Cyprus Court of Appeal Rejects Turkish Cypriots’ €41 Million Claim

The Cyprus Court of Appeal upheld the Paphos District Court’s 2022 ruling, fully dismissing the claim filed by Turkish Cypriot owners and their heirs. The applicants sought the return of 125 plots of land in Paphos, where the international airport, the Andreas Papandreou air base and residential neighborhoods are now located, as well as compensation of around 41 million euros for the alleged unlawful interference by the state and violations of human rights. The court also ordered the losing party to pay all legal costs.

The plaintiffs’ argument about an “unlawful expropriation” ran up against the republic’s official legal mechanisms. The court confirmed that the land is lawfully held under the custody of the Guardian of Turkish Cypriot Property on the basis of Law 139/1991 and the state of emergency in force in the country after the events of 1974. The judges separately rejected the myth of forced displacement, noting that after the Turkish invasion population movement was not mandatory, and some Turkish Cypriots remained living in the free areas. Since the applicants themselves do not live in government-controlled territories, their property is lawfully held by the state.

A key factor in the failed appeal was the plaintiffs’ crude attempt to hide one of the legal heirs for financial gain. As the investigation established, the applicants planned to secretly sell all the land to a Greek Cypriot administrator, bypassing another family member who was not even named in the documents. The Property Guardian exposed this deception and blocked the deal to protect the rights of the hidden beneficiary. In the end, the legal soundness of the Guardian’s actions and the dubious scheme of the applicants themselves left the plaintiffs with no chance of receiving a multi-million-euro compensation.