners included ownership of real estate.

The report states that it is unknown how many acres of land, real estate or houses qualify for these permits for foreigners.

According to information in the "official gazette", the "ministerial council" granted the right to buy property in occupied northern Cyprus to 1,141 foreigners in 2019, rising to 1,179 in 2021 and 2,810 in 2022. The number of foreign buyers, who were previously mainly citizens of the Republic of Turkey, from 2022''year has become predominantly composed of Russians and Iranians, the report said, citing sources in the "Ministry of Interior".

In the current real estate market, while about 90% of foreign nationals eligible to purchase real estate were Turkish citizens until 2022, last year that number dropped to 70%, according to the data. However, rumors in the market say that many more properties were sold through companies with "hidden partners".

The article cites a publication in the Philileftheros newspaper which claims that some multinational companies are setting up 'front companies' to avoid the limited permits of the 'ministerial council'.