The nightmares of thousands of pounds in hard-earned savings, their holiday homes, and their pride, being snatched away by a few greedy builders, loan-happy banks and a minority of shady estate agents is being aided by an ever-growing conspiracy of silence and couldn’t-careless-attitude of government, and a perceived lack of action by local authorities.

How many more times will British people head to their local newspapers and spread the word that Turkey is a no-go place for owning your holiday home.

Journalists are continually reporting the latest trauma, the latest rip off victim, the latest shady deal by an unregulated person who cons them with confidence and a glowing smile – and a sly hand to the wallet for the mega money.

It seems that greed has overtaken the need to earn an honest income here.

There needs to be a radical shake-up of the tapu process from the bottom up, top down and sideways – and the Turkish government should act fast – otherwise the millions of pounds of revenue that come into the country will leave it with a very big black hole.

For one thing, when a foreign buyer confirms their interest in a property – the Tapu or title deed on that property should be held by a completely independent body. It or the buyer should check there is no debt on the tapu first.

The problem arises when the foreigner’s details are submitted for military searches. This provides the tapu holder, be it the estate agent, builder or seller, to go running off to his nearest bank or happy loan shark to get a loan.

They get the cash from the buyer – hard currency – and they get money from a loan from the bank. The catch is that the foreigner now no longer owns the property they thought they had bought. No, it is held by the bank in case the loanee defaults on the payments.

But the nightmare does not end there because fraud has taken place, and the local authorities and the Government should be taking steps to come down hard on those people who do this.

Now it seems that Bodrum and Kusadasi are being hit with the same problems: Christine and James Taylor fell foul of being Tapu-ed out of town by a Bodrum realtor, while in Kusadasi young Scottish girl Karen Mcleod was left homeless after her property was seized because of a debt-laden contractor.

Here in Didim, many investors are embroiled in court cases because of property scams, builders going bust, banks reclaiming homes. All now no longer wanting to invest in Turkey.

The last victims of the Safir Apartments scandal can only do more untold damage.

But it is untold damage to the reputable and good developers and estate agents who are suffering at the hands of the greedy and shady crooks lurking for a fast deal.

If the economic crisis doesn’t wipe out the bad, or newspapers, such as Voices, blasting the ugly, then surely it is down to the ‘good’ to come to the fore and promote their brands, their sales, their systems and their products; all this equals happy customers.

It isn’t rocket science. For the individual buyer, they should only part with five per cent of the money as down payment, and then only give the 95 per cent when the tapu is in their hand. They should not bend or wilt under sales pressure.

More now needs to be done to overhaul the property buying process with greater rights for all, whether local, national or international buyers.

Authorities should start acting now, and fast.

Otherwise there will be even more people looking back in anger in Turkey’s direction and accusing it of stealing their dreams.