Form this blog's point of view this legal battle puts back in the right track the issues of Tourism in the occupied by Turkish troops part of Cyprus.
A bit of history: Cypriot tourism starts its development with mostly Greek Cypriot Hoteliers but also some Turkish Cypriot businessmen back in the sixties. After the Turkish invasion in the country in July 1974 the biggest engine of Cyprus Economy, tourism, suddenly stopped working. The reactivation of this engine begun again when the refugee entrepreneurs from the occupied land found the courage to start again from ashes. Hoteliers and travel agents managed to put back on the global tourist map the Cypriot Tourist product with great success. The creation of the Cyprus Tourism Organisation in 1975 was crucial.
In the meantime, the so called Turkish Cypriot authorities have been giving away hotels, land and premises to people they called "legal users". This was an attempt to create a property status quo in order to assure political pressure. In my sincere opinion this did not serve in any good manner neither the interests of those users nor the interests of any politician in the occupied side on an international level. Giving away property that does not legally belong to you especially in European Union territory can only expose you heavily.
Apostolides Vs Orams case goes a step further. Mr. Meletis Apostolides and his lawyers using common sense managed to prove to all politicians that things cannot be the way they want them to be. Politics should stay out of things like human rights, basic freedoms and now is proven that should stay out of property and extensively tourism.
Now if we apply simple logic, if we just follow common sense, the same way the Cypriot, European and UK Appeal Courts did, we easily reach to the conclusion that all tourists, being those Cypriots or foreign, who visit the occupied by the Turkish troops land, should not use the occupied hotels since they are committing the same mistake Mr. and Mrs. Orams did.
Today, the legal owners of hotels are able to see who stays to those hotels searching the internet. We take as example the Dome Hotel in Kyrenia. The hotel belongs legally to Mr. Katsellis and his family. A simple search on Trip Advisor will give us a lot of information about who visited the hotel and when. Unfortunately those people have never been informed what it really means to be accommodated there. So as an advice, before you book a hotel in the occupied side of Cyprus, make sure your agent gives you all the information and please make a quick phone call to your lawyer of the ministry of foreign affairs of your country to make sure that what is suppose to be a relaxed holiday does not become a legal battle you will lose for sure. Once again what is right is right and no war or political interest can change it.
