The next significant ruling of ECHR was the Aresti decision. I know that the Greek Cypriot side has appealed to the higher Office but personally I do not think the decision will change. In effect, Turkey was found guilty of violating the European Charter of Human Rights by refusing Aresti the right to use her land but granted only costs in her favour. The matter of compensation for not being able to use her land for so many years was deferred for an indefinite time. Furthermore, to the great dissappointment of the Greek Cypriots, ECHR decided that the courts and other administrative bodies in the north has jurisdiction to give effective local remedy. ECHR will review this effectiveness in time.
The Aresti Decision of ECHR is extremely important becasue it recognized the courts in the north as "Under Turkish Military Control" to be effective remedies and also decided to shelve all the other applications until this effectiveness is proved or otherwise.
The Turkish Cypriot side passed a law through her Parliament to create such a local remedy. However the vital point in this law is that even though the courts will be able to compensate or even give back the land of the applicants, the implementation will be subject to the conditions of a comprehensive solution to the Cyprus Problem. Hence, the decisions will not be enforced until after a settlement and what is more important is that it will be subject to the conditions of the final agreement i.e. if an Annan Type of agreement is finally reached whereby only one third of the Greek Cypriot land will be handed back, then this condition will apply and we may be back to a square one!!
This is not all. During the Ottoman Rule much of the land was Vakf Property, that is to say the land passed from father to son or whatever according to the rules setting up that particular Vakf property and it could not be sold in any way. Furthermore, there is no time limit for any torts i.e. wrong doing. It is well documented that the whole of Varosha is vakf property and it was passed on to Greek Cypriots by the ruling British during 1910 to 1930. Don't forget that the wrong doer was in charge.
When the British came to Cyprus, they took over the administration of Vakf propeties whereas similar properties of the Greek Cypriots were left in the hands of the Greek Church. No time limit rule with regard to such property applied during the British Rule as well. I understand that during the London and Zurichn Agreements Denktash registered the reservations of the Turkish Cypriot Community with regard to these properties. The control of Vakf properties passed over to the Turkish Cypriot Community in the early fifties and this was the first major success of Dr. Kutchuk, the leader of the Turkish Cypriots at the time. The Turkish Vakf Administration recently filed an application in the Famagusta District Court for a Declaration that the land of Varosha belongs to the two given Vakfs and proved it with ancient documents. Eventually the court ruled accordingly.
Now let us come back to the Aresti case. If Aresti and others who claim land from the north do not apply to the courts in north Cyprus, well and good, their applications will not go forward at ECHR any more because they have not exhausted the local remedies. If they do apply to the courts in the north, them may face opposition from the Vakf Administration if these lands actually belonged to Vakf. If not they may get compensation or have their property back at a later date when the Cyprus Problem is settled.
A certain Arif Mustafa, a Turkish Cypriot wanted to have his land back in south Cyprus. He was told that he had to live in the south for at least six months before he could make such a claim. So he did and then applied to court and got an order in his favour but the ROC (or more appropriately the Greek Cypriot Administration of South Cyprus) refused to comply and is asking the court to delay it until the final solution of the Cyprus Problem. Furthermore, I just read in the papers that the south is planning to give title deeds to the refuges for the land that belonged to Turkish Cypriots. Well, it is election time after all!!
So let us sit back and watch all the fun because now the Turkish Cypriot side is on the attack as far as legal fights is concerned. The Greek Cypriots should do well to remember that those in glass houses should not throw stones. Any comments? (Ignore the last question, only a Paphian could make that
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ismet
