A Turkish-speaking Cypriot resident is claiming ownership of land, some of which now belongs to Paphos International Airport, and has some chance of winning the case, Philenews reports.

The plaintiff’s family had previously owned a plot of land in Paphos, which was confiscated by the state in 1994 and subsequently used part of the land (around 13,000 square meters) for the airport. It should be reminded that there is a law in Cyprus according to which Turkish-speaking residents of the country are entitled to the property they or their families owned before the island split.

Two courts have rejected the plaintiff’s claim to the plot – but the reason for the rejection could simply be that the man did not follow the procedure for claiming the property. According to it, one must first file a proper petition to the head of the Cypriot Interior Ministry – and the plaintiff went straight to the courts, bypassing this stage.

The Supreme Court of Cyprus advised him to start the process of recovering the property all over again by filing an application to Nikos Nouris.