The Corpulent Couple

Corpulence! Lovely rotund well-rounded word. A word that brings up images of greed and gluttony. Images that springs to mind when I look at the picture of the Orams in the papers. Yes that couple who bought a villa in Northern Cyprus. The land was stolen from the original owner, a Mr. Meletis Apostolides when the Turks invaded in 1974. Well, the Obese Orams like so many other ignorant Brits who sought a bargain and bought cheap properties in a country that is only recognised by Turkey. (Of course its cheap. If I bought a stolen car that too would be cheap.) As I was saying the Bloated Brits built this holiday villa on stolen land. Mr. Apostolides discovered the fact in 2004 and sued the Orams. A court in Cyprus, Southern Cyprus ruled that the Orams villa should be knocked down and compensation be made to Mr. Apostolides. But the Turkish Cypriots in the North would not allow it. Of course not. As it would set a precedent for the rest of the people from Southern Cyprus, the Greeks who owned land in the North pre-1974. And that’s a lot of people.

So this chap Mr. Apostolides sues the ‘svelte’ couple in a court in England claiming his right to acquire their assets as they had stolen his. The English court ruled that it had no jurisdiction in Northern Cyprus and as I mentioned before no other country recognises Northern Cyprus apart from the Turks. I must pause here and reflect on those buyers, like the Orams who were so filled with greed that they didn’t hear the alarm bells sound at the thought of investing in a country that has no recognition from the world at large. A bit stupid wouldn’t you say. Crassly stupid in fact when you consider the official website of the British Foreign & Commonwealth Office advises Brits to seek independent legal advice and to be very careful of purchasing property in Northern Cyprus as the Greek owners legal rights could be violated. Were the Orams like the other Brits who bought property deaf and blind to all the warning signs.?

The Corpulent couple were smiling at the decision in the London courts. They think they have won. Their backers, the unscrupulous developers who are building on stolen land in Northern Cyprus are rubbing their hands with glee at the thought of all those other gullible Brits who will look no further. CAUTION! Mr. Apostolides has the right to appeal which he will. He will take his case to the European Courts. He will not stop until justice is done. It is a matter of honour. And there are hundreds of other Greek Cypriots to take his place. The question one has to ask of the Orams is: ‘Have you considered the moral issue? Would you be comfortable in living in what is not rightfully yours? Do you sleep at night?

More important, Turkey looms large on the horizon of Northern Cyprus. Turkey with all its unrest (bombs going off on a weekly basis recently) and its appalling human rights record. Over the past 18 months popular support In Turkey for EU membership has declined and nationalism has taken its place. The calls have been loud and strident especially form a group of ultra-nationalist lawyers called the Union of Jurists. This group has brought charges against a female author, Elif Shafak under the country’s draconian law of insulting ‘Turkishness’. In her bestselling novel, The Bastard of Istanbul, a character describes the massacres of Armenians in the late Ottoman Empire as genocide, a view that is shared internationally but vigourously denied by the Turkish state. I believe this is a first case of a writer being prosecuted for words spoken by a character in a work of fiction.

What about Turkey’s persecution of the Christians and the land it has confiscated from them? If they want to be part of the EU fold perhaps they should allow the Christian churches to open seminaries (which they are not allowed to do) and lock up the Turks who terrorise priests rather than going after the heavily pregnant author, Elia Shafak. Turkish muslims should be free to convert to Christianity without fear of reprisals. Do you think all this cant touch you Mr and Mrs Orams? Perhaps you should consider that Turkey has illegally settled 120, 000 of its citizens in the North of Cyprus and controls the government of Northern Cyprus.

Or did the Orams and others like them find their haven in the company of the criminal element in Northern Cyprus? I must have omitted to mention earlier that no other country recognises Northern Cyprus as a country apart from Turkey. Therefore there is no extradition treaty between Northern Cyprus and the rest of the world. So criminals are free to indulge what comes naturally to them - And that brings us right back to where we started - The Illegal occupation, building on and selling of land that does not belong to them.

A word of advice for a would-be investor. Cyprus is a beautiful country. All of it. Try the South of Cyprus, the Greek part. Its safer.

Chrysalis.