CHP criticizes sale of property to foreigners

"Our lands are slipping away under us. Our warning calls may be described as medieval mentality or paranoia, but it is not. Saying that the Turkish economy is proceeding towards total foreign domination without resorting to arms or violence is being patriotic. It means we are protecting our country."

Speaking at a parliamentary press conference on Friday, Koc said that the law, passed by the AKP in July 2003, paved the way for foreigners to buy land in Turkey. He said despite all CHP opposition, this bill had become law, noting that the party had filed a complaint to the Constitutional Court to get the law suspended and annulled. He said they expected the court to finalize its decision as soon as possible.

CHP deputy from Malatya Muharrem Kilic said that in a single year since the it was approved, foreigners had purchased 277,000 square-meters of land, noting that the amount of land sold to foreign firms was not known.

Koc said that 31.7 percent of the land sold to foreigners was purchased by Greeks, 28 percent by germans, 12.2 percent by British, 11.6 percent by Syrians, 4.1 percent by Dutch, 2.5 percent by Italians, 2.4 percent by Americans, 2.2 percent by Austrians, 1.7 percent by French and 3.5 by other nationalities.

According to information provided by Koc, 25 percent of the land sold to foreigners was in Istanbul, 20 percent in Antalya, 12 percent in Bursa, 10 percent in Hatay, 10 percent in Izmir, 10 percent in Mugla and 6 percent in Aydin.

CHP deputy from Kars Selami Yigit said that Syrians were purchasing land near their borders, while Greeks purchased lands in the Aegean Coast and eastern Thrace. Yigit noted that Greece did not permit such sales of land near border and coastal regions. Yigit said that despite the law being passed in exchange for laws in other countries, this rule was not being applied for foreign firms in Turkey.

Yigit said: "No other country is as generous as ours. The government passed this law in order to adhere by European Union norms. However, Hungary and the Czech Republic banned the sale of forestry land until 2010. In Poland, it was banned for 12 years. In Lithuania and Estonia, the sale of land to foreigners was banned until they became EU members."

Yigit also noted that the sale of land near border regions was banned in the Russian federation, adding that 80 percent of land in Israel was owned by the state and was not even sold to its own nationals.

Yigit said that the sale of land to Greek nationals of Turkish origin in border and coastal regions in Greece necessitated official permission, which was never forthcoming. He said the Justice Ministry had prepared a decree on the matter, adding, "The justice minister should release information on this issue, instead of concentrating on adultery."

Koc noted that laws allowing the sale of land to foreigners were passed in 1984 and 1986, and were annulled by the Constitutional Court in both instances. He said that the court had said that the laws had violated the equality principle between the countries and the transfer of ownership law.