Cyprus-Forum.com

[zan]

Greek Cypriot attorney general lambastes Turkish Cypriot application to ECHR

Greek Cypriot Attorney General Petros Kliridis yesterday lambasted an application by four Turkish Cypriots to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) to get back their properties, stressing that avenues of domestic law in Greek Cyprus haven't yet been exhausted.

Four Turkish Cypriot siblings have appealed to the ECHR against the Greek Cypriot administration for denying them access to property in Limassol, which is now under Greek Cypriot rule. The Turkish Cypriots are claiming restitution and compensation for property inherited from their father, who has been missing person since 1964, during the Greek Cypriot persecution of the Turks.

Speaking to Greek Cypriot radio, the attorney general also lambasted the repercussions of the event in the Greek Cypriot media, underlining that the Turkish Cypriot siblings have to first apply to a high court in the Greek Cypriot administration to seek a domestic solution for the case before bringing the issue before the ECHR.

Stating that there has been no decision made by the legal institutions and that therefore the issue has been overblown, Kliridis said, "Before jumping to conclusions, we first need to observe the development of the case."

The case constitutes the first example of such a legal move by Turkish Cypriots, hundreds of whom left their property in the Greek Cypriot south, following the inter-ethnic conflict on the island during the 1960s. Turkish Cypriot siblings Hasan Huseyin Cakartas, Nejla Cagis, Mumin Cakartas and Gokcen Bayer applied to the ECHR after the Greek Cypriot authorities turned down their request for restitution, claiming all Turkish Cypriot properties are now managed by a special commission and will not be given back before a comprehensive settlement on the island.

Lawyer for the four siblings and expert on Cyprus property cases Asli Aksu said on Tuesday that following the conclusion of the domestic legal process with the Greek Cypriot administration, they have made applied to the ECHR. She underlined that if the court finds their application admissible, they will demand at least 7 million euros compensation from the Greek Cypriot administration.

In the petition sent to the ECHR, Aksu cited the court's verdict related to Greek Cypriot citizen Titana Loizidou as a precedent. The court ruled that Turkey should pay $1.2 million in compensation to Loizidou for her property left in Northern Cyprus.

There are more than a 1,000 Greek Cypriot applications with the ECHR demanding compensation and restitution for their property in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC). Turkey and the TRNC so far have argued that property issues should be solved as part of an overall political settlement on the island, not through individual cases in the ECHR. Ankara, to show its good will, last year paid the compensation to Loizidou.
http://www.abhaber.com/news_page.asp?id=3215


All depending on a settlement? Is that not what the TRNC have said all along?

[Pyrpolizer]

So after the ECHR rules on all those 1000 cases then it will rule on this 1001 case.
Happy new year 3007!

[zan]

So after the ECHR rules on all those 1000 cases then it will rule on this 1001 case.
Happy new year 3007!

Exactly the point that you keep missing over and over again. No reasonable settlement then no settlement it is quite easy. What you are asking for is time reversal again a physical and scientific impossibility.

[Jerry]

I was under the impression that T/Cs were given "exchange land" in the north by their "government" and signed over their property in the south to that "government". So how can they now sue for its return if they no longer "own" (according to T/C law) it. It sounds like they want their (Greek) cake and to eat it too!

[zan]

I was under the impression that T/Cs were given "exchange land" in the north by their "government" and signed over their property in the south to that "government". So how can they now sue for its return if they no longer "own" (according to T/C law) it. It sounds like they want their (Greek) cake and to eat it too!

Not every one received land and not everyone received equivalent land. My family for instance have gotten nothing for our vast amount of land that is within the buffer zone and I know many people that have not received land from either the north or the south.

[Jerry]

I was under the impression that T/Cs were given "exchange land" in the north by their "government" and signed over their property in the south to that "government". So how can they now sue for its return if they no longer "own" (according to T/C law) it. It sounds like they want their (Greek) cake and to eat it too!

Not every one received land and not everyone received equivalent land. My family for instance have gotten nothing for our vast amount of land that is within the buffer zone and I know many people that have not received land from either the north or the south.

So Zan, did you not receive land because of the incompetence of your "government" or because Turkey wanted somewhere for the settlers to live and somewhere for the cheapskate British carpetbaggers to live?

[Pyrpolizer]

I was under the impression that T/Cs were given "exchange land" in the north by their "government" and signed over their property in the south to that "government". So how can they now sue for its return if they no longer "own" (according to T/C law) it. It sounds like they want their (Greek) cake and to eat it too!

Not every one received land and not everyone received equivalent land. My family for instance have gotten nothing for our vast amount of land that is within the buffer zone and I know many people that have not received land from either the north or the south.

Didn't you say that your family emigrated to UK from the 60s

What did you expect the pseudo to do, send you stolen land by DHL ?

[zan]

I was under the impression that T/Cs were given "exchange land" in the north by their "government" and signed over their property in the south to that "government". So how can they now sue for its return if they no longer "own" (according to T/C law) it. It sounds like they want their (Greek) cake and to eat it too!

Not every one received land and not everyone received equivalent land. My family for instance have gotten nothing for our vast amount of land that is within the buffer zone and I know many people that have not received land from either the north or the south.

So Zan, did you not receive land because of the incompetence of your "government" or because Turkey wanted somewhere for the settlers to live and somewhere for the cheapskate British carpetbaggers to live?

What do you want me to tell you some lies? It was the incompetence of my government to a degree and circumstance to the other. This does not excuse the fact of how we got there in the first place though or visa versa. A lot of shit has happened since we were forced out of the country by the incompetence of Makarios and to a point I have to live with that. That being a realisation that we might have lost our lands forever. Still we can live in hope.

[Jerry]

Well Zan I hope you can get your land back too and I hope my father gets his property back but I'm afraid to say that permanent irreversible damage has been done to the property issue by your "government" and Turkey in changing the demography of the island. Yes I know some T/C land has been developed in the south but not on the same scale and don't forget there was a genuine shortage of land after 1974 - quite the reverse of the situation in the north where there was even enough space for 100,000 settlers.

[humanist]

Well put Jerry, thank you for acknowledging Zan and his experience.

Cheers