Artist Hambis Tsangaris remains the tenant of the Turkish Cypriot-owned premises that house his printmaking school and museum in Plataniskia, the Turkish Cypriot Properties Management Service said on Thursday.
The service was responding to press reports and social media posts about a request to transfer the lease to a non-profit company, the ‘Hambis Printmaking School-Museum’.
It said it “has not asked for the premises to be vacated, nor have the leases concerning Tsangaris been terminated”. The premises remain in his possession as tenant, under the terms of the lease and the law in force.
“In this context, we are in consultation with Tsangaris on the best option for managing the existing contract, so as to safeguard the continuity of the cultural activity of the School and Printmaking Museum,” the statement said.
The service said the transfer request had been handled with goodwill.
“From the moment the request to transfer the lease to the non-profit company was submitted, it was examined by the service in a spirit of goodwill, holding meetings and providing every possible guidance within its powers and the limits of the law,” it said.
The management of Turkish Cypriot properties is governed by a specific legal framework, which the Custodian of Turkish Cypriot Properties, and by extension the service, must apply uniformly and objectively.
“Practices observed in the past have now ended with the strict application of the new legal framework, and the service must operate ensuring equal treatment and good governance for the benefit of refugees, without exceptions,” the statement said.
The service said it recognised Tsangaris’s significant cultural contribution and the role of the school and museum in the country’s cultural life through their non-profit work. It added that he had, by common consent, invested a great deal of time and money in transforming the site into a point of reference, and that it fully respected the cultural and social dimension of the activity.
In previous years, repairs to the Turkish Cypriot house allocated to him and to the business premises he uses had been approved and carried out with the service’s financial support, to preserve and strengthen the school’s work, it said.
Information from Cyprus News Agency
Read more:
