I've been following this thread with amusement as it has degenerated into the usual slanging match that we witness in all these North-South postings.
It maybe in order to get back to the actual question that was originally put, and of course stick to the facts. I've been trawling the web and have come up with the following facts:
- Gary Robb is a wanted drug runner who would be in jail together with his brother if he hadn't done a runner to occupied Northern Cyprus whilst out on bail.
- Gary Robb has been made welcome by the occupation authorities (as have presumably others of the same ilk)
- Gary Robb has applied for citizenship of the "TRNC" which doesn't seem to make sense as you can't be a citizen of a state that doesn't exist in international law. However his lawyers are without doubt more versed in the law than I am. I don't know the result of his application but the aim is quite openly to avoid the possibility of extradition should the Cyprus problem be solved.
- Gary Robb is involved in the property market in the occupied zone. He is known as one of the major exploiters of stolen Greek Cypriot land.
- Greek Cypriot real estate is sold to foreigners as holiday properties despite the fact that it is still legally owned by the original title holders in the ROC. It is sold without title deeds or with bogus TRNC deeds. In other words theft - and theft which is condoned by the so-called authorities, who have done nothing to hinder the criminal activities. Much in the same way that the occupation authorities were involved with the wholesale robbery of valuables from Northern Cyprus churches and monasteries, which have later turned up on the illegal market in Germany among other places. Admittedly it is not a "fact" that the authorities were involved but much points in that direction.
- Those involved in the North Cyprus property scam do not deny the illegality of their actions. Their attitude is rather that no-one can do anything about it. Witness the meeting arranged in Kyrenia by who? - yes Gary Robb - for British property buyers. The lawyer involved in no way denied the illegality of the sales, but rather came up with ways of getting around the law - permanent moves to Northern Cyprus, lying through one's teeth about acting in good faith etc. Needless to say this was a situation which the homebuyers were not very pleased with - their plans were more about lying on a beach chair than sitting in a court room. The bottom line was that you'll probably get away with it but only after a lot of time with legal hassles.
So to sum up: it's well known that a known criminal like Gary Robb can live with impunity in the occupied area. It's also well known that he is involved in dealing with illegal property. These are facts. No-one denies the illegality of selling what's not yours to sell. The question is whether you care or not. Obviously a lot of people don't. They must however be prepared to be stigmatized by those that do.
This post is certain to have me dodging flak for a while
so I think I'll log out
