By Constantinos Lordos
Published in the Cyprus Mail January 21, 2010
I have been reading with increasing concern over the past year statements issued by the spokesperson of the “TRNC and the TRNC President”. Their statement of January 19, criticising the decision of the Court of Appeal of England and Wales on the Orams’ case (which upheld the decision of the Cypriot court) ended with the sentence “the TRNC Presidency is determined to enact the necessary measures as soon as possible for [the TRNC] economy to survive [the UK Court’s] decision with the least possible impact through a complete harmony and co-operation with the [TRNC] government and all the relevant sectors”.
It is hard to make sense out of this paragraph: what measures are the “TRNC presidency” contemplating enacting, which in turn could overturn or nullify the decisions of UK and European courts? The European Court of Human Rights has also handed down, repeatedly, very strong decisions against the usurpation of property in Cyprus. Already hundreds of Cypriots, Greek and Turkish, have appealed to this Court and are awaiting (mostly favourable) decisions.
Other disturbing paragraphs from the statement turn against the policies of the “EU and its institutions”, accusing the EU of a weak “commitment to the universal principles”, inadequate “reliability” and proceed to assert that “what is expected from the Greek Cypriot side is to refrain from such initiatives which further complicate the property issue and come to a realistic point at the negotiation table, which is in accordance with the UN parameters” (!).
These statements beg a number of questions:
Question One: Does the TRNC president accept the Rule of Law universally or only selectively? It was, after all, the ‘TRNC’ who originally supported David and Linda Orams to apply to the British courts and subsequently to the ECJ to overturn the original decision of the Cyprus court and it was they who exhorted the high-mindedness and judicial impartiality of the British court which handed down the initial favourable decision on Orams.
Could it be that the unfavourable end-result has now proved that the courts cannot be trusted? Which is it? Indeed, what is the attitude of Mehmet Ali Talat and his administration to the Rule of Law? We are, after all, trying to set up together a new republic and it is vital to establish his commitment to the Laws we shall together enact for our common republic.
Question Two: Is it clearly understood by Talat that the first prerequisite for the solution he claims to seek with the “strong personal commitment” he alleges, is the full acceptance of the EU and its institutions? If he now finds “shadows” over the EU’s reliability and commitment to the universal principles, is it honest to proceed with further talks on a solution? Should he not stop and think again? Shall we now believe his critics who claim that his commitment to a solution goes only as far as this April’s ballot box? Or is this a temporary doubt to be cast aside when he next gets a favourable turn of the wheel? Which is it?
Question Three: What is Talat’s position on property which is denied from its rightful owner? Is it temporarily protected on behalf of the legal owner? Is it protected from falling into misuse until a solution is found? Is it held in the owner’s name until he decides to return and reclaim it? Should any rent be paid to the owner by its current user? Or has it now gone to the usurper? These are vital questions which need to be answered before either Talat or President Christofias can claim convincingly that they are making progress towards a solution – a claim that both have been boringly making in the last 18 months.
My own view, shared by many Cypriots on both sides. is that these two leaders are in cahoots and are having us on! For the best part of two years, they have been “negotiating” the only part of the Annan Plan that was truly complete and sensible; that not even the diehard Papadopoulos wished to reopen: governance.
The essence of the Cyprus Problem is encapsulated in the four headers: security; property; territory; settlers.
Find the common ground on these four substantial issues and the rest falls into place; we have, after all, been negotiating the Cyprus Problem, ad nauseam, over the last 58 years!
Every new “president” Greek or Turk, starts from the beginning. These two gentlemen are just more of the same.
http://www.cyprus-mail.com/opinions/som ... g/20100121
