Markides warns new Turkish line of defence cannot be ignored

FORMER Attorney-general Alecos Markides yesterday warned Turkey was preparing a different kind of legal approach to the property issue that needed to be addressed with utmost seriousness to avoid potential traps concerning the status of the Turkish Cypriot breakaway state.
Markides’ warning comes in the wake of Turkey’s decision to pay the compensation ordered by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) to a Greek Cypriot refugee prevented from gaining access to, and peacefully enjoying her property in Kyrenia.
In two separate decisions, the court had ordered Turkey to pay Titina Loizidou $900,000 and allow her free access to her property.
But for around five years, Turkey had refused to comply with the court decision, arguing that the authority concerned was the ‘Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus’ (TRNC) and not Turkey.
But in a move greeted with suspicion and reservation by the government, Turkey on Thursday said it would pay the compensation ordered by the ECHR, though no mention was made of the second part of the decision concerning free access and enjoyment of her property.
Markides yesterday was reserved, warning Turkey’s apparent concession concerned only the compensation.
“It is a radical change of the Turkish position in relation only to the specific case, but only only as concerns the compensation, not compliance with the right to property,” Markides said.
He said Turkey’s decision to comply, could have been based on two reasons: “on the one hand there is no doubt that for a long time Turkey had been in the corner on the particular case, possibly because they could not face the unanimous demands of the rest of the member-states of the European council.”
Markides suggested Turkey was preparing a new strategy on the property issue and they wanted the Loizidou case out of the way.
The French News Agency (AFP) yesterday quoted an anonymous Turkish government source, who said his country was ready to pay the compensation on the condition that the ECHR would not accept similar cases in the future.
“Turkey has the will to pay the compensation under certain preconditions,” AFP said.
According to Turkish Cypriot papers yesterday, Turkey has agreed with the European Council to pay up if all other similar cases go through new special legal organs established in the occupied areas.
The Turkish Cypriot press said there were around 3,000 similar appeals filed against Turkey by Greek Cypriot refugees.
Former Attorney-general Markides yesterday warned against oversimplifying things, stressing the state had plenty of arguments to convince the European court why Greek Cypriots could not appeal to ‘courts’ set up by the Turkish Cypriot regime.
He added that if handled correctly, Turkish attempts to gain some form of acknowledgement for the breakaway state would be dashed.
“I don’t believe these Turkish attempts would be successful in court, but on the other hand we should not underestimate them,” Markides said.
He said the Loizidou case had created a precedent, but added that at the time there were no other courts where a Greek Cypriot could appeal.
“Now they’re creating ‘courts’; it does not mean it will be accepted but it is a different basis for the legal battle,” Markides said.
“It creates a different foundation to face you, which could take another four to five years until it is bypassed,” he added.
Markides saw the latest Turkish move as an attempt to create mass deadlock, which would force the exchange of properties between the two sides.
He reiterated that with a good defence from the state, Turkey could not win.
“There might not be any need to go (to ‘court’) for completely different reasons, not because they are illegal,” Markides said.
In its decision on the Loizidou case, the ECHR ruled that Turkey had de facto control of the north, which it described as a “subordinate local administration”, saying Turkey was responsible for the protection of human rights.
“You can’t tell them ‘you’re obliged to protect human rights’ and when they try to do so you say this is illegal and has no validity,” Markides warned.
“This issue is very deep and we can’t operate on the premise that everything’s illegal,” he said.
He said there were many legal actions to take in order to handle the situation but he was not worried so long as it was handled correctly.
The former Attorney-general suggested the state should again start to get actively involved in the individual appeals filed by Greek Cypriot refugees, a practice stopped at some stage because it was a waste of time and money for the state to argue in court.
“We checked the arguments and when we were satisfied, we wrote a letter to the court informing them that the material was sufficient,” Markides said.
He added: “But now the state should start intervening again — have a central monitoring role – monitor cases closely in order to check the strength of the respective Turkish arguments.”
Markides stressed that it was necessary to give the appropriate replies in court now that Turkey was trying to change the basis of its defence

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.