Hope rises after decades of real estate limbo for Turkish Cypriots as the Greek Cypriot government cedes a case in the European Court of Human Rights involving a plaintiff from the northern side of the divided island. Greek Cyprus has agreed to change its law and pay the plaintiff 500,000 euros.
People are hoping to use this result as a base for future cases Greek Cyprus has admitted its laws governing Turkish Cypriot property rights are against the European Convention on Human Rights and has agreed to pay 84-year-old Nezire Sofi compensation worth 500,000 euros. The European Court of Human Rights was expected to give its verdict Thursday.
Experts said Sofi’s case could be used as a base for other cases waiting for verdicts from the European court. Officials contacted by the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review said the Greek side wanted to prevent setting a precedent in the court for the remaining Turkish Cypriot cases. The court, however, was unlikely to agree to such a demand.
Ten other suits filed with the European court are waiting.
“This is a historic week for us,” said Aslı Aksu, a lawyer defending a similar case called the Chakarto case.
The European court has received numerous applications because of violations related to properties on both sides of the divided island. Because of a 1975 Population Exchange Agreement, some 65,000 Turks had to move to the north while some 160,000 Greeks had to move to the south.
The Turkish administration distributed abandoned Greek properties to Turkish immigrants who agreed to file a disclaimer for their real estate in the south. Meanwhile, the Greek administration established a Turkish-Cypriot property management department and forbade all Turks to dispose of their estate until the island is reunited, regardless of whether they renounced their rights.
“The Turkish side asked the Greek side to admit that the custodianship law violates the European Convention on Human Rights. It will be our first victory and a precedent case. It means the complainant will get back control of her properties and receive compensation money,” Aksu told the Daily News.
“A Turkish Cypriot cannot exercise his or her rights until a reliable solution is found. What does it mean? It is too unclear and subjective. It is claimed that income is kept in the bank, but the owner has no right to go to the bank and ask about this money,” Aksu said. “Court is not scene to find permanent settlement” Turkish Cypriot Foreign Minister Hüseyin Özgürgün in a phone interview with the Daily News said: “The Sofi case should not be regarded as a precedent for all Turkish Cypriots because the Greek administration agreed to pay compensation to those who left the island. But it opened the door to the European Court of Human Rights and they will be cornered with follow-up suits,” he said.
Özgürgün, asserting that such cases would make the Cyprus problem much more complicated, said: “As a politician, I don’t believe that the Cyprus quest can be solved in such a manner. Greeks first applied to the court and now we came to this level. Politicians should find a permanent settlement on the table. That’s only way. I call on the Greek government to negotiate and exert sincere efforts for peace.”
Aksu criticized the northern Cyprus administration, which had forced the immigrants to sign a release in order to obtain new properties. “Now only those who rejected the agreement are eligible to sue the Greek administration,” said Aksu, whose has clients living on the island. Around 1,000 complainants engaged Aksu but 600 of them did not sign the release. “I chose the Chakarto case as a pilot case.
Our assessment is a minimum compensation of 7 million euros,” Aksu said. “I’ve prepared my files. I will sue them in parts in order to reach maximum gain and prevent any total loss. I’m hopeful we’ll win,” Aksau said.
Turkish side pays 480,000 pounds to Greeks
Following the 1998 precedent case of Titina Loizidou, who was the first complainant to receive compensation from Turkey, the European court forced the Turkish administration to set up the Immovable Property Commission to deal with Greek complainants. Only those who cannot find a solution via the commission are able to apply to the European Court of Human Rights. The Greek administration dislikes its citizen applying to an institution in the north, which it regards as illegal. However, 437 Greeks have applied to the commission so far. Eighty-seven have received compensation totaling about 480,000 pounds in total.
Photo: European Court of Human Rights, Strasbourg, France. Source: Council of Europe.
