Loizidou stalling will affect Turkey’s EU course

TURKEY’S European course could be affected by its failure to pay refugee Titina Loizidou by next week’s final deadline from the Council of Europe, Foreign Minister George Iacovou said yesterday.

Iacovou was commenting on the measures that could be taken against Ankara following the ruling by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe (CoE) on Wednesday obliging Turkey to pay by November 19 or face the consequences.

The Committee adopted the Fourth Interim Resolution regarding the European Court of Human Rights’ (ECHR) July 28, 1998 decision, which ordered Turkey to pay compensation to Loizidou: $600,000 for loss of use of her property in Kyrenia, $40,000 in moral damages and around $260,000 for costs, plus eight per cent interest as of court decision date.

Iacovou said the Cyprus problem was a political criterion for Turkey’s accession to the EU, while the respect of human rights was a fundamental element of the Copenhagen criteria.

“Respect of human rights is not just a mere signing or ratification of the European Convention on Human Rights; it includes full compliance with the decisions of the courts,” said Iacovou.

He said that if Turkey does not fulfil its legal obligation, this would constitute a “very serious obstacle” to its efforts to start accession negotiations.

The minister said some countries might ask for an extension to persuade Turkey to fulfil its obligations, but added the government would proceed with the debate to implement the second scale of the ECHR decision in the Loizidou case, which is the right to peaceful enjoyment of her property in the Turkish-occupied northern part of Cyprus.

“We will not allow Turkey to waste time,” Iacovou said.

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.