11.12.2024 – Oz Karahan, President of the Union of Cypriots and Vice Chair for Europe of the International League of Peoples’ Struggle, addressed the European Parliament to expose the ongoing settler colonization and land usurpation in the Turkish-occupied areas of Cyprus.
The event was hosted by the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats, the largest left-wing group in the European Parliament, and Cypriot Member of the European Parliament Costas Mavrides. In his speech, Oz Karahan presented detailed data on the scale of settler colonization and land usurpation in the occupied area of Cyprus. He also emphasized the cooperation between the Turkish government and the Zionist Israeli regime in these activities.
Karahan specifically highlighted the case of Simon Mistriel Aykut, an Israeli, Turkish and Portuguese citizen and land usurper, who was arrested in the free areas of Cyprus following complaints from citizens. He noted that Israeli President Isaac Herzog had personally contacted Cypriot President Nicos Christodoulides, seeking to interfere in the legal process in Cyprus by requesting the release of Aykut. Aykut is one of many Israeli nationals involved in constructing illegal settlements in the Turkish-occupied northern area of Cyprus. His company, operating in the occupied part of Cyprus, is named Afik, the same name as one of the first illegal settlements established in the occupied Golan Heights.
Karahan also drew attention to the link between the construction of illegal settlements in the occupied areas of Cyprus and money-laundering activities associated with crimes such as drug trafficking. Karahan underlined the fact that the Turkish occupation of Cyprus is inextricably linked with crimes against humanity, pervasive human rights violations, and transnational organized crime.
Below is the video and the full text of Oz Karahan’s speech at the European Parliament:
Today, under the roof of the European Parliament, we will address the intertwining of crimes against humanity and transnational organized crimes that continue to occur in the occupied territories of the European Union.
By the end of the day, we will gain a clearer understanding of why the usurpation of property in the occupied territory of Cyprus is not merely a “personal matter” of Cypriot citizens, but a criminal conspiracy that implicates the international community, our state, the Republic of Cyprus, and the European Union, of which we are a part.
As Cypriots, we entered 2024 with a new matter. Akan Kürşat, a Turkish Cypriot lawyer, was arrested in Italy on a European Arrest Warrant related to the usurpation of Greek Cypriot properties.
This case was linked to Gary Robb, a British drug trafficker who built over 300 luxury villas on land usurped in 2004.
In February 2024, the Union of Cypriots, in collaboration with the Green Party of Cyprus, issued statements urging the government of the Republic of Cyprus to promptly fulfill its duty. We called on the government to take decisive action and to pursue unity and joint efforts to address the illegal usurpation of Cypriot properties in the occupied areas.
However, the case against Akan Kürşat was closed with the excuse that “the only witness is dead.” This decision had serious consequences. Turkish and foreign companies breathed a sigh of relief and continued plundering the usurped properties in the occupied part of Cyprus. Tens of thousands of housing projects were subsequently announced. In 2019, the highest number of housing units built in the occupied part of Cyprus was recorded, with just under 7,000 units. After Akan Kürşat was set free, a U.S.-based company alone launched a project for 30,000 housing units, while a Turkish company initiated multiple projects totaling 14,000 units.
For those involved in the looting of property in the occupied part of Cyprus, Article 303A, which was added to the relevant law in 2006, classifies the sale, rental, or even advertisement of usurped property as a criminal offense.
It is essential to underline that jurisdiction for this criminal offense lies with the Republic of Cyprus, as affirmed by the Court of Justice of the European Union. Furthermore, it is possible to issue a European Arrest Warrant or an international arrest warrant against those who commit this crime.
Despite this, Cypriot properties in the occupied part of Cyprus and the illegal real estate built on them continue to be marketed by companies based in European Union member states such as the Netherlands and Germany.
Meanwhile, the usurpers, mostly Turkish and Israeli construction companies, are selling these illegal properties at real estate expos held within the European Union.
This process has shown that if Article 303A, which was added to the relevant law in 2006 and punishes land usurpation with up to 7 years’ imprisonment, had been enforced in time, the looting in the occupied part of Cyprus could have been prevented. Yet, it is still not too late, and many avenues of struggle remain.
In Cyprus, we face daily examples of how the usurpation of properties in the occupied part of the island is intertwined with transnational organized crime. The latest instance appeared in the news last week and involves a pending case in Larnaca concerning a Bulgarian citizen who is sought for extradition by Georgia. According to reports, his case involves money laundering through the purchase of movable and immovable assets in the occupied part of Cyprus. We know that the cases appearing in the media represent just the tip of the iceberg of those concerning not only Cyprus but also European Union institutions.
Today, the usurpation of properties in the occupied part of Cyprus continues, also complicating the resolution of the Cyprus problem itself. The increasing number of illegal settlers and the presence of 40,000 occupying troops have turned Turkish Cypriots into a minority in the occupied part of Cyprus.
In other words, the influx of illegal settlers and settlements, as well as the presence of occupying soldiers, creates problems for both Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots.
According to figures provided by the official responsible for population transfer under the occupation regime at the time, between 1975 and 1979, a total of 82,500 settlers from Turkey were brought in during the initial phase. At that time, the number of native Turkish Cypriots living in the occupied region of Cyprus was approximately 110,000. In other words, immediately after the occupation, the number of settlers from Turkey was nearly equal to the number of Turkish Cypriots.
Turkish Cypriot politicians and intellectuals who opposed these actions, such as Kutlu Adalı, were targeted by the Turkish occupation regime. Due to ongoing political, cultural, and economic oppression, many Turkish Cypriots left the island and emigrated to other countries.
In 2011, the statistical agency of the occupation regime reported the number of native Cypriots living in the occupied area as 120,000. This figure was confirmed in 2016 when President Nicos Anastasiades stated that 117,000 Turkish Cypriots held Cypriot citizenship. In January 2024, the union of muhtars, who maintain records of residents in neighborhoods, the smallest administrative unit in the occupied part of Cyprus, reported that the population in the occupied part of Cyprus exceeds 1,000,000. This figure is further corroborated by data from the so-called institutions of the occupied area, including increases in the number of housing units, registered vehicles, and GSM operator subscribers.
In the United Nations demilitarized zone of Nicosia, Cypriot political party representatives, consisting of both Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots, have been meeting since 1989, initially under the auspices of the Czechoslovak Embassy, and later continued by the Slovak Embassy. In September this year, the Green Party of Cyprus hosted a meeting titled “Ending Usurpation of Greek Cypriot Properties as a Crucial Confidence-Building Measure to Enhance the Solution to the Cyprus Problem.”
The final communiqué of this meeting, agreed upon by Cypriot political party representatives and dated September 25, 2024, stated that the usurpation of properties in the occupied part of Cyprus “affects fundamental human rights, tends to eliminate restitution — namely, as one of the agreed remedies for the property issue, thus deteriorating the nature of the solution to the Cyprus problem and the daily life of all Cypriots.”
Settler colonialism constitutes war crimes and crimes against humanity under the 1949 Geneva Conventions and the 1998 Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. As the occupying power, Turkey is transferring populations to alter the demographic structure of Cyprus. This crime is not subject to any statute of limitations under international law, as affirmed by the 1968 United Nations Convention on the Non-Applicability of Statutory Limitations to War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity.
I ask you: how can a country remain occupied for 50 years?
The answer lies in the elimination of the indigenous population and the usurpation of their land. This is a crime against humanity known as settler colonialism.
A case addressing settler colonialism and Turkey’s crimes in Cyprus is now before the International Criminal Court. Costas Mavrides, a Member of the European Parliament who is present here today, took a historic initiative in 2014 to bring Turkey’s war crimes in Cyprus to the ICC.
On June 15, 2021, ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda referred this case to her successor, Karim Khan, for a decision. We hope Prosecutor Karim Khan will show the same dedication to Cyprus as he has to the events in neighboring Palestine, which is also a victim of settler colonialism.
Meanwhile, foreign interventions in the sovereignty of the Republic of Cyprus continue — not only by Turkey. Reports indicate that Israeli President Isaac Herzog intervened with Cypriot President Nicos Christodoulides regarding the arrest of Simon Mistriel Aykut, a citizen of Israel, Turkey, and Portugal. It is appalling that the leader of a country responsible for the same crimes as Turkey would attempt to interfere in another nation’s legal process on behalf of a property usurper.
We are aware that, given the circumstances in Cyprus where an ongoing occupation persists, it is maybe difficult for our state to obtain the hard evidence necessary to address cases of property usurpation. Therefore, in August 2024, we published the names of dozens of companies and their owners involved in the usurpation of properties in the occupied part of Cyprus. We also publicized these actions to assist our state institutions in taking the necessary measures. Because it is deeply troubling to citizens that these usurpers, along with the politicians and institutions that support them, are still able to access areas controlled by the Republic of Cyprus or travel to Europe for business and other purposes. As Cypriot citizens, we expect our state, as well as the European Union and its institutions, to take meaningful action after half a century of these ongoing crimes.
I would also like to emphasize that the struggle against occupation and settler colonialism must include calls for sanctions, embargoes, and boycotts. This approach was recently articulated in the “Declaration of Pan-Cyprian Mobilization for the Freedom of Cyprus,” signed by hundreds of intellectuals, academics, journalists, and active Cypriot citizens from all backgrounds. We must employ all legal, political, and economic tools to combat Turkey’s ongoing crimes in Cyprus. The institutions of both our state and the European Union must take action, and we, as Cypriots, will continue to pressure them to fulfill their responsibilities.
Finally, the claim that “the usurpation of properties in the occupied part of Cyprus will be resolved with the Cyprus problem” is not just wrong and ineffective but also destructive. For Cypriots, the Cyprus problem is not an inter-communal political issue, as some try to frame it. It is a problem of occupation and colonization. It is shameful when those who argue that the Cyprus issue is a political dispute between two communities suggest that solving it is the only way to prevent crimes against humanity. Because ending crimes against humanity cannot and should not depend on the resolution of a political problem.
It is also appalling that advocates of this shameful idea, who are effectively whitewashing crimes against humanity, propose apartheid-like political solutions to the Cyprus problem. Such proposals would allow Turkey to evade accountability for its crimes, including settler colonization and land usurpation.
As I mentioned at the beginning, the Turkish occupation today is intertwined with crimes against humanity, widespread human rights violations, and transnational organized crime. Addressing these issues urgently and seriously is a duty for all of us. Cypriots, like any other nation in the world, deserve to live in their homeland in peace, security, and with the dignity every human deserves.
