Prior to Turkey’s invasion, Cyprus was the go-to vacation spot for both European jetsetters and Hollywood actors. Paul Newman, Brigitte Bardot, and Elizabeth Taylor all vacationed in Famagusta, sometimes repeatedly. It was the Monte Carlo of the east. The 1974 Turkish invasion ended that. Varosha, the city’s southern quarter, became a sealed-off ghost town as the Turkish Army ethnically cleansed the northern third of the island. Only in 2021 did Varosha open for day-trippers to wander its streets and beaches.
Prior to Turkey’s invasion, Cyprus was the go-to vacation spot for both European jetsetters and Hollywood actors. Paul Newman, Brigitte Bardot, and Elizabeth Taylor all vacationed in Famagusta, sometimes repeatedly.
Famagusta might be closed, but the Eastern Mediterranean and Aegean never lost their allure. Antalya and nearby resorts host thousands of Europeans. Tel Aviv has unmatched vibrant cultural and beach scenes. As the Eastern Mediterranean becomes more popular, many Europeans, Turks, and Israelis flock to Turkish-occupied northern Cyprus in search of a bargain. So too do Iranians and Russians. Iranians need no visa to go to Turkey, and the so-called Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus grants them a visa on arrival at no cost and without any background check. While Cyprus itself has cracked down on money laundering and sanctions evasion, the occupied zone remains a hub for both. Like Iranians, Russians can transit Turkey and enter northern Cyprus without a visa. Ironically, Israelis can also freely travel to occupied Cyprus, getting a visa on arrival from the Turkish proxy state. Northern Cyprus joins Haiti, Micronesia, Kazakhstan, and just a few other states or territories that welcomes Iranians, Russians, and Israelis without visas or coordination.
As the price of hotels, rentals and resorts skyrocket, many foreigners set their sights on northern Cyprus for a bargain. While only Turkey formally recognizes the so-called Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, many outsiders figure the half-century status quo is now permanent. They see a bargain absent risk and figure there will be no consequence.
Consider the cost of two-bedroom apartments: In Tel Aviv, apartments go for €15,500 per square meter. In the southern suburbs of Athens, Greeks will pay €4,231 per square meter. Paphos sets purchasers back around €3,878 per square meter, while apartments in Nicosia absent any nearby beach costs €2,379 per square meter.
Istanbul and Tehran are cheaper. In Beyoğlu, purchasers should expect to pay €1,720 per square meter, though apartments in Beşiktaş can be twice that; meanwhile in Tehran’s leafy Tajrish district, an apartment costs around €1,800 per square meter. For Turks and Iranians, occupied Cyprus is still a bargain. In occupied Nicosia, an average apartment costs just around €1,352 per square meter. Real estate in Kyrenia is more expensive at €2,144 per square meter, but still a relative bargain.
European Union law prohibits citizens of its member states from purchasing land in Crimea; it is scandalous that Brussels does not similarly prohibit investment in occupied Cyprus.
To view northern Cyprus investment through the lens of personal profit, though, is morally inverse. For a European, Israeli, Iranian, or Turk to purchase property in northern Nicosia, Kyrenia, or Famagusta is no different than investing in Crimea under Russian occupation.
No one will take the restoration of Cypriot unity seriously so long as people view Turkey’s occupation more as an opportunity than outrage. And no one will take the European Union seriously if it cares more about Crimea and Gaza than occupation of its own territory.
In 2025, roughly 1.5 million tourists visited occupied northern Cyprus. Eight-two percent of them were Turks. Most of the other came from the United Kingdom, Israel, Germany, France, Poland, Slovakia, Russia, and Iran.
European Union law prohibits citizens of its member states from purchasing land in Crimea; it is scandalous that Brussels does not similarly prohibit investment in occupied Cyprus. Israeli law has no such restrictions, but it should. Both Greece and Cyprus are close allies to Israel—perhaps the closest allies Israel now has as Americans peel away. For Israelis to purchase real estate made available by Turkish ethnic cleansing and to profit from Turkish war crimes is obscene; Cyprus deserves better and should tell every Israeli official so.
Every speculator—Turk, Germany, Frenchmen, Brit, Israeli, or Iranian—who buys or builds in occupied Cyprus should face sanctions. Those who are European citizens should face onerous fines that put their home properties at stake and should be forced from the European banking system. Those who live outside Europe should no longer be welcome in it. Brits and Israelis both should choose: Access the European Union or sun themselves on the beaches of northern Cyprus, but not both.
If Brits, Turks, and Israelis want to invest in Cyprus, they should understand that they will lose their entire investment.
Europe should also use Georgia’s Law on Occupied Territories as a model. It declares any property deal made there in violation of Georgian law “void from the time of its conclusion.” If Brits, Turks, and Israelis want to invest in Cyprus, they should understand that they will lose their entire investment. To allow land sales and development to continue is to make occupation impossible to reverse and admit occupation is permanent.
Greece holds the UN Security Council’s rotating presidency until the end of the calendar year and takes over the European Union presidency on July 1, 2027. It is time to act and accelerate an end to the greed that fuels occupation. Greek officials can cite protocol and precedent, but should they continue to downplay Cypriot sovereignty where it matters, they will be as guilty as the European pensioners, Israeli investors, Iranian Revolutionary Guardsmen, and Turkish henchmen who profit off Greek Cypriot blood.
Published originally on October 20, 2026.
