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WE ARE PAYING MRS BLAIR GBP200,000.GETTING HER ON THE TURKISH SIDE IS(The Mail on Sunday Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge)CHERIE BLAIR was last night at the centre of a fresh row over her business affairs after a Mail on Sunday investigation uncovered new details about her latest highprofile legal case. She has agreed to defend a British couple who are embroiled in a politically-charged dispute in Cyprus after building on land seized from a displaced Greek Cypriot. Downing Street insists that Mrs Blair is simply acting in a professional capacity as a lawyer. But details we have uncovered leave her exposed to claims that she has once again brought her career into conflict with her role as the Prime Minister's wife. People involved in the case say Mrs Blair will be paid GBP200,000 to defend David and Linda Orams. She will attempt to overturn a Cypriot court order that the Orams demolish their GBP160,000 villa in Turkishcontrolled Northern Cyprus. The court ruled the villa was illegally built on land belonging to a Greek refugee who fled the area when Turkey invaded in 1974. The Orams' case is being supported by property developers with extensive interests in disputed Northern Cyprus. One said: 'When Mrs Blair wins, it will He added that the developers hoped to use her political influence, saying: 'Now we get political. What can be better than getting the wife of the British Prime Minister on our team?' Much of Mrs Blair's fee is being met by Hassan Vahib, a property developer and former Labour councillor in London, and other leading members of the capital's Turkish-Cypriot community. Mr Vahib, 44, owns solicitors Vahib and Co, which is handling the Orams' case. But he is also managing director of property development firm Troy Lake UK (Cyprus) Ltd. That company, which operates from the same offices in North London as his law firm, is behind two major multimillion-pound developments in Northern Cyprus. Documents also reveal that another company owned by Mr Vahib, Troy Lake Overseas Homes Company, was dissolved after being struck off the company register in September 2004. Troy Lake UK's operations manager, Firtac Ortac, confirmed the firm was contributing Mrs Blair's costs - and that the reason for hiring her was because of her political influence. At a meeting with an undercover Mail on Sunday reporter posing as a potential investor in property in Northern Cyprus, he said: 'We are paying her more than GBP200,000. The clients are not paying. We are. We can afford it and we have much ourselves to gain. When Mrs Blair wins, it will set a precedent and the market will rocket.' Mr Ortac also said that the hiring of the Prime Minister's wife was, for them, a political act, adding: 'We have about 25 lawyers working for us, so there is no shortage of legal brains. But you see the North-South dispute is also very political. 'They (the Greek Cypriots) have made it political, so now we get political too. What can be better than getting the wife of the British Prime Minister on our team? She is a noted human rights lawyer too, so simply getting her involved and on the Turkish side is fantastic.' Mrs Blair's decision to venture into the volatile politics of Northern Cyprus comes just months after her husband supported Turkey's bid to join the European Union. Mr Ortac claimed that the Turkish government was also paying Mrs Blair because they were 'playing a political game' and boasted that Mr Vahib was in regular contact with Turkish President Ahmet Necdet Sezer. A source in London has revealed that Mr Vahib had now approached a clutch of other wealthy Turkish-Cypriots living in the capital to help fund the action. He said: 'A campaign has begun to raise funds to meet the cost of the legal action. Not only do they recognise the financial implications of this case, their actions have a clear political motivation.' Cyprus remains divided following the 1974 coup by the Greek-Cypriot leadership and subsequent invasion of the Northern areas of the island by Turkey. Communities were uprooted and relocated in the north or the south of the island depending on their ethnic 'Now it's time for us to get political too' origin, leaving Greek-Cypriots in the south and Turkish-Cypriots in the north. The island's divided status means the Cypriot court is powerless to enforce its ruling in the north. As a result, lawyers for the Greek landowner have brought the case to the High Court in Britain to test whether judgments in one EU country can be enforced in another member state. The Mail on Sunday has also learnt that Mrs Blair agreed to take on the Orams' case after secret talks with the couple and Mr Vahib in Istanbul in May last year. Mrs Blair spent three days in the city, during which she was a guest of the British consulate. However, she demanded that the reason for her trip be kept confidential. According to reports in the Turkish media, Mrs Blair had previously met Mr Vahib to discuss human rights issues. Last month - just days after it was announced that she was representing the couple - Mrs Blair was named 'Jurist of the Year' by the Turkish-British Legal Society. And her decision to represent the Orams comes as her husband is preparing to invite Turkish-Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat to London in the New Year. It will be the first time the pair have met. Northern Cyprus is recognised only by the Turkish government in Ankara. But in recent months Mr Talat has met American Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and UN Secretary General Kofi Annan. Last night Cypriot government spokesman Dr Kypros Chrysostomides said: 'We believe that Turkish-Cypriot lawyers instructing Mrs Blair are seeking to politically exploit her. 'Is the impression not created that by accepting such a politically loaded case, Mrs Blair has given insufficient weight to her position as the wife of the British Prime Minister?' When The Mail on Sunday spoke to the Orams at their home in Hove, East Sussex, they did not dispute that they were not meeting Mrs Blair's bill. Mrs Orams said: 'We have agreed with our legal team not to speak until after the conclusion of the case. All I can say to you now is that we are extremely confident of winning.' When it was put to her that the bill for Mrs Blair's work was actually being met by Mr Vahib and other developers, she said: 'I am sorry but I can't talk about that. It is private.' Downing Street said last night it would not comment as Mrs Blair was taking the case in her personal capacity. |