Another Greek Cypriot applicant, who sought recourse at the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) for her property in the Turkish-occupied part of the island, passed away without seeing the court’s judgment being implemented by Turkey.
Lenia Antoniadou from Famagusta, an ex-Limassol resident, died on June 25, 2017, aged 68.
Antoniadou was the 12th applicant in the “Lordos and Others v. Turkey” case which became final on July 9, 2012. She was awarded €100,000 in damages.
In a letter, on Thursday, Human Rights lawyer Achilleas Demetriades informed the EU Committee of Ministers about the event, as the Permanent Representatives prepare to convene later this month to review the execution of judgments, including the cases of Turkish-occupied properties.
Demetriades said Antoniadou “joins the late Demades, Saveriades, Christofides, and lordanou whose abovementioned judgments (no. 3, 5, 1 and 9 respectively) despite, their filing more than 26 years ago, are still ignored by the Respondent Government”.
Members of the Committee of Ministers are set to meet in Strasbourg between September 19-21, 2017.
Demetriades told the Cyprus News Agency that “in my opinion, Turkey cannot approach the European Human Rights Convention a la cart. Either it accepts ECHR judgments and conforms with them or not”.
“For example, Ankara cannot use the Demopoulos case for the immovable property commission in the occupied areas on one hand, and ignore paying damages in the rest of the cases, on the other” the lawyer added.
Another Cypriot applicant, professor Andreas Orphanides, who was awarded reparations by the Strasbourg-based court in the case “Orphanides v. Turkey”, part of the “Xenides-Arestis group of cases, also sent a letter to the Council of Europe recently “to protest for the failure of the respondent government to execute the above judgements of the ECtHR”.
Although more than six years passed since the judgment, and despite the efforts, decisions and interim resolution of the Committee of Ministers, the awarded just satisfaction remains unpaid, Orphanides adds.
These decisions, as well as the efforts of the CoE Secretary General have been ignored by Ankara and have not produced any practical results, he adds.
Professor Orphanides urged the Committee of Ministers to take more drastic and effective measures on Turkey to stop breaching the European Convention on Human Rights, and to finally execute court judgements by paying the damages awarded and by providing information on the practical arrangements for the immediate restoration of his property.
He also suggested that the Committee of Ministers imposes a specific timeframe on Turkey, and if it does not comply, then the Committee should declare that Ankara has seriously violated Article 3 of the Statute of the Council of Europe.
