Cyprus-Forum.com

[joe]

CoE officials warn Turkey of sanctions over Cyprus

By Angelos Marcopoulos

STRASBOURG
TURKEY has been warned by Council of Europe officials of likely sanctions if it continues to refuse to implement the judgements of the European Court of Human Rights ordering it to restore the usurped rights of the Greek Cypriot refugees.
The imposition of sanctions has been made possible following the adoption of the CoE's new Charter, said Halvdan Skard, the Norwegian President of the CoE's watchdog on local democracy, the Pan-European Congress of Local and Regional Authorities (CLRAE).
Dr Irina Pereverzeva, the Russian President of the CLRAE Rules Committee, stressed that "we must take our collective responsibilities for the implementation of the rules. There must be consequences for those who violate the rules.''
Jan Micalef, the CoE's special Rapporteur on Cyprus, declared that "concerning Turkey, while taking into account all views fundamental both to the Republic of Cyprus and to the Turkish Cypriot community in the occupied area of course, the judgements of the European Court of Human Rights and the UN Security Council resolutions on Cyprus, have to be respected."
"But unfortunately, we saw some contrary measures recently in the Turkish-occupied territories of Cyprus which could adversely affect the prospects of a solution.''
He explained that such measures included the increasing illegal influx of Turkish mainland settlers to the occupied north and "illegal acts concerning refugees' properties.''
"In principle, all aspects of human rights, including those of refugees, should be raised in connection with local democracy," Keith Whitmore, a British Liberal member of the CoE Parliament , who is also the author of a special Council report on human rights told The Cyprus Weekly.

From the Cyprus Weekly

[DT.]

don't look too good for turkey and that fake property commission.

[T_C]

Ankara welcomes court ruling on Cyprus property row

Turkey considers "positive" the fact that the Strasbourg based-European Court of Human Rights failed to uphold a Greek Cypriot plaintiff's appeal of a landmark property decision since this rejection also means that the Greek Cypriot argument questioning the validity of a compensation committee set up in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (KKTC) was also clearly dismissed by the court.

In December 2006, while ordering Turkey to pay the plaintiff, Myra Xenides-Arestis, 800,000 euros in compensation for violating her property rights in Cyprus, the court also suggested that a property commission in the KKTC could provide a domestic remedy for dozens of similar pending cases against Turkey.
If the court had upheld the appeal by either the Turkish government or Achilleas Demetriades, the lawyer for Xenides-Arestis, a Grand Chamber panel of five judges, which acts as an appeals body, would begin a retrial.

The court's reasoning for rejecting the Turkish side's appeal has not yet been received by Ankara, diplomatic sources told Today's Zaman on Thursday following Wednesday's reports that both sides' appeals had been rejected.

"Yet, rejection of the Greek Cypriot side's appeal is in itself a positive development, because it reaffirms the position reflected by the December ruling of the court which showed that the property commission's studies had met the expectations of the European Court of Human Rights and that the property commission might become a domestic remedy," the same sources said.

The court had ruled in December 2005 that Turkey had violated the property rights of Xenides-Arestis by denying her access to her house in Famagusta since 1974, when Turkey militarily intervened in Cyprus. However, in a sign of its readiness to stop receiving similar complaints from Greek Cypriots, the court called on Turkey and the Turkish Cypriot authorities to introduce an effective domestic remedy within six months to ensure respect for the property rights of Greek Cypriot complainants. The Turkish Cypriot authorities then set up a property commission and began to accept property complaints from Greek Cypriots.

In the second phase of the trial process, the court decided in December 2006 that Turkey should pay 800,000 euros to compensate Xenides-Arestis' losses and mentioned the property commission in the ruling, suggesting readiness to accept it as a legitimate domestic remedy for similar applications. In the next phase, the court is expected to refer more than 1,000 similar applications pending before the court to the property commission in the KKTC.

[DT.]

the legality question of the so-called property commission will come up at the hearing of the next refugee application against Turkey.
This could be either the case of Demades or Evgenia Michaelidou, in which Turkey has been found guilty of violation in 2003, or any one of 32 other cases already declared acceptable by the ECHR.
Principle
Nevertheless, Achilleas Demetriades firmly believes that the Court would not accept the so-called compensation commission as offering adequate legal remedies to Greek Cypriot refugees, since it is prevented by the so-called constitution of the occupation regime to return property to their rightful owners.
Restitution of property is one of the key principles making up the right to property protected under the European Convention on Human Rights, which the European Court of Human Rights has been set up to uphold.
"In view of this I believe that refugees should not apply to this commission," Demetriades categorically stated.