One of the most frequently asked questions when purchasing a property is “What is the type of title deed and what guarantees do I have if I buy a property with a non-Turkish title deed?”.
All title deeds in Northern Cyprus are issued by the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus and are guaranteed under the TRNC constitution. Although there is only one type of title deed that is issued by the TRNC, the property market distinguishes 3 types of title deeds based on their origins.
1. Turkish Title Deed
This type of title deed relates to a property which was owned by a foreign national or a Turkish Cypriot prior to the division of Cyprus in 1974. The ownership of this type of title deed is not disputed and is internationally recognised.
2.Exchange Title Deed (Eşdeğer)
It relates to a property which was in Greek Cypriot ownership before the pre-1974 events. Exchange title deeds were issued by the TRNC government post 1974 to Turkish Cypriot refugees on a points system in exchange for waiving their rights to their abandoned land in the south. It is labeled as “exchange” land since the Turkish Cypriots had swapped their abandoned land in the South for an abandoned Greek Cypriot land in the North.
3. TMD Title Deed (Tahsis)
TMD Title Deed relates to property mainly owned by Greek Cypriots prior to 1974. These types of title deeds were awarded to Turkish Cypriots and their families in recognition for their military or government service as well as mainland Turkish immigrants.
What happens if you purchase property with an exchange or TMD title deed?
The 1443rd session of the Council of Europe Committee of Delegates on human rights was held in Strasbourg on 20-22 September 2022. In the said meeting, Loizidou judgment and the relevant cluster of European Court of Human Rights’ (ECtHR) judgment on “Cyprus v. Turkey” were discussed.
The Committee of Delegates found the measures taken by TRNC regarding the Loizidou judgment of the ECtHR effective and sufficient, and decided to close the supervision of the execution of the issue, on 22 September 2022.
As it is known, the Immovable Property Commission (IPC), which was established in 2005 by TRNC authorities to evaluate the property claims of the Greek Cypriot people, had been accepted as an effective domestic remedy by the ECtHR through the Demopoulos case in 2010 followed with its subsequent judgments. With its recent decision, the Committee closed the supervision of the execution of the judgment of the Loizidou case and, once again, has reaffirmed the effectiveness of the IPC. By protecting the property owners in accordance with the existing property regime in TRNC, the IPC provides remedies, in compliance with the European Convention on Human Rights, as it evaluates the Greek Cypriot applicants’ property claims for compensation, exchange and restitution.
In other words, according to this decision, the remedies of compensation and exchange in compliance with the IPC Law are as valid and effective as the restitution remedy. Thus, the exchange or restitution of property with a TMD or Exhange Title Deed is not considered by Northern Cyprus.
