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[joe]

Turkey must implement

Rights Court rulings

on Cyprus says CoE

Angelos Marcopoulos reports from Strasbourg

Two key Council of Europe Rapporteurs warned Turkey it's continuing membership of the Council, as well as its wish to join the European Union, will be affected if it continues to refuse to implement the judgements of the European Court of Human Rights.

The Court found Turlkey guilty of preventintg the Greek Cypriot refugees from returning to their homes and from regaining their usurped homes and properties in the Turkish occupied north of mthe island.

The twin warnings coincided with the adoption of a resolution of major importance for Cyprus which asks the 46 member states of the CoE to ensure that the Rights Court judgements are fully implemented.

"There is a real implementation gap there,'' Thomas Hammarberg, the new CoE Commissioner on Human Rights said in reply to a Cyprus Weekly question mainly about Turkey's failure to implement ECHR's judgements dealing with the usrped rights of Greek Cypriot refugees.

The other warning came from Erike Jurgens, the CoE Rapporteur on the implementnation of the Rights Court judgements. "The EuroCourt of Human Rights is the backbone of the Council of Europe and of the whole of Europe. If its decisions are not implemented, it's the whole system we built during half a Century, that could disappear,'' he said.

During an interview with The Cyprus Weekly Jurgens made a most significant statement linking the failure of the Annan Plan to the fact that this was due to the fact that it ignored the judgements of the Rights Court recognising the right of the refugees to return and to regain their properties.

What is equally important added Jurgens is that Turkey ``as the country that is in fact in charge of north Cyprus still has an obligation to implement the Court rulings.''

He warned Turkey with expulsion from the CoE if its continues to ignore the Court rulings. ``If a country persistently refuses to implement EuroCourt decisions this could be a good reason to tell it that: `if you do that, then you cannot take part in CoE Assembly meeytings any more,'" he said.

Jurgens also stressed that the implementnation of all the Court judgements dealing with Cyprus ``may constitute a valuable and tangible contribution of the CoE to a comprehensive solution of the Cyprus issue.''