Canadian Justice for Cyprus Committee PSEKA Canada

In a strongly worded resolution, the European Parliament yesterday (10 Feb 2010) set a number of preconditions on Turkey’s EU accession, calling on Ankara to immediately withdraw its occupation forces from Cyprus and facilitate the ongoing peace talks for a political settlement.

The EP adopted a resolution on Turkey's Progress Report, based on a report drafted by Dutch MEP Ria Oomen-Ruijten, which states that the Turkish government should contribute “in concrete terms” to the comprehensive settlement of the Cyprus issue, based on a bizonal, bicommunal federation, in line with the relevant UN Security Council resolutions and the principles on which the EU is founded.

Cypriot MEP Ioannis Kasoulides described the resolution as the strongest yet to come out of the Brussels parliament. It urges Turkey to facilitate a suitable climate for the Cyprus negotiations by immediately starting to withdraw its forces from Cyprus, by addressing the issue of the settlement of Turkish citizens on the island and by enabling the return of the sealed-off section of Famagusta to its lawful inhabitants in compliance with UN Security Council resolutions. 

The UK Court of Appeal ruled on January 19, 2010, that a decision by a Cypriot court, in connection with claims relating to Greek Cypriot owned property in Cyprus’ northern Turkish occupied areas, must be executed in the United Kingdom.

The British Court judgment was issued in the case of Apostolides v Orams, in which Greek Cypriot Meletis Apostolides took the Orams couple to court, claiming his property rights in the occupied areas (where the Orams had illegally built, a holiday home) were violated.

The Cypriot court had ordered the Orams to pay compensation to Apostolides, demolish the holiday home they had built on his property in the Turkish occupied village of Lapithos, halt all intervention on the said property and deliver it to its legal owner. Mr. Apostolides sought the execution of this judgment in the UK on the basis of an EU regulation. The British Court of Appeal said on January 19, 2010, that this ruling must be executed in the United Kingdom.

Apostolides said he was pleased, adding that the ruling was “a vindication of the institutions and the values of the European Union.” He also noted that the judgment relates to all aspects of the property issue, which constitutes one of the main parameters of the Cyprus problem.

Apostolides’ lawyer, Constantinos Kantounas, said the Court of Appeal ruling was “final and there is no right to appeal against it.”

In statements made on the issue, Cyprus President Demetris Christofias has said that the judgment of the British Court of Appeal must be executed and that it has both legal and political importance.

President Christofias said that the decision of the British Court is legally important because the Court based its ruling on the EU laws and regulations, as well as the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights, and the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights. It is also politically important because it conveys a message to the side which denies the right to ownership or the use of property. (More)

The International Coordinating Committee Justice for Cyprus (PSEKA Canada),

• Having considered the current situation in Cyprus,
• Recalling the United Nations General Assembly resolution 37/253 (1983) in which the Assembly reaffirms the need to settle the question of Cyprus without further delay by peaceful means in accordance with the provisions of the Charter of the United Nations and the relevant United Nations resolutions,  
• Greatly concerned that part of the territory of the Republic of Cyrus is still occupied, since 1974, by Turkish military forces,  

1. Confirms its full support for the sovereignty, independence, territorial integrity, unity and security of the Republic of Cyprus;  
2. Calls for the cessation of all foreign interference in the affairs of the Republic of Cyprus;  
3. Demands, without further delay, the withdrawal of all Turkish occupation forces from the Republic of Cyprus as necessary step towards an acceptable solution of the Cyprus Problem;  
4. Welcomes any negotiations which could lead to a proposed solution of the Cyprus Problem;
5. Demands that any future proposed solution of the Cyprus Problem: (a) Ensures the respect of the human rights and fundamental freedoms of all legal citizens of the Republic of Cyprus, including the freedom of movement, the freedom of settlement and the right to property; (b) Ensures the sovereignty, independence, territorial integrity, unity, and security of the Republic of Cyprus; (c) Prohibits the assignment of any type of guarantee powers and/or intervention rights by any foreign country; 
6. Requests that, prior to implementation, any proposed solution of the Cyprus Problem is presented to all legal citizens of the Republic of Cyprus in the form of a Referendum.    

The European Parliament adopted Friday resolutions on the three candidate countries for EU accession, namely, Croatia, Turkey and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, and their progress in 2008.

The resolution on Turkey’s 2008 progress report was drawn up by EP Turkey Rapporteur Ria Oomen-Ruijten (EPP-ED, NL) and passed by 528 votes in favor to 52 against with 43 abstentions. MEPs note with concern the lack of progress in talks with the EU and the “continuous slowdown of the reform process” in Turkey for the third consecutive year. They also state that freedom of expression and freedom of the press are still not fully protected in Turkey.

Making specific reference to Cyprus, “the resolution stresses the need to reach ‘a comprehensive settlement’ of the Cyprus question based on UN Security Council resolutions. MEPs back the direct negotiations currently under way between leaders of the Greek and Turkish Cypriot communities and urge Turkey to facilitate a suitable climate for negotiations by withdrawing Turkish forces” from the island. (More)

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has ruled, by majority vote, that Turkey violates the property rights of eight Greek Cypriots, who own land and immovable property in Turkish occupied Cyprus.

The Court has asked all of the applicants three from villages in the occupied district of Famagusta on the east and five from villages in Kyrenia district on the north and the Turkish government to submit, within three months from the date the Court judgment becomes final, their written observations.

The Court also held that the heirs to these Greek Cypriots could continue the present proceedings, instead of the applicants themselves.

The Court rejected Turkeys argument that domestic remedies have not been exhausted and therefore the European Court should not have accepted the applications. Turkey maintains that a self-styled properties commission, set up by the illegal Turkish Cypriot regime in occupied Cyprus, is effective domestic remedy for property claims.