Cyprus on Wednesday put forward a proposal to put an end to the illegal sale of Greek Cypriot properties in the north by forcing a cessation of all activities advertising the sale of those properties, and to halt construction.
Nicosia submitted the series of measures to the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe under which Turkey would have to comply with a European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) decision in relation to property rights of displaced persons.
In the 2001 Cyprus v Turkey case, the Grand Chamber found numerous violations on Turkey’s part of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms.
The decision in 2014 awarded Cyprus €30,000,000 for non-pecuniary damage suffered by the surviving relatives of missing persons, and €60,000,000 for non-pecuniary damage suffered by the enclaved residents of Karpas peninsula.
Cyprus’ proposals include an end to the illegal sale of Greek Cypriot properties in the north as well as all advertisements relating to selling these properties.
It also requested that Turkey be called on to provide the Committee with a list of measures it has taken and/or intends to take to comply with the judgment as well as submit a progress report on the measures and their effect every six months.
Cyprus also proposed Turkey publish the relevant parts of the ECHR decision in all newspapers in the Turkish language and the full text be placed on all official and government websites in both the English and Turkish language.
Additionally, it wants measures to cease all `transfers’ (including but not limited to “sales”, “leases” and “mortgages”) of displaced persons’ properties and measures to halt all construction activities done without the consent of the lawful property owners.
Cyprus also wants Turkey to provide the Committee with a full and comprehensive list of the regime governing immovable property in the occupied areas.
The list of measures included in a memorandum of the Cypriot government which was circulated on May 30, comes ahead of a meeting by the Ministers’ Deputies, on June 7-9, in Strasbourg and is according to Nicosia “non-exhaustive”.
In its memorandum, Nicosia notes that Turkey remains unwilling to cooperate with the Committee by adopting the necessary measures to bring an end to the violations and provide for the necessary effective remedies.
Cyprus said Turkey was ignoring the ECHR decision and has not taken any steps to enforce the measures.
