Orams case reviewed at the House of Lords

Turkish Cypriot barrister, Emma Edhem, head of the Turkish-English Barristers Association operating in London organised a seminar at the House of Lords on Thursday October 19 to discuss the Orams case and the developments that followed the verdict.

Hasan Vahib, of the Vahib & Co Law Firm, was one of the team of lawyers that defended the British couple at court and Bhitu Bhalla, Prof. Clement Dodd of the University of London’s School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) and Turkish Cypriots businessman Ali Ozmen Safa were the speakers at the seminar.

The seminar was on the issue of the estate and immovable purchases in Northern Cyprus and the developments following the Orams case victory; Ali Ozmen Safa stated that the verdict in the case was to the benefit of Northern Cyprus as estate sales had increased since and said: “I am a businessman that invests in both the estate and tourism sectors in Cyprus. Many businessmen such as myself had suffered due to the unjust isolations applied on the Turkish Cypriots. While the Northern Cypriot economy is left underdeveloped due to the embargoes, the Southern Cypriot economy develops from day to day. The Orams case victory is important for us and Northern Cyprus; as this is a precedent in our history. Following the verdict, which went against the Greek Cypriot plaintiff, our estate and immovable sales have increased. From now on we need to look forward; and be very careful in our activities in the related fields.”

The other speakers at the seminar; Vahib, Bhalla and Dodd all stated that the victory in the Orams case was a very positive development for Northern Cyprus and from now on the advantages of the verdict in the Northern market and economy needed to be evaluated and used carefully.

^ Top of Page