THE EUROPEAN Court of Human Rights (ECHR) is reportedly in the final stages of deciding whether to accept a land swap between a Greek Cypriot and a Turkish Cypriot.
The warning came yesterday from the Association for the Human Rights of Owners of Properties held by Turkey (SADITOP), which informed the House Human Rights Committee that if the government did not act soon, the settlement could create an irreversibly negative precedent for a solution to the Cyprus problem.
SADITOP informed the committee that a Greek Cypriot, whose appeal for the return of his land in the north is pending at the ECHR, had come to an agreement with Turkey, through the so-called compensation committee in the north, to swap his occupied land with Turkish Cypriot property in the south as well as financial compensation.
According to the Association, the proposal will be submitted for approval imminently.
“We are all concerned,” said Committee Chairman Sophoclis Fyttis of DIKO, “over the case presented to us [by SADITOP] regarding an individual appeal to the ECHR that is not concluding correctly, meaning that the applicant will not be compensated for losing his property, but it appears that the applicants and the Court have accepted the possibility of deciding on a friendly arrangement and possibly the exchange of properties that applicants own in the occupied areas with Turkish Cypriot properties in the free areas.”
“It is possible that such a compromise between the Turkish government, which is the accused in this case, and the land owners who resorted to the ECHR, will open the way for other such cases,” he added.
The Committee and SADITOP decided to send a letter to the government, urging it to intervene and do whatever it could to avert such a settlement.
Yiannakis Erotokritou, the head of SADITOP, warned that the ECHR was just one step away from reaching a final decision on the matter. “If this compromise turns into the ECHR’s decision, then there is serious danger of creating a situation that cannot be reversed,” said Erotokritou.
He pointed out that Turkey would be suggesting the settlement to the European Court with the help of the so-called compensation committee in the north.
“Our great concern is that if this solution is accepted, then all other appeals to the ECHR will possibly be sent to the so-called compensatory committee,” Erotokritou explained.
DISY deputy Eleni Theocharous shared the committee’s opinion that if such a settlement is approved, it would create an irreversible situation.
“If the ECHR adopts this private settlement and if the tactic continues of not informing the Republic of Cyprus, which as a directly implicated party has the right to be informed on how the case is developing, you understand that we are in front of yet another unpleasant development and the state services should see if this procedure can be postponed,” said Theocharous, adding: “This will be a first-of-its kind decision, with catastrophic consequences for the Cyprus problem.”
