Northern Cyprus will restrict the sale of real estate following rumors of mass purchases by Jews.

Northern Cyprus will restrict the sale of real estate to foreigners following rumors of mass purchases by Jews.

After the Turkish media campaign claimed that thousands of Israelis and European Jews are buying real estate in the region, Northern Cyprus will restrict property sales to foreigners. This move followed a series of social media posts by Sabahatttin Ismail, a journalist who was an advisor to the former president of the separate Turkish Republic of NorthernCyprus (TRNC), Rauf Denktaş. Since October and the beginning of the Israeli-Palestinian war, Ismail has been posting sales records and company registries, based on which he claims that thousands of Jews from Israel and European countries have purchased housing and land plots. Some Turkish newspapers, without citing any sources, claim that 35,000 Jews have acquired property in Northern Cyprus, amounting to 2,500 hectares of land. There are only 380,000 people living in Northern Cyprus. MEE was unable to independently verify this data. However, officials in Turkey believe that these figures are significantly exaggerated.

Ershin Tatar, the current head of the TRNC administration, who is considered the leader of the Turkish community on the island by Western powers, stated that he is concerned about these accusations and that his security advisors are looking into them. "We will take several steps and measures regarding [these sales]," Tatar said on Friday. Currently, foreigners have the right to purchase property in Northern Cyprus and can acquire five decares of land without a house. Tatar mentioned that new restrictions will be introduced in response to accusations that Israelis and European Jews are buying land in the region. "New legislation regarding this right to five decares will be developed," he said.

Turkey invaded Cyprus in 1974 following a failed coup attempt aimed at uniting the island with Greece. Since then, Cyprus has been divided between the internationally recognized Republic of Cyprus in the south and the Turkish Republic, recognized only by Ankara. Israel has close ties with the Republic of Cyprus, but like Turkey, its relations with the Muslim North Cyprus are more complex. Last month, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan disputed reports that thousands of Israelis and Jews are buying property in Northern Cyprus during a session of the Turkish parliament. He stated that only 200 Israeli citizens have applied to purchase property in Northern Cyprus since 2000.

"Israeli citizens rank 12th among all countries. In the last five years, the total number of applications to buy property in the TRNC has been submitted by other countries, not Israel," he said. "Since 2000, England has been in first place, and in the last five years, Iran. As you know, the sale of property to citizens of third countries in the TRNC can only occur after approval by the Council of Ministers," he added, using the name of the cabinet of Northern Cyprus. In November, the Minister of Interior of the TRNC, Dursun Oğuz, stated before the Northern Cyprus parliament that the government is preparing two laws regulating the sale of property to foreign citizens. Decisions by the Council of Ministers may allow foreigners to purchase property from Northern Cypriots without a sales record in the registry. This, according to Oğuz in an interview with local media last month, creates "vulnerability for the country's security."

There is a small Jewish community living in Northern Cyprus. Following the attack on October 7 and the subsequent Israeli war in Gaza, hostility towards members of the Jewish community in Northern Cyprus appears to have increased. Cypriot media reported that Rabbi Chaim Hillel Azimov, who settled in Northern Cyprus with his wife around 2006, left for the United States last month. It was said that they left in response to accusations of selling property and unfounded rumors that the rabbi was collaborating with Israeli intelligence. Azimov, whose five children were born in Northern Cyprus, was the leader of the Chabad Jewish community in the region. He used his rented villa in Kyrenia as a home and a place for worship. After the escalation of the war and increased protests against the mass killings of Palestinian civilians by Israel, police surveillance was set up at Azimov's villa for security purposes, according to the Kibrisli Gazetesi newspaper. There was a sign in Hebrew at Azimov's villa stating that this house was "the address of all Jews in Northern Cyprus." However, the authorities decided that the sign was unauthorized after a complaint was received. "The Kyrenia municipality police, accompanied by police, covered the sign with a green tent," Kibrisli Gazetesi reports.