In the north of Cyprus “Pending a Solution” is a term applied to almost everything. Faced with the continued unresolved Cyprus issue, Turkish Cypriots have for decades struggled to survive under the consequent economic and political isolation of the north of Cyprus. Affecting every aspect of Turkish Cypriot life, isolation has been further exacerbated by the illegality of the establishment of the TRNC. The latter has created newer problems or rather abuses within the ongoing Cyprus issue. Inseparable, the victims of the opportunistic abuse of the north’s status of illegality and suspension of the EU acquis are the same victims of the failure so far to grasp peace. 

LICENSE TO POLLUTE

Since the formation of the TRNC in 1983 unrecognized by 194 states and half recognized by just 1, illegality has bred illegality in the north of Cyprus, effectively granting a “License to Pollute” to those manipulating the status quo. A legal term, the “License to Pollute” can perhaps best describe the legal situation in a non- recognition political entity like the TRNC but also such entities as the Armenian Republic of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh), Trans-Dneistr and Abkhazia. The ‘license’ identifies the fact that international law, or in the case of Cyprus, European Union Law cannot apply to these regions on account of their non-existent or illegal status leaving ambiguity. Despite the fact that Turkish Cypriots are EU citizens and the north a part of the EU, the application of the acquis communautaire, the body of EU law accumulated thus far, is suspended in the north of Cyprus pending a solution to the Cyprus issue. Its suspension predictably creates a conflict of laws leaving those caught up in it as helpless victims.

UNTRACEABLE

There are many cases of those caught up in this legal disorder. One such case is that of Ms S. Emiroglu who lives in South West London. A British-born Turkish Ms Emiroglu is 42 years old and recently divorced from her husband.  She has two children, one 10 years old and the other 14 years old.  With her husband she owned a family home with a mortgage where the family lived; Mr Emiroglu had in additional five properties in his name worth millions as investments.

Shortly before the divorce, Mr Emiroglu had sold off the remaining equity on all these properties and deposited the cash in bank accounts in northern Cyprus. He also transferred his successful Richmond business to his mother’s name. Aware of this activity but unable to trace the money in north Cyprus, the courts awarded Ms Emiroglu the matrimonial home on the basis that he paid rest of the loan of the house as a settlement  – he was allowed to keep his other properties which had little or no equity.

But two years after the divorce, Mr Emiroglu claimed to have gone bankrupt. His wife now has to sell the family home and move into a nearby flat, while their eldest daughter education at a nearby fee-paying school has been disrupted.

PENDING

Illegality has its attractions too. For years foreign property buyers have invested in low-priced north Cyprus properties. But properties sold without Turkish title deeds have often had serious financial and legal implications for the buyers engaged in this gamble.  In the case of one British couple, Linda Elisabeth and David Charles Orams the land on which their property stands is still registered as belonging to a Greek Cypriot refugee Meletios Apostolides. The appellants bought the land from a Turkish Cypriot, who was the registered owner under the law of TRNC. But its owner Apostolides took out a law suit against the couple in Cyprus, whose ruling could be executed in Britain. The case was brought to Britain, where the Orams still owned properties in Hove, Sussex.

Judge Justice Jack ruled that since the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (“TRNC”) was not recognised by the United Kingdom or by any country save Turkey, it had de facto control of the area which it occupied. The suspension of the aquis communautaire, i.e the entire body of legislation of the European Union, in the north, over which the Republic of Cyprus government did not exercise effective control by Protocol No 10 to the Treaty of Accession to the European Union 2003 had the effect of taking the area in the control of the TRNC out of the application of Regulation 44/2001. Contrary to the belief that the ruling Judge ruled in favour of the Orams, Judge Jack’s ruling merely reconfirmed the conflict of laws and practices that the north’s illegality produces. The case far from closed is now at appeal stage at the European Court of Justice (ECJ).

FUGITIVES

Illegality has also led to an unwelcome reputation for the north of Cyprus. Fugitives fleeing justice in the West often end up on the shores of north Cyprus. Only recently, five men behind the biggest robbery in British history fled with as much as £32 million to northern Cyprus. The five men are not the first criminals seeking refuge there. 30 to 40 fugitives are estimated to be hiding in the tiny entity. Although the authorities in the north have made some attempt to deport fugitives, there is no denying that the north is seen as a refuge by many criminals still.

Indeed, the north’s status of illegality resonates into all aspects of life; there are many more equally important cases that I have neither time nor space to include. For instance, sportspersons with huge talent see their potential wasted while academics in the north’s universities who are as able as academics anywhere in the quality and expertise of their work, cannot realise their potential due to the illegality in which they find themselves.

NO ALTERNATIVE BUT A SOLUTION

As law abiding people, Turkish Cypriots deserve to live in a state of legality not one of illegality. However, a focus on simply cleaning up the image of an illegal state and trying to convert it into a legal one is not only a contradiction, but it fails to deal with the crux of the problem, which is the prolongation of the Cyprus issue and the absence of a solution.

Does a non solution give us the license to pollute more? No, of course local and short term measures must take place to address abuses of illegality in the north. Naturally, poor regulation, corruption and nepotism are key factors in worsening the effects of illegality. Of course abuses of the illegal status of the north are ultimately opportunistic and individual choices, and that most people in the north of Cyprus do not live their lives illegally.

But as long as there is no solution to the long standing Cyprus issue and the EU acquis is suspended, legal conflicts will continue while opportunity after opportunity for abuse of a non solution and the legal problems of the north can only be anticipated. There can be no plan B; continuity of the status quo is not something Turkish Cypriots desire. But remedying or removing the illegality goes hand in hand with maintaining the current momentum for a solution in Cyprus.  Doubly important, a solution is vital to the development of the Turkish Cypriot community in more ways than one…