Interior Minister Konstantinos Ioannou has clarified the government’s position on its approval to sublet a Turkish Cypriot property to a sponsor of Nikos Christodoulides’s presidential campaign.
The property reportedly converted into a supermarket, was approved for subletting to a major retailer by the previous administration.
Ioannou initially froze this decision due to an ongoing investigation into potential misconduct by officials in the Turkish Cypriot Properties Management Service.
“I held back the initial decision until the matter was clarified,” Ioannou said, confirming he has now given approval for the subletting process to proceed.
The minister explained that such cases would fall under new criteria being developed, which have not yet been approved. These regulations would allow beneficiaries to sublet commercial properties due to health or age reasons, enabling them to recover investments made in the business.
Under the proposed rules, subletting would be permitted for five years, after which the Turkish Cypriot Properties Management Service would assume management, contracting directly with the subletting business.
An Interior Ministry official told philenews that while the application was approved in 2022, the property was only recently granted. The minister’s approval for subletting came after the completion of the investigation, the official added.
The case has drawn attention due to allegations that the supermarket owner was among the sponsors of the current President of the Republic in the 2023 presidential elections.
Read more:
