STRASBOURG - Council of Europe (COE) and Turkey carry out studies to find solution to the applications of Greek Cypriots to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) for complaint regarded with violations of right of property.
Ankara and Strasbourg intensified talks on the issue following visit of Council of Europe Secretary General Walter Schwimmer to Turkey. Schwimmer had stated that ECHR decision about Greek Cypriot Titiana Loizidou should be fulfilled and attracted attention to the complaints coming from the Greek Cypriot side.
Turkey and COE continue talks for the formation of a local application organ in the TRNC, which will be comprised of independent experts. The local application organ is planned to evaluate the applications coming from the Greek Cypriot side before the ECHR.
According to the resolutions of the ECHR, those who make the complaint, should first of all exhaust all the means of national law of the countries in which they opened the file.
As Greek Cypriots did not recognize TRNC, and as Turkey did not recognize southern Cyprus, Greek Cypriots had applied to the ECHR without being loyal to the principle of exhaustion of ways of national law.
As applications from the Greek Cypriot side against Turkey reached to 2600 and as compensation fee increased to 100 billion U.S. dollars, Council of Europe felt the need to hold talks with Turkey aiming to reduce the number of applications.
Greek Cypriot side and Greece are not so positive toward the formation of local application organ.
Ankara had harshly reacted against the decision of the ECHR taken in 1998 to pay 500 thousand U.S. dollars compensation to Titina Loizidou.
A serious crisis had erupted between the Council of Europe Ministers Committee and Ankara after Turkey's refusal to pay compensation despite the decision of the ECHR.
Loizidou in her application to the ECHR claimed that her territory in northern part of Cyprus were taken from her, and that her right to reside on her house had been prevented.
Turkey said it would not be able to undertake responsibility for an incident which had occurred outside its territory, stating that it would not pay compensation.
Turkey also recalled that Cyprus problem was on the agenda of the U.N. Security Council, and that other international institutions could not take binding decisions which directly concern this issue.
(AY-AÖ) 28.04.2003