Cyprus-Forum.com

[Viewpoint]

IN A LETTER published on this page last Sunday, a Greek Cypriot correspondent wrote that if the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) advised people with property in the occupied area to apply to the ‘compensation court’ in the north, he would do so, even if he were branded a traitor by the politicians. As a citizen of the European Union, he wrote, he would be fighting for his property rights at the ‘court’ which the ECHR decreed as competent to decide such claims by Greek Cypriots.

The man’s frustration and anger with our politicians’ vacuous patriotic rhetoric and failure to deliver a political settlement of the Cyprus problem for more than four decades was evident in the letter. He had had enough of waiting for the settlement that would facilitate the return of his property or at least compensate him financially for its loss. There are probably thousands of Greek Cypriots who feel exactly the same way and would seriously consider applying to a ‘compensation court’ if it is given the stamp of approval of the ECHR. It will only take a couple of property owners to apply, be awarded some form of compensation and the floodgates will open.

No amount of pressure and appeals to their patriotism would stop them, for the very simple reason that the politicians have nothing to offer as an alternative except hope and vague, empty promises about the future. But after more than three decades of empty promises they are unlikely to be convinced. What’s more, the one opportunity they had of having their properties returned or being compensated for them was rejected by the majority of their compatriots at the behest of the President. Prospects of a similar opportunity arising in the near future are next to non-existent, which would render applications to the ‘compensation court’ the only realistic possibility for Greek Cypriots to claim their property rights in some way. The compensation may be small or they may have to accept ‘TRNC’ title deeds, but this would still be seen as better than nothing.
This is not a science fiction scenario, but a very realistic possibility after last month’s judgment in the Xenidi-Aresti case by the ECHR which instructed Turkey to “introduce a remedy, which secures the effective protection of the rights laid down in Articles 8 of the Convention ….as well as in respect of all similar applications pending before the Court”.
The decision adds: “Such a remedy should be available within three months from the date on which the present judgment will be delivered and redress should occur three months thereafter.” In plain language, Turkey would have to set up a court or committee to issue a decision in the Xenidi-Aresti case by March 22 and implement it by June 22. Once this is done, in a way that is acceptable, all 1,400 cases filed by Greek Cypriots to the ECHR would be sent to the ‘compensation court’ for remedy.

There are conditions that Turkey must meet. The initial committee, set up by Rauf Denktash in 2003, was deemed unsuitable because of its composition – some members themselves held Greek Cypriot properties and could not be considered impartial. But if a new committee is set up and handles the case in a way that is considered fair and in accordance with the Convention, all 1,400 cases pending before the ECHR would be sent to it. This would be a big slap in the face for the Cyprus government, which had made the legal recourses to the ECHR its main diplomatic tool for putting pressure on Turkey. The government is now considering appealing against the decision, but it fears that it would lose because the ECHR is likely to take a political, rather than a legal, decision as it had done in the above-mentioned case.

Then again, this is hardly surprising considering that the government has been trying to use the Court for political ends. It had encouraged the filing of recourses by 1,400 individuals in the hope of cornering Turkey. To say that its tactic has backfired would be an understatement, as the judgment has nullified the government’s main strategy on the Cyprus problem. This is why it is now keeping a distance from the Orams case, which has been taken to a British court, offering no support to the Greek Cypriot side – it does not want the court to treat the case as political, the spokesman said. Meanwhile, the Turkish side is now using the courts to put pressure on the Cyprus government. The case of Arif Mustafa – who has applied to the Cyprus courts for the return of his house in Episkopi which is being used by Greek Cypriot refugees – is currently before the Supreme Court, after the Attorney-general appealed against the district judge’s ruling for the property to be returned to its owner.

The regime in the north will be monitoring the case closely, because it could determine how its ‘committee’ will handle the Xenidi-Aresti case and those that will follow. Not that it is too concerned after the ECHR judgment, which has provided it with a painless way out of an awkward situation. The ‘compensation court’ can close three applications for remedy each year and the ECHR would be happy. The only hope now for the Cyprus government to avoid this crushing defeat, which would be an annihilation of its strategy, is for the Turks to fail to “introduce a remedy which secures the effective protection of the rights” as stipulated in the Convention of Human Rights.

Once Greek Cypriots start seeking a remedy for their property claims in the north, the most important aspect of the Cyprus problem will have been addressed. The Cyprus problem will be resolved legally, which, ironically, was what the Papadopoulos government wanted all along, even though it had not bargained for the catastrophic outcome it is now faced with.

Very interesting article in the sunday mail today, what does everyone think about how things appear to be developing I have always said that individual legal cases will back fire on the south, it will only take the Orams case being suspended until a political solution can be found to open the flood gates of interest in developments in the north. Is this what our GC neighbours wanted didnt they know the risks involved, maybe they would be better off putting all this effort into finding a solution.

[Kifeas]

Very interesting article in the sunday mail today, what does everyone think about how things appear to be developing I have always said that individual legal cases will back fire on the south, it will only take the Orams case being suspended until a political solution can be found to open the flood gates of interest in developments in the north.

And why is this going to backfire, Viewpoint? Why it will take the Oram's case being suspended until a political solution?

[Viewpoint]

Kifeas if the case goes our way or is suspended indefinately until a solution is found or referred to the new property board here (ECHR decision), the issue of implementing the decision taken in the "RoC" courts and siezing British assets in the UK will have been removed. Investors from the UK/EU/Israel/Russia who are on the wait and see mode will rush to invest. As the demand increases supply will increase to meet that demand.

[Kifeas]

Kifeas if the case goes our way or is suspended indefinately until a solution is found or referred to the new property board here (ECHR decision), the issue of implementing the decision taken in the "RoC" courts and siezing British assets in the UK will have been removed. Investors from the UK/EU/Israel/Russia who are on the wait and see mode will rush to invest. As the demand increases supply will increase to meet that demand.

You are daydreaming viewpoint!

[Viewpoint]

Time will tell Kifeas, obviously you are willing to gamble winning the case against a rush off investors rushing
north.

You have really avoided the main body of the article as usual cant see the wood from the trees.

[Piratis]

Viewpoint, lets say for the sake of arguments that some GCs apply to your "courts" and they do not do exactly what the ECHR did in the cases of Aresti and Titina Loizidou. Then what? Those people would then take the case to ECHR anyways. So at most this will buy you some time and nothing more.

Meanwhile of course we will also retaliate and you will have no real benefit for insisting on your illegal occupation. The end result of this: wasting time for both sides.

[Viewpoint]

Your administration are masters at wasting time you should really ask them how they intend to solve the Cyprus issue? but to answer your question yes if the courts in the north do not process GC applications correctly eg returning land or paying compensation then GCs can continue with legal action in the ECHR but as the article says if a few GCs apply to the court and receive a fair settlement the flood gates will open as they do not believe a solution will be found in the foreseable future. The big problem of property will to some extent start to be unravelled and this will unlimately mean we move closer to partition as imo Turkey will find the funding to pay GCs because this way the property cliams will be severed but if the cases continue in the ECHR not only will Turkey have to pay heavy fines but also return the property sometime in the future. So this development is very interesting as it will also test our side as to how they will address the problem. Will the committee/court and the set criteria be acceptable as a rememdy to ECHR? this has yet to be determined by March 2006.
If the majority of GCs accept compensation for their property the % balance will also change, will that take us closer to recognized partition?

[Agios Amvrosios]

The very obvious result of the the Annan plan confirmed that most refugees do not really care about "compensation" and instead believe that they are entitled to restitution.

However if, as you suggest the only remedy is to accept ethnic cleansing and be compensated for the loss of their ancestral property in the North then one would think that it would at the very least be fair if they were the ones who benefit from foreign property investors paying through the nose once prices sky rocket. How fair is it for the party who are the victims of ethnic cleansing to have their position exploited? If the foreign property investors wnat to buy Greek Cypriot property they should ONLY be allowed to buy it directly from the legal owners.

They should not have to wait for 15 or 25 years for their measly refugee bonds to clear while the turkish perpetrators of the genocide, rape and ethnic cleansing are immediately made rich once enough voters out refugees in the distant future. That way the foreign property investors will directly pay the refugees fair prices.
An independant body perhaps manned by international experts to release properties for sale in a staggered way at a fair price so that only a limited number of properties will be available for purchase in designated area.

and with the profits the refugees can buy S-300 to send to the pack of bastards and we all live happily ever after.