Cyprus-Forum.com

[grokked]

Current affairs interview in Greek - Turkey decided not to appeal the unanimous judgement by the ECHR in the Ioannis Fokas and Evangelos Fokas case, which involved the state denying descendants of Greek, Armenian and other minorities in Turkey the right to inherit family property - which was effectively confiscated by the state.

Speaking on the CyBC Apo Mera se Mera current events program on 20th January, Achilleas Demetriades, who had been a prime mover in bringing this pioneering case against the Turkish Government (as well as having led in the successful Titina Loizidou case against Turkey) is interviewed about its significance.

Mr Demetriades points out that this 'defrauding' of thousands of Greek (and other ethnic minority) families from Istanbul/Constantinople and all over Turkey was condemned also by the Turkish judge sitting in the ECHR hearing against Turkey.

He goes on to point out that the same tactics continue to be used to this day by Turkey against Greek-owned property in Turkish-occupied 'northern' Cyprus. When Greek Cypriot (of the very few who still remain in the Karpas area for example)(more than 200,000 Greek Cypriots were ethnically cleansed following the 1974 invasion, but some do still remain living in the 'north' of Cyprus) property owners die, their children are not allowed to inherit their parent's property.

The ECHR judgement opens the way to potentially millions of people (who still possess property ownership documents) to claim their properties back from the Turkish Government, to claim loss of income from such property and also damages from the distress caused.

Further details regarding the original ECHR judgement in this case are available from:

http://aspectsofreality.blogspot.com/20 ... uding.html

[bill cobbett]

A brief reminder of the plight of the Enclaved of Rizokarpazo.

This is a paragraph from Andrew Dismore's (GB MP) to the GB House Of Commons in 2007....

"I visited the enclaved Greek Cypriots in the Karpas. The conditions in which they live, the petty restrictions to which they are subjected, and the general intimidation and lack of protection from the law they experience amount to an appalling abuse of human rights. In Rizokarpaso only about 230 people remain and there are not many more in the remainder of the Karpas. Of the 12,000 people who stayed on in 1974 the rest died or gave up in the face of oppression. Those still there are terrified of drawing attention to their condition for fear of victimisation. Indeed, two of the people with whom we spoke were questioned by the police almost immediately after we left. "

[AWE]

A Greek lawyer who wished to remain anonymous believes, however, that the recent court decision will prove to be “negative for Turkey and for Greece as well.”

“We all know that the same practice is applied against Turkish citizens by the Greek state, which does not allow Turkish citizens to acquire property in Greece,” the lawyer said. “It is just a matter of time before a Turkish citizen who has a property in Greek Thrace or Crete, where most of the inheritors are Turkish, files against Greece in the European court and receives a huge amount of compensation, just like the Fokas brothers will receive from Turkey.”

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php? ... 2009-10-16

a precedent set for both sides then.

[Piratis]

A Greek lawyer who wished to remain anonymous believes, however, that the recent court decision will prove to be “negative for Turkey and for Greece as well.”

“We all know that the same practice is applied against Turkish citizens by the Greek state, which does not allow Turkish citizens to acquire property in Greece,” the lawyer said. “It is just a matter of time before a Turkish citizen who has a property in Greek Thrace or Crete, where most of the inheritors are Turkish, files against Greece in the European court and receives a huge amount of compensation, just like the Fokas brothers will receive from Turkey.”

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php? ... 2009-10-16

a precedent set for both sides then.

No problem for us AWE. The Turks had just some minorities in Crete, Thrace and a few other places in Greece. The Greeks on the other hand have been the majority of the whole western coast of Turkey and a big part of the northern coast as well.

For every cent that Greece owns to Turks, Turkey owns a whole euro to Greeks. We would be more than glad to give the 1 cent and get a euro in return. It is the Turks who will have a problem, not us.

[grokked]

A Greek lawyer who wished to remain anonymous believes, however, that the recent court decision will prove to be “negative for Turkey and for Greece as well.”

“We all know that the same practice is applied against Turkish citizens by the Greek state, which does not allow Turkish citizens to acquire property in Greece,” the lawyer said. “It is just a matter of time before a Turkish citizen who has a property in Greek Thrace or Crete, where most of the inheritors are Turkish, files against Greece in the European court and receives a huge amount of compensation, just like the Fokas brothers will receive from Turkey.”

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php? ... 2009-10-16

a precedent set for both sides then.

Yes, I did think some very 'wise-person' would quote this story from Hurriyet....

The section quoted above is a paragraph tagged-on as at the very end of the story.

Note the clever distortion involved in the logic, whereby the defrauding by the Turkish state which forced out thousands and perhaps millions of people from the country and caused them to lose the property they already owned before they were expelled from Turkey ... and prevented subsequent generations from inheriting because they no longer live in Turkey ...

.... equated to what?

... equated to "Turkish citizens not being allowed to acquire property in Greece"

Very clever use of language indeed !