Loizidou case to be raised at Euro forum

TURKEY’S non-compliance with the European Court of Human Rights ruling to pay compensation in the Titina Loizidou case will be discussed at a two-day European Committee of Legal Affairs and Human Rights symposium in Limassol next week.

In 1998 the Court ordered Turkey to pay Titina Loizidou £500,000 for depriving her of the right to enjoy her property in Kyrenia since the Turkish invasion in 1974.

Disy deputy Panayiotis Demetriou said it was very important that the convention was taking place in Cyprus, given that the occupation of the north is a violation of human rights.

"The meeting will give us the opportunity to stress that the European Court decision must be upheld," he said.

Human rights abuses of the enclaved will also top the agenda for the Cyprus delegation.

"We will voice our opinion, along with those of other members, who feel very strongly about Turkey’s refusal to conform to the court’s decision," Demetriou said.

Turkey, currently seeking candidate status for the European Union, has persistently refused to pay Loizidou, claiming it is not liable for the occupation of north Cyprus.

Achilleas Demetrides, the Nicosia lawyer who represented Loizidou, is currently working on more than a dozen related cases of people seeking compensation from the Turkish government.

After the meeting on Monday and Tuesday, the matter is expected to be brought before the next Council of Europe meeting in June.

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.