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If I left my home 29 years ago, I wouldn't expect it to still be mine if I returned. At some point the state takes it over, or some authority, and it is offered to buyers. You can pick up cheap property here some times by paying delinquent back taxes, etc. After 29 years I wouldn't even expect my house to still be standing(as cheaply as they throw them together here in Texas with sheet rock instead of cement stucco etc. )

We were in the former East Germany in 2000 and many jewish families are still trying to get their family ancestrial homes back. Takes time to prove it was theirs. No telling how long it will take to clear up that mess.

There is similar problem in Middle East. In 1948 my neighbors' grandparents were driven out of their homes. They are Christians of Jordanian descent. They were allowed to leave with a suitcase full of clothes that is all. Their big home that they built and paid for was turned into an Israeli Library. They can not get it back, nor any of their furniture or belongings. They didn't start the fight. They were peaceful, educated, professional, Christians living there innocently. Yes, there were Christian law abiding citizens who were displaced by the Israelis in 1948.

We displaced my Cherokee ancestors in USA. We can't give them Manhattan and the rest of the US back. We can't give California and Texas back to the Mexicans, and they WANT it back. La Raza is working on that.

Sometimes you have to let bygones be bygones or you end up with a mess, and constant war like in the Middle East!

The answer is, and there should quite obviously be an international treaty on this subject, that property is owned independent and irrespective of the ruling government. The idea that a government can take over a region and declare properties as its own to sell is absurd. These people have continued to own their properties, and the Britons that "bought" them, bought nothing more than a worthless piece of paper.

This also applies in the West Bank, IMO. That's the way to deal with the "settlement" issue.

In regards to the action of Greeks going back to their OWN PROPERTIES in the northern part of Kypros. I am all for it. My family moved to the UK as refugees because of the Turkish occupation in the 70's and they left their homes, land and practically everything they had. I know for a fact that we've got land over there and we also have the original legal papers to show it, so if some punk being British of Turkish or whatever was in there living it up, i would have no heistation in knocking on 'my door' and claiming it back. If they were British and had bought it 'dirt cheap' then im sure that the British gov', the soveriegn or who ever sold it to them, can give them some sort of compensation. It's not right, or fair to sell a home to someone under false pretences especially when the people living in it, had to flee for their lives and their childrens. I just cant wait until after the 1st of May until the EU law kicks in and South Kypros are in the EU officially, as it states that there is to be no occupied land in the EU - so sorry turkish "Cypriots" but the time to pack your bags could be very soon. Im sure it would be nice to sit out on my veranda and have a drink back home again.