Demetriou rejects partial Cyprus settlement, urges support for displaced property owners

Kyrenia, Cyprus. Cyprus will not accept a partial solution to the Cyprus problem, Disy leader Annita Demetriou said on Friday. She said her party was ready to support efforts to resume substantive negotiations.

Settlement talks and displaced residents

Speaking at a Kyrenia district council meeting on the continuing consequences of the Turkish invasion and the displacement of Kyrenia residents, Demetriou said the Cyprus problem should not be used for “narrow party interests” or “competitive displays of patriotism”.

Proposed property fund

Demetriou said Disy would continue pursuing legislative proposals for fairer treatment of refugees, including its proposal for a fund compensating owners for the loss of use of properties in the occupied north. “We will not back down. We will not give up until our proposal for the fund for the loss of use of occupied properties is passed by parliament,” she said.

Disy submitted the bill in July last year. It is being assessed by the House refugee committee. The proposed national fund would be financed by a 0.4 per cent levy on property transactions, state grants, donations and income from assets. A committee chaired by the finance ministry’s permanent secretary would oversee it.

The government is preparing a separate support scheme through the equal burden distribution agency. It would also draw on the same 0.4 per cent property levy, which currently generates around €20 million a year. The finance ministry has told MPs that owners who have applied to the Immovable Property Commission in the occupied north would not qualify for assistance under the government’s proposed scheme.