THE north’s controversial property commission could find its workload multiply if a long-awaited decision from the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) goes its way tomorrow.
Around 80 Greek Cypriots have applied to the commission since its formation in March this year, seeking either financial compensation or restitution of the property rights they lost during Turkey’s invasion in 1974. Nine cases have so far been resolved, with six Greek Cypriot refugees accepting financial compensation, and a further three securing restitution.
But tomorrow’s decision at the ECHR on whether an offer made by the commission earlier this year to Greek Cypriot refugee Myra Xenides-Arestis was fair will determine to a great extent whether the commission can continue its work.
According to Arestis’ lawyer Achilleas Demetriades, Turkey offered Arestis £240,000 compensation for blocking her access to the property over the past three decades, plus a choice. The choice was whether to accept a further £220,000 compensation for the property, or wait until after a solution to the Cyprus problem and return to her property then. Arestis, who had asked for £700,000 compensation for lack of use, rejected the offer. She also made it clear she would never accept financial compensation for the property itself.
Significantly, it was Arestis’ case that led to the foundation of the commission when in December 2005 the ECHR called on to Turkey to find a way of offering the refugee “redress” for the loss of her property in the now-fenced off area of Varosha. Turkey accepted the task, and in turn gave the Turkish Cypriot authorities – as its ‘subordinate local authority’ – the job of delivering justice on Greek Cypriot property claims. In 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.
“If the European Court says what we are doing is correct, Arestis will have to come here,” an official at the property commission in north Nicosia told the Cyprus Mail yesterday, adding: “Of course, we don’t know yet, but this is what we are expecting.”
In fact, the worst case scenario the official could envisage was that the commission might be required to change “one or two things” in the way it worked to make it acceptable to the ECHR.
International law expert at the Eastern Mediterranean University (EMU), and one of the main architects of the commission, Kudret Ozersay said he had similar expectations.
“My guess is that the court will say that what we have done represents a positive step in the right direction,” he said. And although Ozersay conceded it may still take a little time before the commission gets the full green light, he remained convinced that “in the near future all pending cases will be sent to the commission”. With around 1,400 cases already pending, the commission could find itself very busy for a very long time.
Ozersay added that because Turkey had already been found guilty of violating Arestis’ right to property, there was little to discuss apart from how much compensation Turkey would have to pay to compensate her for lack of use over three decades.
“I expect the court to say there have been offers of compensation, and since the commission is, or is going to be, a proper institution, you have to first go and discuss the amount,” he said.
However, Arestis’ lawyer Demetriades told the Mail yesterday he still saw the Turkish Cypriot property commission as “illegal” because it failed to do what it was set up to do.
“It is ineffective because it does not offer restitution [and] it is contrary to the law because it does not reach the level the human rights convention requires,” he said, adding that the commission was further invalidated by the fact that it had no jurisdiction over military areas such as Varosha.
Demetriades said his client would possibly use the three month period to issue a “referral” if his client found tomorrow’s ruling dissatisfactory. In this way, his client would – at least for the moment – not be forced to apply to the commission.
