THE Government has acted swiftly to end the panic and chaos over the suspension of title deeds – which has left thousands of them waiting to be issued to foreign property owners in Didim.

The suspension of Tapus, which came into force last Wednesday, was instigated by the Land Registry in a letter to all Title Deeds offices throughout Turkey due to a lawsuit launched in the Constitutional Court in Ankara.

Panic set in among some estate agents who rushed to the Tapu office in Didim on Tuesday and besieged the workers, and new manager Hüseyin Akdi, in a bid to get hands on Tapus for foreign investors before the office closed at 5pm.

The Tapu office re-opened as normal on Wednesday, irrespective of the suspension of the issuing of Tapus.

But the government has acted, stating that the Cabinet of Ministers had received a new regulation on property sales to foreigners, and promised a swift end to the chaos.

A statement from the Finance Ministry, in an attempt to ease the air of panic, said a new regulation looking to remedy the situation was already before the Cabinet, with all ministers due to sign it, and plans for it to be before Parliament shortly.

The lawsuit, filed by two Turkish residents, had challenged the ease by which foreign companies investing in Turkey could freely acquire real estate or land under the Foreign Direct Investment Law.

The Constitution Court ruling – effectively overturning this part of the law – will now go to Parliament which will revise it to allow foreign investment to continue.

Following the Court’s ruling – the Land Registry issued a letter to all Title Deeds’ mangers calling for the suspension of all Tapus of property and land.

The knock-on effect of this decision means that thousands of property investors and owners already waiting for months and, in some cases, years for their Tapus, will now be left waiting even longer.

The ruling means British property investors can still buy property and land here, but it means estate agents will not be able to apply for their title deeds until Parliament’s decision on the Constitutional Court ruling.