The investigation into 110 contracts signed by the Paphos municipality for the use of abandoned Turkish Cypriot property is underway, as reported on Wednesday. The Turkish Cypriot property management service is scrutinising these agreements to ensure compliance and proper use.
According to the Cyprus News Agency, the interior ministry has received documentation concerning these contracts. Preliminary findings indicate that in most instances examined, no significant irregularities have been identified. However, officials noted exceptions where the intended use of the property diverged from its approved purpose. For instance, a space designated as a green area was reportedly repurposed as a car park.
Currently, only four or five cases remain under investigation following complaints made to the interior ministry. These cases involve displaced persons who sought to rent properties, only to find that those properties were instead allocated to the municipality.
This scrutiny comes amid a broader context of allegations surrounding Paphos’s mayor, Phedonas Phedonos, who was suspended earlier this month. He faces accusations concerning the illegal subletting of Turkish Cypriot property in the Moutallos neighbourhood, a historical area within Paphos.
Phedonos’s suspension was precipitated by serious allegations from local land developer Theodoros Aristodemou, who accused him of rape, claiming the incident occurred around a decade ago. In a troubling turn of events, Phedonos has also been accused of domestic abuse, with social media influencer Ioanna Photiou alleging that she has evidence of physical harm against Phedonos’s wife, Louiza Andreou.
Andreou has firmly denied all accusations against her husband, defending him on social media. She expressed her dismay at what she termed a coordinated attack on their family, stating that those who know her understand that she is not a victim and has lived harmoniously with Phedonos for 20 years.
The allegations against Phedonos and the investigation into the Turkish Cypriot property contracts come at a time when the interior ministry is actively reviewing more than 4,000 rental agreements for Turkish Cypriot properties across the region. Earlier reports indicated that over 300 contracts had been terminated due to misuse.
In total, 275 contracts signed by various municipalities have been examined, revealing violations in 31 instances. Following these audits, municipalities have begun to rectify their compliance in 13 cases, while 13 warning letters were issued and five contracts were terminated.
