The Administrative Court has upheld a government decision blocking an 88-year-old Turkish Cypriot man from selling three properties in Mouttagiaka, Limassol, after intelligence reports revealed he occupies Greek Cypriot properties in the occupied north.
The applicant challenged a 2020 decision by the Minister of the Interior, acting as the Guardian of Turkish Cypriot Properties, which refused to lift guardianship controls or permit the sale of the land. He inherited the three plots from his late father in 2015 under strict conditions that the property status would remain unchanged and under state guardianship unless granted explicit sale approval.
According to three Central Intelligence Service (KYP) reports, the applicant claimed permanent residence in London since 1961 to bypass restrictions. Intelligence investigations using local plans, title deeds, and satellite photography proved he built an apartment complex bearing his name on Greek Cypriot land in Kyrenia and lived in a Greek Cypriot home in Karavas. Reports also showed he resided permanently in the occupied areas for the past two years, moving regularly through checkpoints.
The Interior Ministry rejected three separate sale requests between 2013 and 2020. KYP documents revealed the family held and subsequently transferred multiple Greek Cypriot properties across Kyrenia, Lapithos, Vasilia, Diko, and Karavas.
Judge Elita Gavriel dismissed the appeal, ruling that state authorities were under no obligation to accept false “title deeds” issued by the breakaway regime over official security findings. The court stressed that even if the applicant proved he held no Greek Cypriot land, lifting guardianship remained a state discretion rather than an absolute right.
State records noted that plot 45 is leased for temporary use, plot 31 contains a home allocated to a displaced Greek Cypriot with the remainder leased as agricultural land, and plot 32 is leased for agricultural purposes.
