Talat confident laws will be ready by March 22
THE REINSTATEMENT of Turkish Cypriot refugee Arif Mustafa to his property in Episkopi could soon be followed by the reinstatement of Greek Cypriots to their properties in the north, a top Turkish Cypriot legal source told the Cyprus Mail yesterday.
The source said that within the next two weeks Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat would put forward a list of nominees from which seven members of the north’s soon-to-be-established property commission will be formed.
The formation of the property commission stems from a European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruling last December on the case of Myra Arestis, who lost her home in Varosha in 1974. While finding Turkey guilty of a continued violation of Arestis’ rights to enjoy her property, it also granted Turkey and its subordinate local authority, the Turkish Cypriots, three months to come up with “genuine effective domestic remedies” for Arestis.
By making the ruling, the ECHR effectively adjourned around 1,400 Greek Cypriot applications, pending a later decision on whether the Turkish Cypriot property commission truly fits the criteria spelled out by the ECHR.
The Turkish Cypriot side naturally greeted the ECRH decision with joy, but it remains to be seen whether it will be able to create a functioning and internationally acceptable property commission by March 22, when the three-month period comes to an end.
Lawyer representing Arestis, Achilleas Demetriades, expressed grave doubts yesterday that the north’s authorities would be able to come up with a satisfactory formula.
“From what I saw in the press, I don’t think it [the new law] is up to the standard required by the ECHR. They have a long way to go,” Demetriades told the Cyprus Mail.
He asked how “redress” of Arestis’ property could take place if Varosha continued to be walled off and under Turkish military occupation. He added that the north would also have to amend the controversial clause 159 of its constitution before the ECHR took other legal changes seriously. Clause 159 allowed the expropriation of all ‘abandoned’ Greek Cypriot properties in the north. According to European legal norms, land cannot be expropriated on a basis of race or creed.
Nevertheless, Demetriades said he believed that if Turkey and the Turkish Cypriots did eventually manage to satisfy the ECHR, it “would be a great development for human rights” and could even act as a catalyst that triggers a comprehensive solution to the Cyprus problem.
He stressed, however, that no one should view the creation of a property commission in the north as “the evolution of the Turkish Cypriot legal system”, but more as an admittance by Turkey of its jurisdiction over the north.
He went as far as to say that by signalling its willingness to see the commission established, Turkey was expressing “de-recognition of the TRNC”.
The Turkish Cypriot legal source, however, yesterday insisted the commission would be a Turkish Cypriot, not Turkish, product and that preparations were running “ahead of schedule”.
Furthermore, “nearly all the bylaws and regulations of the new property law [that accompany the formation of the commission] are ready”.
He added that the two foreign legal experts the law stipulates must be on the panel had been selected.
“By March 22 we will be more than 100 per cent ready to deal with property claims”.
Once the commission and the amendments to Turkish Cypriot property law are complete, the source said, Turkey, “as the respondent state in the Arestis case” would be asked to present information on the case.
The legal source expressed confidence yesterday that the ECHR would be impressed by the changes in the north’s property law, and that ultimately – if not immediately – the Turkish Cypriots would get the go-ahead to begin ruling on Greek Cypriot property claims.
“My feeling is that the court will not close the door to the remedy. It is likely they will ask for some amendments. As long as the court does not question the issue of domestic remedies, there will not be a problem. And this will mean the redirection of all 1,400 cases at the ECHR to the commission”.
Asked to comment on this week’s groundbreaking ruling by the Greek Cypriot Supreme Court that Turkish Cypriot refugee Arif Mustafa is free to move back into the property he abandoned in 1974, the source said he viewed it as a “positive outcome for that individual” but that each case, whichever side of the Green Line it was heard on, would “be treated on its own merits”.
“Mustafa got restitution of his property. We will soon be able to do the same here,” he added.
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